The Only One

Repetition of History

"An accident?!" Judy Burke stressed the word, receiving unwanted looks of concern from her older sister.

Joan pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road and Judy did not resist. Joan turned her attention from the road to devote it all to her sister and her husband on the other end of the line.

"Bill, what happened? Are you hurt?" Judy panicked frantically, nearly shouting at her husband.

"I'm not" he sighed, dragging out the explanation.

"Goddamnit, Bill! We're pulled over on the side of the road awaiting an explanation! What the hell happened?!"

Judy's choice of words alarmed her older sister enough to produce a speechless look on the woman's face. Judy recognized this and the cause of it, blushing with shame before calming down and continuing.

"I don't exactly know how it happened, Jude. Jess...he just started...oh, never mind. It'll all be self explanatory when you get here. We're way back on the number one highway. Right by the Wildfire."

"We have to turn back, go" Judy removed the phone from here ear to inform her sister of the unexpected arrangement.

Joan did as told without question, knowing when her sister was serious. Judy Burke didn't kid around when it came to her family. Joan knew this better than anyone else.
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At the scene, Bill bent down at an unresponsive Jesse, laying motionless on the side of the highway, his daughter hanging wearily over his shoulder.

20 minutes earlier, it was a peaceful drive once everyone was comfortable again after the stop for lunch.

I continued reading Lord of The Flies and listened to my own music on my phone while Jess attempted to get lost in another one of my fantasy books but was once again, failing miserably.

Just then, his mind wandered elsewhere and the book was placed at his side. Jesse stared out the window and emptiness came over him. His mind began filling with old memories of fifth grade and when he and I first met. Followed by that was the accident.
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Three years earlier, barely two months into fifth grade and the blossoming friendship between myself and Jesse Aarons, he was called up one Saturday morning by his schoolboy crush and music teacher, Ms. Julia Edmunds with an invitation to accompany her on a trip to an art museum.

Jesse hardly got his parents approval before accepting the offer and nearly taking off with the music teacher.

As the two passed by our house, he stared helplessly out the window. Jesse Aarons knew quite well what was the right thing to do. His guilty conscience, however, wanted to have Ms. Edmunds to himself.

"Can Leslie come with us?"

Jesse hadn't known he was going to say this, but he did. It just came out like a cough or a sneeze, an action you couldn't control.

Before Ms. Edmunds had the chance to respond to the question, she noticed the nauseous look on the boy's face and pulled over to ensure he was alright.

Just then, my father, Bill Burke, came out to the vehicle, having seen it from the house, to make sure everything was alright. The moment he reached the vehicle, Jess stuck his head out the window and threw up all over my father's shoes. My father tried to laugh and told Jess it was okay. He had always felt guilty about throwing up on his shoes.

I came following out not long after and with a disgusted look on my face, I asked Jess if he had thrown his breakfast up all over my father's shoes.