Road Kill, Issue #3, June 1995
by 009
A cab makes a sharp left before I can react and sends me flying throughthe air for what seems an eternity with my girlfriends last words stuckin my head: Don't forget to buy a helmet. Don't forget to buy a helmet.
There’s a crunch as I slam face first onto 22nd street. Nice peoplerush over to help me.
Are you OK? a lady asks.
Yeah, I tell her, picking small stones and broken glass out of my cheek.Time to get a helmet.
The driver stays in the cab looking terrified. But I'm glad that I didn'tland on my head, and I'm much too dizzy to do anything other than callhim a stupid fuck. In a daze I take down his license number which I endup losing drop off my last package -- which is ripped and stumble alongwith a broken bike to the Beth Israel emergency room.
We see a lot of you guys, the doctor says. She takes x-rays of my neckand skull, and then leaves me alone behind a curtain to wait for the resultsand to figure out what the hell to do with my life.
This job is going to kill me. Maybe tomorrow I'll put together a resumeand search the want ads. But how can I get a good job when the only jobsI've had were shitty ones? Besides, I can't see myself locked up in anoffice. Being a messenger has ruined me. The curtain opens. There’s nothingwrong, the doctor says. You're pretty lucky.
I go back to work the next day without a helmet. Riding down Fifth Ave.,a car cuts into my lane, nearly sending me back to the hospital. I bangon his window and yell. He tries to run me down. Now I'm really pissed.I stop in the middle of the road and motion for him to try and run me over.He drives up and shouts, You shouldn't bang on people’s cars. You shouldlearn how to fucking drive, I yell back.
Traffic is piled up behind us. Cars are honking. I punch his windowand try to open the door so I can drag this asshole out of the car andkick his fucking head in. He drives away as I take off my chain.
Angry, excited, and still alive, I watch him speed down Fifth. And thenI realize it: This is a great job.
| main | articles | laws | zines | report | 10-9 day |
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at messvilleto@yahoo.com