Radical Accuracy

We’d been talking for hours. I’d let the night turn from reasonable hour to unreasonable hour, because the conversation was enthralling, when I suddenly felt the strangest urgency to leave. Immediately. I apologized to my college friend and let her know I needed to get going right away. Within minutes, I was out the door and driving home, passing under stripes of light cast by the street lamps. If I hadn’t left exactly then, I wouldn’t have seen it.

Less than a block from home, a car pulled right then jerked left in front of me. It stopped at the red light ahead, and a female passenger opened the door and started to get out when she was pulled forcefully back in and the door slammed shut next to her. There were some furtive movements, some shoving and pulling. A couple teasing each other, maybe? I reasoned.

The light turned green and I followed the car up the road and to the left near my house. I lost sight of the car just before the hill. As I reached the top of the hill, there in the middle of the suburban intersection was the female, lying on the ground, motionless. The car was stopped…