IT’S AMAZING HOW QUICKLY the weather shifts in September. The mornings, of course, bring in cooler temperatures, but on nights like tonight, with the windows of my car down and the radio playing a good mix of Jazz and R&B, I welcome the warmth as hints of a gentle breeze tickle my skin. I even feel like sticking my hand out the window and allowing the breeze to sink deep into my bones as I move it to the beat of the music. What’s ironic, is that this morning, over coffee, Jasmine commented that I look as though I’m finally coming out of my fog of despair.
Perhaps she’s right. Something’s different. That feeling of hope that I felt after my first session with Donovan is still lingering inside me.
I can’t believe I’m looking forward to my next session tomorrow.
Maybe I need to do my sessions twice a week, instead of weekly.
I continue to ponder over that possibility as I hit the expressway, eager to make it downtown in thirty minutes, if possible, to meet Jasmine and her parents, Vicky and Jack, for dinner.
Of course, Jasmine thinks I’m only looking forward to my next session because, as she put it, “Donovan is extremely handsome.” My words, not hers.
That girl is a mess, but I’m so thankful for her.
Just as I finally make it off the expressway, my phone rings. “I knew you’d be calling me,” I say as I make my way over to the left lane. “Before you get on me for being late, I’m less than ten minutes out.” A car darts in front of me, and I hit the brakes. “Hey, are you there?” I hear a voice, but it’s so low. “Jasmine, are you there?”
“Raine, it’s Vicky, Jasmine’s mother.”
“Vicky. Sorry, I thought you were Jasmine.”
“I’m calling you from her phone.”
“Why? Is everything all right?”
“Can you pull over?”
“I’m about to make a turn. What’s wrong?”
“I need you to pull over first.” I can hear the trembling in her voice.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
“Please, Raine. Just pull over.”
“Give me a minute. I’ll call you right back.”
“Okay.”
Panic is setting in as I pull into the lot of a closed gas station. The smell of gasoline fills my nostrils, and I take a few deep breaths before dialing Vicky back.
“Raine?”
“Yeah, it’s me. What in the world is going on?”
“I-I don’t know how to tell you this, I can’t believe it myself, b-but Jasmine is gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean, gone? Gone where?”
“She was getting inside her car when she was hit by a car. She was… our girl is gone, Raine. She was killed instantly.”
I can’t stop my hands from shaking as I hold the phone to my ear.
“Raine, are you there, honey?”
“Yes,” is all I manage to whisper as tears flood my cheeks.