La Señora
by Arturo
Gutierrez
Lt. Bell
arrived at a scene he had never witnessed before.
A green Civic parked halfway inside a living room.
He walked through the debris towards the
driver’s side window where an old Mexican
lady sat there, gripping onto her cane.
“This
shifter isn’t working again. I have it in
reverse and nothing,” the lady mumbled,
shifting her cane back and forth. “Pinche
mecánico, sirven para nada.”
“Ma-am,
are you alright? An ambulance is on its way,”
Bell said, tapping on the window unable to get
the ladies' attention.
“We’re
all hurt to some extent,” Jason said. Bell
looked over, shocked to see two men inside.
“Nothing serious just bumps and bruises.”
“Were you
hit by the car?” Bell asked.
“Worse,”
Kenny said, covering his nose with a rag doused
in blood. “You ever been hit with a cane
before?”
“I
don’t understand,”
“La
señora happened.”
Bell walked
off the demolished cement and shattered glass
towards the two men. The sirens sound near.
“Before
we say anything know that this a family matter.
Please put the notepad away.” There was a
momentary silence until the Lt. Bell conceded.
“So our mom failed her eye exam so her
license is getting revoked. Calming her down
didn’t work.”
“Pinche
cabrones que no piensan de tu madre,” Kenny
said in a loud raspy voice.
“Sorry I
don’t speak any Spanish.”
“We’re
ungrateful bastards who don’t think about
our mother,” Jason translated.
“She
sounds like a sweetheart,” Lt. Bell
said.
“Only the
most ruthless sweetheart you’ll ever meet,”
Kenny said smiling, dried up blood on his teeth.
“She
asked us how we expected her to get around.
‘How am I supposed to take my dog to the vet
tomorrow?’ Not realizing she was petting my
son.” Jason said.
Lt. Bell
covered his mouth to hide the laughter from both
men.
“Nana,
I’m not a dog’ Jason yelled at her. I
don’t think this was the first time
Mom’s mixed the two up.”
“Oh no.”
Kenny pointed to the car. Their mother sound
asleep with the cane still in hand. The ambulance
arrived, yet they all heard her snore over the
sound of the siren. “This is the perfect
time to steal the keys. As much as I’d to
file a restraining order, are we done officer?”
“Just
protect yourselves from that cane when you get
her inside. Board this hole up when you’re
done,” Lt. Bell said. He pulled a business
card from his wallet. “My brother will give
you a good price on some sheets of wood.” Lt.
Bell continued to look back as he walked to his
patrol car, watching as the two men carry their
mother out of the car from inside the house. He
couldn’t help but smile. As he drove off he
made a phone call.
“Hey mom,
it’s your son. I just left the craziest call
of my life. It made me think of something you
would have done.”
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