32: The Accident

Bonnie escapes outside to smoke, to forget he’s leaving her, bit by bit. She hears a thump, a man’s startled grunt, and turns to see a car angled, a man lying in the street, struggling, an insect on its back. The woman driver is screaming. People on the sidewalk shout, “don’t get up!” as if eager for injury. But he picks up his bike and limps away. The woman yells, “Don’t go!” Bonnie remembers when they met it felt like a collision, sudden and dangerous. The crowd on the sidewalk scatters, disappointed, expecting tragedy but left with the rest of the day.