It's Time (standard:romance, 1587 words)
Author: renaissance1	Added: Sep 16 2010	Views/Reads: 2844/1781	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Indecision and crises.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

some snow tires.  Or better, a new car.”  She must have heard about my 
job offer, On Huntington Avenue, I dust off the snow, get in the car, I 
turn on the ignition.  The eight  year old Rambler turns on like magic. 
“See Ken, my car works, I say to myself” I drive, confused , unfocussed 
in the heavy snow.   Too late in the season for such a heavy  
snowstorm. Cambridge seems never to get ahead of the weather.  But 
then, it has snowed just for a couple of hours.  The road is already 
icy.  I am thinking of Johnnie's story tomorrow.  I must visit him 
tomorrow, to see where the story goes, Ken can wait for his 
translations. A  loud thud. Crash.  The car behind me runs straight 
into mine. Shaking, I pull the hand brake and get out.  So do the two 
girls in the other car. Italian teens .  “Another foreign student, I am 
sure she doesn't speak English we can sue her, we'll say you are three 
months pregnant.”  One of them says to the other.  Well good that they 
think I don't speak English. We exchange information and I drive home 
in the crippled car.  Ken is annoyed.  “You should not have gone to the 
children's ward today.”  I am livid.  He has not even asked me how 
Johnnie was doing. “ I am going back home, Ken, I told you.  And by the 
way, Johnnie is not going to last another month.  I may have to borrow 
your car to go to the Children's hospital tomorrow.  We haven't 
finished his story.” I answer.   Ken replied with a smirk.  “What 
story?” “The one he dictates to me”. “I need my car tomorrow,” he 
replies. “That car of yours will never get up that slope of Upland road 
today.  Let me drive you.  I am glad you were rear ended.  If you had 
been behind them, those Italians will sue you like the dickens”.  Ken 
is half angry, half sullen.  He realized that he was mouthing his 
parents' stereotypes of Central Square, Cambridge.  Those loud Italians 
who sue everyone. He drops me at my place .”Think of my plan for the 
future, will you?  You can even get a green card.” HIS  plans for the 
future.  He had proposed, without quite proposing, the previous week. 
“I already got my ticket from Fulbright. It came last week.  I forgot 
to tell you. Sorry Ken, I am going back.  (Get back to your Sanskrit, I 
think). The next day, I call the children's cancer ward to tell them I 
have no car, I will take the street car and so, I will be late. “Oh, 
Anna?  There is a message from Janie for you. Do you want me to open 
it? “She is frantic. “I am sorry, the message says you don't have to 
come today. It says Johnnie went home with his parents this morning.”.  
Janie says “he left a story for you about Tin-tin.  I call Janie. “ 
Yeah, you know, Johnnie wrote  “the story is incompleat,  it is about 
Tin-tin .Anna will come back tomorrow  and I can finish the story”. I 
hang up the phone and fish out the ticket for my international flight.  
Yes Ken, I am going home. We should have finished that  story.  At 
least I would not regret losing two of my favorite guys on the same 
day.  I hurry back home.  Two calls on my answering machine. First  
Johnny's mother.  “Thank you Anna.  Johnny died peacefully.  He wants 
you to finish his story.”  The second is from Ken.  “Hi Anna, this is 
Ken.  I just realized that I never proposed to you. Can you come over 
so I can propose? Please come.  I need you.” I pick  up the phone.  
Dial  the Cambridge Yellow Cabs.  619 555 1234.  But I get a message.  
“Thanks for calling. Please hold, due to the snow storm, we are 
unusually busy now.   Your wait time is approximately 20 minutes.”. 


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