I Almost Died Today

3:30pm work is over. I was dead tired after 9 hours on a slow moving job but time to head off to Somerset to see mum. I was in a jovial mood and wondering why.

Half way to Somerset I stopped at Island Cuisine to say 'hi' to a pretty Filipina that worked there and have a scone and coffee. She left at 2 her aunt told me. This aunt also worked there and I had long since given up pretending my intentions were honourable. She gazed at me with undisguised malevolence as I drank my coffee. I knew what she was thinking. 20 months ago I lived right behind this restaurant. Vanessa and her aunt Joy lived in Flatts. I then moved to Flatts two houses away from theirs only to find them moving to Warwick. Joy was counting her blessings. This kind of thing happens to me all the time. It could unsettle the average sound fella.

4:45pm I arrived at mum's my gas tank was empty. She wasn't there. I waited.

5:15pm I thought I would go to the gas station for a fill-up. What happened next I could never make up. My clutch cable broke..... I brought my bike to a 'controlled' stop and lit a cigarette.

5:40pm I had managed a temporary fix for the clutch and headed for the gas station. I was thinking again... Er... I mean 'musing' (a calm lengthy intent consideration) I couldn't take the bike back to the guy who sold me the lemon, I still owed him $128 for replacing the gas valve that just broke two months ago whilst I was riding home, emptying the contents of the gas tank on East Broadway. But then again he hadn't called me either since I left a calm message saying I was not a happy camper and to please respect my destructive capabilities by not provoking me. The saga of my bike is another story.

The car in front of me pulled to one side and as I passed him the driver yelled something. The youth on a motorbike behind me whizzed past me. I turned to see who was yelling at me, and more importantly why. As I looked forward again I found that traffic had come to a halt and I was already on top of the terrified youth on the bike.... almost.

I engaged my tattered clutch and shifted my weight to the left. There was a scrapping sound and right away I knew what the nice man in the car was yelling. My kick-stand was down. I just clipped the youth, then I tested my disc brakes... They worked, and I stopped on a dime... about two dimes (and several thousand dollars) away from the back of a BMW. The youth looked at me and got off his bike. I looked back, and to his credit got back on and rode off.

6:00pm Back at mum's. I waited

6:20pm I gave up and went home arriving just after 7:00pm. My right cheek buzzed as I entered my studio.

"Where are you?"
"Home.... I waited a While"
"Oh no. I had to stop at the...... when can you come back?"
"Er..I'll have to get back to you. I have something tomorrow evening but I forget what or when."

It turned out it was the BIFF Opening Party but mum called to say a neighbour had sorted her out. I lay on my bed and reflected. I thought about how I might leave this world... Then I thought about how I entered.