Time Studies #28

Walking up the long hill to campus in the brilliant California afternoon.
Breathing in the wild breeze above the wide blue curving bay.
A Volkswagen Jetta roars up the hill, mistakes a little bend in the road.
Maybe a wheel left the ground, then the driver overcorrects. Some kid.
Sends his car right at two cars coming downhill in the downhill lane.
Evasive, they split around the gray compact hatchback, which is braking.
He squeals black marks ten or twenty yards up the oncoming lane toward a bus.
Pulling at the wheel. The downhill cars swerve away. One keeps going.
The other pulls over and parks. By this time the gray hatchback has spun around backwards.
Gone through the barbed wire fence. The downhill driver who saved himself is astonished.
He gets out of his car and says “Did you see that?” to a passerby. The passerby did see.
“Needs more practice,” he said. “They give them cars,” I added.
The gray Jetta drives out of the fence and across the road and parks on the other side.
The driver gets out and checks the rear of his vehicle for damage.
“You could have killed them!” I yelled at the driver.
“They could have killed me!” he yelled back. “Don’t drive like an asshole,” I almost said.
I shut up and turned. Reminded of the night I ran the CHP cruiser off the road.
Lost Hills highway 46, hurrying back to try to get to the woman and the life I used to have.
You’re an expert now, kid. How fast would I have to drive to get back there?