C 28 on the 23’rd Day

The call came in at noon. The guy had been driving on C 28, flat tire. No big deal, send an officer out to help him. Routine stuff, really routine stuff; the cop would just go out, help the guy change his tire and then come back to the station. He would take about a half hour, in time to watch the game over lunch at the station with the firemen on shift. Officer Theodore Lewis got into his car and rubbed his eyes. He was very tired. He had to go do some really routine stuff.

He turned the key in the ignition and put the car into reverse. He pulled out of the station and onto the road. Turning on the sirens was definitely a waste of time. There were never any cars on this road. It was a dead end road that led to the Fire station, with a building that branched off into the spacious Police Headquarters. The building was actually a very nice building. It was hooked up with the latest gadgets and best furnishings. But, then again, the entire city was hooked up with the latest gadgets and best furnishings. The town was loaded; there was no other way to put it.

Officer Lewis coughed loudly. His wife had told him that he was sick, but he didn’t buy it. Why not sit around at work sick instead of sitting at home sick. The Firemen and Policemen of this town never did anything anyway. That’s why Theodore Lewis loved his job.

He drove past the Mc. Donald’s fast food joint. It was vacant, no surprise. When people like the people of Karen, Colorado can afford expensive food, they eat expensive food. Having a Mc. Donald’s there was an absolute waste of time. The only people that ever ate there were the occasional groups of teenagers coming back from a movie, and just not ready to go home to neglectful Mom and Dad just yet.

The Highway, ah…The Highway, Officer Lewis thought. Road to nowhere, because there is nowhere in Colorado worth going, he frowned. C 28 was the only major highway, it cut straight through the mountains, making a direct path through Colorado. It went all the way from Albuquerque, New Mexico through Denver and up and out of Colorado. C 28 had been extremely profitable because it stopped the need to travel around the mountains, and created a way to travel right through them.

It was an extremely dangerous road to. No one obeyed the speed limit, and no one paid any attention except a couple of Denver Traffic cops. And it was very busy; any shortcut through Colorado was usually busy. Lewis’s guy had barely made it out of town. About a mile out, and he wasn’t too hard to spot. The guy drove a piece of crap. A very large and obnoxious piece of crap is what it was. The thing was a van, completely rusted on the outside, and the inside was gone. It was the ugliest car that Theodore had ever seen. It was amazing that the thing was still driving around.

Theodore pulled over right behind him, quickly radioed in to home base that he had found the man’s car, and that he was getting out to help him out. Theodore cracked his neck lightly, and opened up the car door. Theodore Lewis was a tall man, not too tall, but a bit taller than most people. He wasn’t a large man, like most of the other cops. He valued his shape and figure. His combed black hair was hidden under his dark blue hat. He wore an officer’s uniform, with his dark blue shirt tucked into blue pants with a black belt. The shoes were shined, too.

Officer Theodore Lewis was not a man to smile. His life was too ‘bleh’ to receive enough excitement to deserve a smile. But if you asked his wife, she would tell you that everyday when he came home he would smile at her, and then kiss her. She would also tell you that it was the most beautiful smile that she had ever seen. She was quite convinced that she had married the perfect man.

Cars whizzed by on the highway as the officer approached the van. He rounded the front of the car to see a younger man in his early twenties standing with his back to the front of the car. He had his head in his hand.

“Sir, are you alright?” Officer Theodore Lewis asked in a deep raspy voice. He definitely was coming down with something.

The man lifted his head, Lewis noticed that the hand was wet. This man had been crying. “I’m…I’m fine. I-I-I just can’t change the tire. I’ve got a spare in the back, but I-uh-I can’t…I don’t have a jack.”

“I’ve got one. Are you sure you are alright? You don’t look good.” Lewis said.

“I…I’m good,” He took a moment to compose himself, “My name is Nathan. Nathan Widstrong.” He held out his hand and Lewis shook it.

“Let me go get my jack Mr. Widstrong.” Theodore said. There was something not right about this kid. That, or he was really upset that he wasn’t able to do this alone, and he felt like he had disgraced himself for calling the Police to come and help him.

There was an awkward silence between the two for the rest of the time that Officer Lewis changed the tire. Cars whizzed by, making very loud noises. It made discussion difficult even if the two wanted to talk. Neither did though. Nathan realized he had missed his chance to do what he knew he had to do. Officer Lewis just didn’t want to talk to the guy.

“There you go, all fixed.” Officer Lewis said, wiping his hands off on a cloth. He looked up at Nathan Widstrong. Nathan Widstrong acknowledged Lewis with a nod, then asked him what the time was in his nervous squeaky voice. The man was just a kid. Probably never went anywhere after High School. Running off from his Parents, maybe, but it wasn’t Theodore’s place to stop him.

“It’s Twelve Twenty Three.” Officer Lewis answered, “Keep safe out there.” Lewis actually smiled. He wished the kid good luck. “And don’t make any mistakes that you are going to regret.”

Officer Lewis got into his car and drove back towards the station. He smiled again when he saw that Nathan Widstrong’s car was coming back into town.

Twenty Three Days Later…

“Lewis! We got a call, Flat tire. Take care of it.” Sheriff Husking screamed at Officer Lewis. Theodore slammed his head on the table. The other two officers in the room laughed.

“Where’s it at Sheriff?” Lewis asked.

“On C 28, about a mile out of town southbound.”

“Alright, I’ll take care of it, Sheriff.” Lewis sighed. He despised Sheriff Husking. The man was a pig, he never stopped eating. And Lewis had seemed to notice over the past couple of months that Husking had directed most of his bad attitude at Lewis. It was always Officer Theodore Lewis who got the boring calls on the slow days. The thing was, every day was a slow day.

Officer Theodore Lewis got into his car and rubbed his eyes. He was very tired. He had to go do some really routine stuff. He turned the key in the ignition and put the car into reverse. He pulled out of the station and onto the road. He drove past the Mc. Donald’s fast food joint. He then turned onto the highway a few minutes later. The Highway, ah…The Highway, Officer Lewis thought.

He drove a mile out of town, southbound. His mind was completely blank, he wasn’t thinking about the identical trip that he had made twenty three days earlier at about the same time. Officer Theodore Lewis didn’t realize it until he saw a brown beat up and rustic van on the side of the road. There were two other cars, one stopped in the middle of the road, another pulled over in front of the brown van.

Officer Theodore’s eyes widened. He grabbed his radio and sent for backup, although he didn’t know what it was for yet. He had concluded it wasn’t a flat tired though. He pulled the car over on the side of the road. The door was opened to the sound of a woman screaming on the phone. She was screaming for help on her cell phone. Officer Theodore ran to her in a panic, his hand never leaving his holster. He took his precautions.

“OFFICER!” She screamed to him, “OFFICER HELP!”

“Ma’am, what happened?” Officer Lewis asked.

“I didn’t mean to hit him, I swear! I swear to God and on the Holy Bible I never meant to hit him. It’s just I was going so fast, and he just stepped out into the road. I didn’t have time to stop. No time at all.” The Woman continued rambling. Officer Lewis was distracted though. His gaze had moved to the woman’s windshield, where Nathan Widstrong’s body was smashed into the windshield, blood everywhere.

There was a man in the other car. He told Officer Lewis that he had seen what happened. He admitted that the woman was going a bit fast, but it wasn’t her fault. The kid had stepped out into the road.

“Don’t do anything your going to regret…” Officer Lewis recalled saying. He thought Nathan Widstrong had been running from home. But Nathan Widstrong had been attempting suicide. The police had been called so that someone could clean him up.

The first time Officer Theodore Lewis called, Nathan Widstrong had not gone through with it. He had scared himself out of it. Not the second time. Not the second time.