You see a lot of weird stuff on the freeways here in LA. Odd things abandoned on the side of the road. Questionable behavior in moving vehicles. Just the other day, I saw a guy smoking a large, unwieldy bong while driving. But all these surreal freeway moments exist only as split-second, out of context vignettes, because it’s impossible to go back for a second look. Which, for a over-active imagination like mine, is half the fun.
Today, on my way to lunch with a friend, I saw a car pulled over on the shoulder. No big deal. As I passed, a petite, pretty brunette got out of the passenger side door, crossed around the back of the car and got in the driver’s side. Still, no big deal. Except that the woman had a bloody, possibly broken nose. By the time this fact registered in my brain, I was already speeding away from her along with the rest of the traffic on the freeway.
She didn’t seem alarmed or agitated. Her movements were calm and deliberate. There were no other cars anywhere near her and the car she was in was not visibly damaged in any way.
What the fuck? If she was hurt, or even just got a garden-variety bloody nose, why would she want to drive? What happened to the person who was originally in the driver’s seat that she decided she was better off driving in her current bloody condition than they were? And why had they pulled over in the first place?
There’s all kinds of stories knotted up in there. None of them with happy endings.