He found himself smiling because he knew the words were coming off of his lips soon. That always made him feel good. Mostly because he knew that if he said them first she would return the favor.
"I love you, sweet pea."
As usual the initial response was an eruption of giggles and then came what he had been waiting for all day.
"I love you, daddy."
This brought cuddle mode to full fervor as if warm hands were cupping his intestines and goddess lips were blowing sprinkles of pixie dust on them. Those words always made him feel as if he could die happy once they were uttered. But he knew this would never happen. Not yet anyway. For the potency in those four words currently made him feel invincible with a shield forged of butterfly kisses and laughter as yummy as birthday cake.
"Baby let me talk to mommy now. I'll see you soon."
These words met with more giggles and then with the passing from angel to angel would now come whispering so soothing it could have been flown into his ears on the wings of white doves.
"Hi ya honey. When ya comin' home?" Spoke his soulmate. Best friend and love of his life.
Though buzzing in the connection on the cell phone would hinder clarity the connection of their souls ignited with each scattered audible phrase.
"Soon. Not soon enough. But soon....." He paused and scanned far and wide. Traffic was a nightmare. The stop and go of rush hour challenged usage of the term "rush." None of this would matter in-
".....Twenty five minutes tops." His estimate ensured dual smiles as anything less than a half hour was certainly just cause for celebration.
He could almost feel the smile on Annie's lips through the haze of the phone that he was prohibited by law to be holding in his hand against the contours of his ear while on the chrome littered battlefield. Still, when all soldiers brave battle they must tow their weapon of choice and Brandon's was his smart phone. Life was flying at him in voices and emails with the frequency of bullets in literal combat. Without his trusty tool of trade and raid he would be lost in the mix and ripe for massacre. This made him devoted deeply to the device.
Imminent disconnect would be halted by something Annie had to tell him. He wasn't entirely sure he understood as stop and go accelerated with urgency and brought with it chaos. As he struggled to maintain position in the fast lane he asked her to hold that thought. A request never delivered as the jolting of Friday afternoon bumper cars on the 101 unknowingly caused his thumb to press the hang-up button. This brought his curiosity only silence and confusion and his attempt at recapturing the conversation would be severed upon impact.
The smart phone used so often unwisely would be ripped from his grasp by the forceful clutches of the air. But as much as Brandon had vowed to hold and protect his beloved it's farewell would be an insignificant quibble as his unbelted body was wrenched from the driver's seat by turbulence and thrown towards the windshield. In mid-flight the steering wheel slammed with enough pressure into his abdomen that had there not been such commotion from the collision that was now both ahead and behind his cherry red Mustang Brandon might have actually been able to hear his bones crackling and snapping throughout his anatomy. As it were though he only felt the trauma as if he were blindfolded as the rush of air flew into his face and caused his sockets to seize themselves up and thus temporarily imprisoning the balls of his eyes.
As his body jerked every which way with the elasticity of a pretzel made of flesh and bone the steering wheel impaled his mid-section and in doing so his legs bent themselves and folded up underneath of the wheel. He felt his right knee smash into the ashtray, which he only used for housing coins he took home nightly for his sweet pea angel. His cap shattered on the tin of the edges that were slightly ajar because he had just filled it with pennies and forgotten to close it tightly and his eyelids were peeled backwards from the wafting intensity of being flown into the windshield. In the instant between the collision itself and his impact with the glass the windshield went from spidercracks to shards that shredded the meat of his face.
The car slammed to a halt as its bumper collided with the end of the vehicle in front. His body stayed folded upon top of the steering column and wrapped itself around the middle and underneath of the wheel as his face lodged itself in the panel made of glass. Streaks of his blood splashed the interior of the car that was as well crimson on the outside. Brandon felt as if the shattered glass had sheared all the way through his face into his brain where it would sever his thought process. He clung to life in his frayed misery in hopes that he might be able to see the face of his sweet pea angel one last time before expiring. But there was so much blood and screaming all around him that he knew this to be impossible. Then realizing that he had just recently heard her say the magic words he let go and stepped into the abyss. His steps bringing with each of them the ultimate reckoning that he was not in fact invincible.
The smoke and bedlam that cluttered the 101 would soon begin to dissipate as if it were carried off by the arms of guardian angels. Much like the arms this guardian angel named Brandon once used to carry his own little angel off to slumber. The same sweet pea angel who now stood eagerly in front of the front door awaiting the arrival of her daddy. A door though only twenty five minutes from the scene of the accident, would now find itself another world away.
*****I remember driving around and seeing some dickhole talking on their car phone. I loathe these people and I thought to myself how awesome it would be to kill him. Thankfully, I am a writer and able to do this legally whenever I want. Original post date 7/15/2011*****
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