by Noe Dearden
*****
They realized halfway to the car that Charlotte was barefoot. She had left her brand new sandals on the cliff.
“Leave them,” Emi said in disgust. She wanted to get out of there.
And she was frightened of her cousin.
“Are you drunk?” Emi asked. She tried to get close enough to smell Charlotte’s breath.
Her cousin shook her head. She seemed sober enough now.
“That was messed up,” Emi muttered. “If I hadn’t seen you go down, you would have drowned. You can’t even swim.”
“It was a close call,” Charlotte agreed.
“Well, you don’t seem all that upset about it,” Emi shouted. She was angry without knowing why. What did she care if Charlotte threw away her life? “Were you trying to impress those people? Or are you really that stupid?”
They had reached Mr. Kerrigan’s Honda and Charlotte got into the driver’s seat, not speaking a word. She said nothing as she started the engine and slid the car back onto the road. Then, in a very normal voice, as though Emi weren’t visibly upset: “I forget the way home.”
“Turn right,” Emi snapped. She rested her head against the window. Her clothes were leaving wet spots all over Kerrigan’s upholstery.
“Look, I know your mom has problems,” Emi said after a long time, trying to use a calmer voice. “Is that what this is about? Are you upset about that or something?”
“Don’t overthink it, Emi,” Charlotte said. “I wanted to try cliff-diving. I didn’t know the current was that strong.”
“I told you it was strong,” Emi said. The frustration she felt about her cousin’s irrational behavior was mounting ever higher. “Don’t you have any survival instincts? You’re freaking me out.”
Charlotte laughed, but it wasn’t the same maniacal laughter as before. It sounded humorless and dead. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I really do screw everything up.” She twisted her fingers around the steering wheel. “I let people down. I never mean to. It just happens.”
Emi guessed they were driving forty miles per hour down Kalaniana‘ole Highway when the car ahead of them stopped abruptly. The tires squealed against the asphalt and Emi felt a snap of inertia as Charlotte slammed on the brakes. It happened so fast. Charlotte swung the car away, but impact was inevitable. The force of the car hitting the pick-up truck in front of them sent shockwaves through Emi’s body. Her shoulder stung where the seatbelt dug into her flesh.
Everything went dead silent.
Emi was almost too afraid to open her eyes, but she forced herself to look down at her body. It seemed intact.
“Charlotte?” she whispered. “Are you -- Oh god. Oh god.” There was so much blood running down the side of Charlotte’s face. Emi clapped a hand over her mouth.
“It’s okay. I’m okay,” Charlotte said. But as she shifted in her seat, she winced.
Emi took Charlotte’s hand and squeezed it. Someone was tapping on the driver-side window.
“Are you hurt?” a stranger called through the glass.
For the first time, Emi noticed the front of their car. The hood was entirely destroyed. She was too shocked to form any coherent sentence. A thousand words caught in her throat.
With some difficulty, Charlotte wound down the window. “Have you called the police?” she asked.
“An ambulance is coming,” the stranger said over the rumble of traffic. He looked over his shoulder, as if willing the police to materialize that very moment. “Hang in there, alright?” The traffic light ahead of them turned red, coloring everyone’s faces bloody in the dark.
Emi dropped her head into her hands. “My parents,” she said. “Are going to kill me.”
