Success, wealth, work, and loneliness...this was his life. It wasn't the one he envisioned, but it was one he learned to accept. He had few friends because he was constantly working. He didn't have a family because he didn't have time to meet anyone. He hadn't been in a relationship since high school, she didn't understand why he had to join the military, but he felt it was his only option. Even if he did meet someone he couldn't be that guy for them. Perhaps that's because of the military. He joined right out of high school. He came back a different guy to a different world, one he felt out of place in, so he buried himself in his work. It brought him success, but no one to share it with.
Everyday he wakes up at the same time and does the same routine. He does his exercises, showers, chooses a suit, has breakfast (oatmeal...eggs if he's feeling adventurous), watches the news for about ten minutes, and then drives to work with time to spare. He does this everyday...except today. Today was unlike the rest. He slept through his alarm and woke up much later than he should. His entire routine was disorganized; he rushed into his car and sped out of the parking garage, as he was turning onto the road in the middle of rush hour he cut somebody off and pulled in front of them, he didn't see the kid on the skateboarder coming up on the other side of the driver, he went too far out into the other lane and hit the kid on the skateboard.
Panic ran through his body. He didn't know what to do. It felt like it had been ten minutes that he sat in his car hoping he was alright; it must have only been a minute or so because the boy stumbled to his feet with just a few cuts and bruises. From inside his car he looked pretty upset and was yelling though he couldn't hear what he was saying inside his car. He opened the door and heard the flurry of curse words mixed with some slang insults that he was not familiar with, but he got the point. It was only until he approached the boy that he realized he wasn't upset about being hit, but rather the fact his skateboard was now in several pieces. As he got closer to the boy the insults were now directed at him. He tried to apologize and offered to drive him to the hospital, but the boy refused. He hesitantly asked if he wanted to involve the police, the boys response was a special finger. He gathered the scattered skateboard and began walking on an intersecting street. Traffic was beginning to flow again, so he got back in his car. He thought about just going to work, he could still get there on time.
He began driving, only to turn down the street he saw the skateboarder go. He only had to travel a few blocks until he saw him. He pulled over and yelled him over. It took some convincing and grudging acceptance, but the boy allowed him to take him back home. It had been about five minutes in the car and neither one of them said a word. He tried to brake the silence with some small talk:
"What's your name?"
"Oliver"
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen"
"What do you do for fun?"
He held up the broken skateboard.
"What do your parents do?"
"Just my Mom"
"I'm sorry about that"
He found himself very anxious and worried, but it wasn't for his job...it was for the boy. He spent the majority of his life having to care for only himself, so having someone else to worry about made him feel uneasy. He wanted to know more about him, but didn't know how to start. It was a relief to him when the boy started asking him questions:
"What do you do?"
"I'm a financial adviser"
"That doesn't sound very fun"
He was about to defend his job and try to explain why he enjoyed it, but that would be a lie.
"Its not"
"So why do you do it?"
"I don't know", that was the truth. He really didn't know why he still worked there. Perhaps it just occupied his time and more importantly his mind. "What do you want to be?"
"A cop maybe, I think I would enjoy that. I've thought about joining the military after high school."
"What does your Mom think about that?"
"She hates it, but its not up to her."
He thought about what the military did to him and how it changed him and he didn't want that for the kid. He didn't know him, but he didn't need to. It wasn't just the things he saw in the service, but just being away and the people he left behind. When he joined he didn't take in account that everyone that loved him was affected. He thought of this kids Mom and how she would be affected if he joined. His anxiety increased. There was a long pause before he responded..."I think being cop would be pretty awesome".
They approached his house and the kid gathered up the pieces of the skateboard and got out of the car. He apologized again for hitting him and offered his help to him in whatever way possible. He didn't know why, but he felt sad to see the boy leave. It wasn't until that moment that he thought about work and was still in no hurry to return. Work had been the only thing he cared about for so many years, but it felt secondary now. He was about to pull back onto the road when he heard a knock on his window. He saw the kid standing outside the car and rolled it down.
"Do you want to come in for a drink or something and meet my Mom?"
"Yes I do", he was surprised by his answer and how quick he responded, but happy with it as well.
They approached the house, the boy opened the door to find his Mom on the other side. She was clearly a good Mom because she was immediately distraught when she heard what happened. She finally stopped hugging him and turned to greet the man in her doorway. His heart sunk when he saw her face. He often imagined what she would look like now; to him she looked the exact same. He was standing in front of the girl that he abandoned for the military...16 years ago.
