A Chance Encounter
remembering and forgetting
There I was, in line at some Kwik-Mart off of I-40 when a ghost from my past came walking in. A little heavier, maybe a few wrinkles, but otherwise looking like he stepped out of 1989. As he walked toward the drink cooler, our eyes met briefly.
“Estes?” I said. “Mike Estes?”
“Uh, yeah,” he said. There was zero recognition in his eyes.
“Danny,” I said. “Danny Brewer. The last time I saw you was…we were in the Navy together. Man, it’s been a long time.”
“Oh, yeah.” He nodded his head a little, but I could tell he had no clue who I was. We stood awkwardly for a moment.
“Yeah. Good to see you. Danny, right?”
*****
I woke up to a steady knocking sound, a slow, rhythmic thunk. Being about midnight, I couldn’t imagine what was making that thunk noise, but I wasn’t happy about being woken up. I swung my legs over the side of the bunk and stood up.
“Hodges,” I said. “Do you hear that?”
From the top bunk, Hodges squinted at me, already awake. We looked around, confused. Hodges looked over the top of the partition to the adjoining quad and his eyes got big. Jumping off the bunk, he raced around the partition.
“Brewer! Get over here!”
Coming around, I saw Mike Estes, spinning on the end of a sheet he’d made into a rope. His boots were hitting a desk with each rotation of his body.
Thunk. Thunk.
Hodges grabbed hold of his legs, lifting him to take pressure off his neck. I climbed onto the desk and untied Estes. By that time, others were investigating the commotion and someone had roused our Company Commander who immediately started CPR. It took some doing, but he managed to resuscitate Estes.
*****
“Well, alright, man,” I said. “I won’t keep you. Just recognized you and thought I’d say hey.”
“Yeah, of course. Good to see you.” Still no idea who I was.
The night Estes tried to kill himself was the last time I’d seen him until that day in the Kwik-Mart. Hodges and I had spent the rest of that night giving statements to the police. Estes got discharged.
That’s all I ever knew. It’s still all I know, except that he is alive and well. Well enough to forget.
About the Creator
Randy Baker
Poet, author, essayist.
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Comments (1)
Such a cool micro that had some creepy vibes to it. Well done!