Freak Accident

by Tom Peters

It was so like you to want to do the job with free labor
and I, stupid enough to not know what I didn’t know
A van and an idea to make it a traveling home,
Detroit Michigan to Monterrey, Mexico

We planned on paper, a half of summer off to work
trips to Home Depot, trips to Ace Hardware
Garage space to work with tools
With the van there, bearing its bare interior

Tacos, steaks on the grille, roasted corn
Corona’s with lime, shots of Tequila
and some fine smoke to toke
laughing over the day’s challenges

Arguing with my wife, you argue with yours
take a few days off while making up
Your wife mad at me, mine mad at you
cost us a few expensive dinners

Using heavy materials, rounding corners
Carpeting and foam, lighting and wiring
Windows to cut out, curtains to hang
Screens in back and ceiling fan to circulate

You hit the rode in late August of ‘83
Wife, two daughters and sister in tow
Detroit Michigan to Monterrey, Mexico
A 1,700-mile trip to your birthplace

Your phone call was quick and to the point
Flying back in two or three days
Your phone call drowned, your voice cracked
“Flying home in a few days, it was bad,
Really bad, I’ll explain when I get home”
Something went wrong, and I was clueless

Next call was a week later and just as cryptic
“Can you come by my place?” “When?”
“Soon”, “I’ll be there in an hour”. Click
So like you not to say “Bye”. Just Click

You were alone, your house, a wreck
“What’s happen? Where are the girls?”
“Still in Mexico, I rolled the van”
“ROLLED the van? Oh no!”

In a low, monotone voice
you described the accident
on a deserted road off highway 85
in early fog morning on a short bridge

over & over the van rolled with deafening noise
of screams and things falling apart
broken bones and swirling debris
“I was the only one with a seatbelt on…”

“Your wife, daughters, where are they?
“Hospital in Laredo recovering”
“Your sister?” Your pause said it before
I heard it. ……“She died. Internal injuries.”

“My God, My God!

did the stuff we built into that van
injure your little girls, your wife, KILL your sister?”
“Don’t go there, don’t go there
It was an accident man, a freak accident.”