Hit and Run

Hit and Run

Author's Note: I've plugged away at this one for months and finally finished it. I hope you enjoy it.

*****

"Todd! Let's go! You don't want to be late for the first day of school!"

Her seven-year old son came flying down the stairs and said, "Or for your first day of work, right Mom?"

She wanted to tell him not to go down the stairs like that, but he looked so cute in his new glasses and school clothes she let it go.

"Right. That would not be good for either one of us, would it?" she said to her son as she handed him a brown paper bag.

Suzanne Odd, 'odd' only by virtue of having married one Melvin Odd some ten years ago, was so stressed out it was all she could do to hold it together. As usual, her cheating ex was late with child support, and it would be two weeks from today before she got a first paycheck, and as usual, her bank balance was at zero.

But she was just happy to have found a job and couldn't wait to get started. The pay was decent, but almost as important to her, she needed something to do to keep her busy and take her mind off of the never-ending stresses in her life.

One of those stressors was getting her name changed back to Rivers, but she desperately wanted to be able to change Todd's name, too, but his father wouldn't allow it. He was a sweet little boy, but boys weren't all sweet. Some of them were merciless in their teasing, and with a last name like Odd, her son had been known as either "Oddball" or "Odd Todd" since Kindergarten. Making matters worse, he needed braces, and between that and the glasses he wore, he was a prime target for bullying. Without a dad at home it made for a lot of days when her son was clearly upset by it all, and the times she'd tried to intervene had only made it worse.

Now, here they were, in a new town starting at a new school and a new job, respectively. Suzanne had high hopes that their situation would also change, and while she knew many people had it far worse, there only seemed to be one direction in which their situation could go. Up.

"Okay, when we get to school I'll run in and drop off the emergency contact list."

She saw her son look up at her and immediately knew why.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to walk you to class, okay?"

He smiled and told her, "Thanks, Mom!"

As they got in the car she felt overwhelmed; too overwhelmed to think about things like hope or an improving situation whether it be financially or just with regard to Todd not being teased so much. But she also felt hopeful, and with that they headed out to start their new lives.

Suzanne had driven around Medford in the beautiful state of Oregon quite a few times already but still didn't really know the town. With a population just under 90,000 it wasn't exactly a small town, but it was still small enough not to have a big city vibe, and that was one of the things she loved about it. That and the weather.

That, and her other worries only added to the stress as she tried to make sure she was in the correct lane before each turn. Traffic was heavy but manageable at 7:35 in the morning, and as she merged into the right lane she took a long, slow, deep breath and exhaled. She made the move without issue and put on her right turn signal as she slowed down from 35 to about 15 miles per hour.

"Mom! Guess what?" Todd asked from the back seat just as she started the turn.

For the briefest of moments she glanced at him in the mirror. When she looked back at the road, panic welled up inside of her and her instincts took over. Suzanne jammed on the brakes causing a loud screech as Todd's shoulder harness locked out. The car rapidly slowed down but not rapidly enough to avoid hitting a runner who had darted across the street.

She not only hadn't seen him, she was totally unaware that he was in a crosswalk when she hit him. Instinct continued working as she jammed the transmission into park, flung the door open and ran around to the front of her car.

"Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God! Are you okay?" she asked of the younger man who'd sat up and had his head hung between his legs.

"I...I think so," she heard him say as he slowly raised his head to look at her.

"I am SO sorry. I...I didn't see, and I...."

"It's okay," he told her as he went to stand up.

His legs were a little wobbly, and they nearly buckled when he put his weight on them. Suzanne grabbed his arm and steadied him, apologizing again as she did and asking one more time if he was okay.

Before he could answer, a horn honked and then so did another. She looked back and saw what looked like 20 cars waiting to turn right.

The runner, who was wearing just shorts and a tee shirt with his running shoes, said, "You uh, you need to move out of the way, ma'am."

"But I...are you sure you're okay? Do you need a ride to the hospital?" she asked, now feeling like she was going to vomit.

"I...I don't think so, but could you maybe take me to the end of this street?" he asked as he gingerly limped toward the passenger door.

"Yes. Yes, of course," she said as she watched him get in, her hands covering her mouth to hide the horror she was feeling.

"Hey, Lady! Move your ass, would ya?" someone hollered.

"Sorry!" she yelled back as she hurried to her own door and got back in.

She went to put the car in gear but stopped on 'N' before hitting the gas. The engine revved but the car didn't move.

"You're in neutral," the jogger calmly told her.

"Oh. Jeez. Right," she said as her shaky hand pulled the gearshift down another notch.

Her new passenger looked over and saw that she was either in shock or close to it.

"Ma'am? Why don't you pull in over here," he suggested as he pointed to a gas station.

"You look like you could use some time to um...settle down...a bit."

Too frazzled to think, Suzanne did as she was told and pulled into the gas station but stopped in front of a pump.

"Maybe pull up there?" the younger man suggested, now pointing to an empty parking spot near the door.

When she finally got the car parked he asked if she was okay.

"Yeah, Mom. Are you okay?" Todd asked, too, suddenly worried about his mother.

"I...I don't...no."

Todd thought she'd said, "I don't know," but the 20-something year old man knew she meant 'no' as in, "No, I am not okay."

"Ma'am?" he said rather quietly as he reached over and gently put his hand on her forearm.

He then said, "I'm okay. Really. But I'm worried that maybe you aren't. Can I possibly help?"

The immediate, acute stress she was feeling, added to the longterm stress she'd been under for months, was the straw that broke the camel's back. She went straight from tearing up to sobbing uncontrollably at light speed.

"Mom? What's wrong?" Todd asked as he clicked off his seat belt and moved closer to his mother.

Unable to speak his mom just shook her head, which was lowered onto the steering wheel, and continued heaving sobs.

"Do you know what's wrong with my mom?" Todd asked the man he didn't even know.

"Not for sure, buddy, but I have a pretty good idea it's stress related. Maybe you could give her a hug?"

The boy slid between the front seats and found a way to do that. His mom tried to put an arm around him, too, as she continued wailing, and at that point Todd got scared.

"Should we take her to the doctor?" Todd asked.

Finding the strength to say a few words, Suzanne got out, "No. We need to take him to the doctor. Not me."

There was pauses between the words as she couldn't quite get them all at once.

The man who looked to be about 20 years older than Todd said, "I'm okay, buddy. And your mom will be, too. She just needs to time to recover. That's all."

"Will you, Mom? Will you be okay?"

Now feeling strong enough to be embarrassed, Suzanne raised her head a bit and nodded weakly as she assured her son that she would.

"He's right, honey. It's...it's just stress. I'm okay. You can sit back down."

He waited until his mother said, "No, I really am okay. I promise," before doing what she told him to do.

Too embarrassed to look at her passenger, Suzanne asked again if he needed to go to the hospital.

"Absolutely not. And ma'am?"

He waited for her to look his way then said, "I'm not going to sue you."

He smiled then added, "I give you my word."

Those words were such a relief that she started crying again, but this time it was just crying. The kind of crying that happened when a huge amount of pressure was released all at once, and she couldn't help it even though she hated herself for doing it. The tears had to flow to reduce the stress that had built up inside of her. She was like a kind of human pressure cooker, and once the relief valve was opened, the steam had to be let out.

The younger man again put his hand on her forearm then quietly asked how he could help.

These words also touched her deeply but in a very different way.

"You? You're the one who needs help. My goodness, I just ran you over! And yet you're asking about me?"

She couldn't not look at him any longer and when she turned his way, she was a mess of mascara and dried saline, at least where the earlier tears had dried.

Her passenger noticed some dried snot on her upper lip but didn't mention it as she had enough to worry about.

"You didn't run me over," he told, a smile on his face. "I saw your car and thought I could beat you across the sidewalk. Actually, I ran out in front of you."

"But you had the right of way. There was a crosswalk, and I didn't see it. Or you."

"Either way, I'm fine, and you're obviously going somewhere, so now I'm worried about you being able to get there safely. Would you at least consider letting me drive until you're feeling better?"

He kind of squeezed her forearm and smiled again.

"I...my son is starting school at Oak Grove Elementary, and this is my first day at a new job."

"Then we should probably get going, huh?" he said, understanding the reason for at least some of her stress, as he opened his door and ran over to her side to open hers.

He helped her out, and while Suzanne remembered to thank him, she was still too embarrassed to look at him.

As he started the car he said, "My name's Jeff, by the way."

She gave him a quick look then told her she was Suzanne.

"And my son's name is Todd."

"Hey, Todd," Jeff said as he gave the boy a quick look while backing out.

"Hi," the boy shyly replied.

"I used to go to Oak Grove," Jeff said to the boy as he put the car in drive.

"You did?"

"Uh-huh. About 20 years ago or so. Give or take."

"Cool! Did you like it?"

Suzanne was trying to fix the mess on her face but said, "He's a little nervous. First day. New school."

"Ah, okay. Yeah, that makes sense."

"So what grade are you in this year?" Jeff asked.

"Second!"

"Nice. So you're what? Seven or eight?"

"Seven. I'll be eight in April," the boy said as though April was just around the corner rather than eight months away.

"Okay. Got it."

"Turn left at the light," Suzanne said before remembering he knew where the school was and apologizing--again.

"It's okay. You just try and relax, all right?"

She finally took a real first look at him then said, "Thank you."

"My pleasure."

Suzanne had been too preoccupied with thoughts of things like being arrested and jailed to notice, but she now realized he was a very attractive young man. He had thick, black hair, bright blue eyes, high cheekbones, and an amazing smile that showcased some of the whitest teeth she'd ever seen making her hope Todd's might one day look that good.

"Do you need to be somewhere?" Suzanne asked once she was able to think again.

"Me? No. I have nowhere to be all day," he told her, that beautiful smile once again lighting up his very handsome face.

"Oh. Okay. I was just thinking you may have needed to get home in order to, you know...."

"Get to work?" he replied with a laugh.

"Sorry. It's none of my business," she said, now feeling a little embarrassed for a different reason as he pulled into the school parking lot.

"I have to drop off a piece of paper. Is that okay?" she asked apologetically.

"Of course. I have nowhere to be, remember?" he told her in a friendly, teasing kind of way.

She finally smiled back as she said, "Right. I'll just be a minute. I promise."

"Take your time, and you have a great first day, okay, Todd?"

"I will!" he said as he hopped out of the car and slammed the door.

Jeff only chuckled when he heard his mom tell him to close it a little easier the next time.

Suzanne was pleasantly shocked when her son took her hand and felt certain it was due to him worrying about her, a thought that almost made her tear up again. He let go in order to open the big door for her, and she told him 'thank, you, sir' as she went in first.

Todd stopped then said, "I'm gonna go find my classroom, okay, Mom?"

"Oh. Sure thing, hon...Todd."

He looked around, and not seeing any older boys said, "You can give me a hug if you want."

As his happy mother bent down to do just that he quietly told her, "But NO kisses!"

"No. No way," she said, making the hug brief. "Have a good first day, okay?"

"You too, Mom!" he said before heading outside and down a sidewalk where he learned he needed to go to the cafeteria until the first bell rang.

Suzanne dropped off the form then made sure the school secretary knew that, under no circumstances, was Todd's father--or anyone else--allowed to pick him up.

"Got it," she said as though that was a normal, everyday thing which it actually was.

On her way outside she walked as quickly as she could and apologized again for taking so long.

"Did you forget again? Already?" Jeff asked, that smile still there.

"Oh, right. You have nowhere to be," she parroted before laughing.

"That's better!" the younger man said when she laughed.

"Jeff? I really am sorry about...earlier."

"Thank you, but don't be. It really was my fault, crosswalk or not."

As he pulled out of the school parking lot he said, without looking at her, "Do you maybe want to talk about whatever's been stressing you out?"

He did glance over as he added, "This morning's event aside?"

He'd noticed she was a nice looking woman the first time he saw her after getting in the car, but as she walked out of the office he got a really good look at her. She had long, very dark hair that was parted on the side and fell to just above her shoulders. It was silky and smooth and looked perfect on her. It was also just the right look for the shape of her face; a face he found...attractive. In fact, were it not for the puffy, red eyes and the mascara that still wasn't right, he'd say she was very attractive.

Suzanne was wearing a dress, and although it was one that was appropriate for the office, it was obvious that she had a very nice figure. Jeff wasn't a 'horn dog' by any means, but he was a healthy, red-blooded guy and couldn't help but notice such things. Things like what appeared to be C-cup breasts, a waist that might be 25-27 inches, and from just above the knee to the heels she was wearing, a pair of very shapely legs.

"I don't want to burden you with all of that. You've already gone 'above and beyond'."

"Nah. Just doing what any decent person would do in the same situation."

She made a little 'ha!' sound then said, "You obviously haven't met my ex-husband."

Jeff raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"Sorry. I said I wasn't going to dump any of my stuff on you."

"It's okay. I'm a pretty good listener, Suzanne."

"Oh. Turn right up here, please. My new office is about a mile down on the left from there."

As he told her 'will do' it hit her that he was driving her car.

"Oh, my goodness. How are you going to get home? Do you need me to take you?"

"What? No. You need to get to work."

He glanced at the huge watch on his left wrist then said, "I've got 7:58, and if work starts at 8am...."

Suzanne had lost track of time and nearly felt sick again at the thought of being late and getting fired as she walked in.

"It does, and no one would ever believe my story," she replied with a nervous laugh.

"I'll vouch for you if you need me to," Jeff told her with a little laugh of his own.

"I hope it won't come to that," she said, not sure they'd make it on time.

"Then let me give you my number. Just in case."

Suzanne still got flirted with...a lot...but it had been a few years since anyone Jeff's age who looked like he did had done that. Seeing no reason to think he was flirting or that he was some kind of stalker--a stalker she'd run into--she agreed.

Jeff gave her his digits and his last name.

"Randall. Okay. Mine is O...Rivers," she told him, not wanting to get into the 'odd' nature of her married name.

"Suzanne Rivers. Nice to meet you," Jeff said as he slowed to turn into the parking lot she pointed out.

"You as well, Jeff Randle."

When he stopped she thanked him, apologized one more time, then asked, "How are you getting home?"

He ran around and got her door, and as he helped her out, he said, "I'll run."

And with that, he smiled, pretended to tip an imaginary hat at her, closed the door, then turned around and started running.

"If only I were ten...no...15 years younger," the 42-year old brunette said to herself as she opened the office door to start her new job and her new life.

The morning flew by as she did her best to learn the basics of using the phone, the work-related apps on her computer, and other important first-day items like the names of the other people around her. Human resources had hired her, so when she walked in, Suzanne didn't know a single person there.

By noon, however, she'd made a friend, or at least an acquaintance, and they walked across the street together to a cozy little cafe for lunch. Like so many other women their age, this woman's name was Heather, one of the most popular girl names of the time. She was a few years older than Suzanne and as nice as anyone she'd ever met.

"So you're new to the city and starting a new job," Heather repeated back after she and Suzanne chatted for a minute or two. "I'm envious. I've lived here all my life."

"I needed a fresh start after the divorce, and my ex has no interest in our son, so it only made sense to move somewhere new."

Both of Suzanne's parents had already passed away as she came along very late in their lives. They were 45 and 42, respectively, when she'd been born, and because she was an only child, so there wasn't much tying her to the place where she'd grown up.

"I have two brothers and a sister," Heather told her. "And a husband and two children of my own."

She realized how that might sound and apologized.

"No. Don't. I'm happy for you. I'd still be happily married if my former husband didn't have a compulsive need to sleep with other women. Other...younger women."

"Oh, my heavens! What a pig. I mean, you're so beautiful! I can't believe you're over 40."

Suzanne gave her a funny look and Heather assured her she was being serious.

"I'm 47 and people think I'm 55. You're 42 and look 35, so be thankful."

"That's very kind of you to say, but I feel 55 myself lately."

They talked a while longer about themselves before the conversation turned to work.

"I'm just so thankful to have this job," Suzanne told her new friend sincerely.

She almost didn't say it but felt comfortable enough to do so, and said, "I came very close to being late this morning."

"We need people so bad I don't see you being fired for coming in a few minutes late, but I'm the same way. I'm early to everything, and I mean everything.

She leaned Suzanne's way then quietly said, "I'll probably be early to my own funeral!"

Suzanne laughed and felt a little better.

"I...I ran into someone this morning," she said, not aware that those words had more than one meaning.