Why was Troy raising someone else’s teenager? How had he wound up caring for a niece?
The questions ricocheted through Rachelle’s mind while she drove to a local hamburger joint to grab lunch with Indigo. The girl was chattering about something, but Rachelle was lost in her thoughts.
She had met Troy’s mother and two siblings soon after they began dating during her sophomore year at Everson. Troy invited her to join the family whenever they visited him on campus.
After they eloped, he had taken her to his mother’s modest home in Dallas for the first time, so they could share their news. Ms. Hardy was disappointed that they hadn’t waited, but she had given her blessing when they promised to graduate as scheduled in six months and go on to grad school.
Troy’s brother, Terrance, was teaching middle school in a Dallas suburb and had recently married his college sweetheart. His sister, Tania, had just begun high school and was an academic scholar and cheerleader, headed for the same success as her brothers. How had he wound up with custody of one of their kids?
That question led to another burning one: if he could take care of someone else’s child, why didn’t he have a wife and family of his own, as fine and accomplished as he was? Something didn’t add up.
Maybe I did the right thing by leaving . . .
The rush of relief Rachelle felt behind that knee-jerk sentiment was short-lived. She knew the next time she saw Troy, she’d still be squirming and struggling to ignore the heart palpitations she experienced whenever she was in his presence. And at least he seemed to have an agenda for his life.
A shrill siren pulled her back to reality. She steered the Lexus to the right, even though an ambulance was speeding in the opposite direction.
Seconds later, she pulled back into traffic and turned onto the busy street that led to Fat Joe’s Burgers. They wouldn’t be eating there today, she realized. Thompson Avenue was blocked.
Several wrecked cars were splayed across the road, and at least four police vehicles, with blue lights flashing, surrounded them. Another ambulance was leaving the scene at a slower pace, without the blasting siren, and a tow truck driver was trying to properly position his vehicle in front of one of the cars.
Indigo had taken her iPod from her purse when she realized Rachelle wasn’t listening to her and had become engrossed in a music video unfolding on the media player’s screen. She raised her head when the stalled traffic forced Rachelle to reduce her speed. They sat in a line of cars making U-turns under a police officer’s direction.
“This is a big accident for the middle of the day,” Rachelle said.
Rachelle inched forward and was preparing to turn around when Indigo did a double-take. The girl lowered the window on the passenger door and leaned out to get a better view of the accident.
“Cousin Rachelle! Stop!”
Rachelle smashed on the brakes. The car jerked to a halt. “What?”
Indigo pointed and began to cry. “That’s Mama’s car! In the middle of the street! All bent up! I don’t see her anywhere!”
Rachelle looked through the window, past the officer who was striding toward her with a frown. Indigo was right. The vehicle being lifted onto the tow truck resembled Aunt Irene’s navy Cadillac DeVille.
Rachelle was about to pull ahead, into a doughnut shop parking lot, when the officer reached the car and leaned inside the passenger window.
“Is there a problem? We need to keep it moving, ma’am,” he said.
“Sir, I believe that’s my aunt’s car,” Rachelle said and pointed toward the Cadillac, which was now resting on the bed of the tow truck. “Is she okay? Was she taken to the hospital in one of those ambulances?”
The officer gave her a once-over. He glanced at Indigo, who was sobbing. “Pull over to that lot,” he said, indicating the area Rachelle had been headed toward anyway. He yelled to another officer to take over directing the traffic and approached Rachelle’s car.
Before the policeman could reach them, she and Indigo unbuckled themselves and jumped out of their seats. He picked up his pace when he realized they were about to walk toward the accident scene.
“You two ladies, hold it,” he said.
Rachelle paused, but Indigo kept going. Mr. Keystone Cop needed to chill.
She saw fear in Indigo’s eyes and her heart went out to the girl. She must be about to flip out.
“My cousin needs to make sure her mother is alright, okay?” Rachelle said. “Can you tell me if Irene Burns was driving that car?”
The officer didn’t bend. “We’re only authorized to release information to next of kin, to the person an accident victim instructs us to call.”
Rachelle wanted to yell at him and tell him to look at the terror in Indigo’s eyes and forget the rules. She wanted to shake him into humanity.
She took a deep breath instead and tried to calm herself before she made things worse. Plus, it sounded as if Aunt Irene, or whoever the accident victims were, had felt up to talking. That was good.
Indigo trotted back to Rachelle’s side.
“What happened?” she asked the policeman, still whimpering.
He hesitated, then looked into her eyes. “Someone was drinking and driving, little lady. That person caused an accident and two people were injured and sent to the hospital.”
Indigo’s face fell. “One of the drivers was drinking? Was it my mother?”
Rachelle frowned at the officer. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to answer. “Have you notified the people the victims asked you to call? Was one of them Charles Burns? If so, he’s my uncle.”
The officer looked at the two of them and sighed. “Give me a minute.”
He walked toward the accident scene and approached an officer who was holding a clipboard and taking notes. Rachelle watched them as they chatted. The traffic officer headed back toward them, but gave no hint of what he had discovered.
“Charles Burns is one of the people we contacted,” the officer told Rachelle. “Apparently he is on his way to meet the victim at the hospital.”
“I knew it was my mama!” Indigo started to weep again.
The officer approached her and touched her shoulder. “I think she’s gonna be fine, little lady. Her hip was bothering her more than anything. The emergency crew transported her to Jubilant Memorial in the ambulance because she wasn’t able to stand up without a lot of pain. The car is being towed to a lot on Main Street and will be there until she’s ready to reclaim it.”
Rachelle thanked him and grabbed Indigo’s hand. She led the girl back to the car and once settled, headed in the direction of Jubilant’s only hospital.
“What’s your dad’s cell phone number?”
Indigo rattled off the digits in two seconds. When Rachelle reached a red light, she dialed it quickly. Please let him answer, she prayed. Indigo couldn’t keep it together much longer.
Uncle Charles picked up on the third ring.
“We just left the scene of the accident,” Rachelle said before he could greet her. “Are you at the hospital? Any word yet?”
“I’m a few minutes away, Rachelle,” Uncle Charles said. “Sounds like she may have broken her hip, but we won’t know until they take X-rays. She’s in a lot of pain.”
Rachelle looked over at Indigo, who was waiting for answers. “It’s okay, Indie. Your mom is hurt, but she doesn’t have life-threatening injuries. Your dad’s almost at the hospital.”
Rachelle knew that limited information was little consolation for her cousin.
“Did they tell you what happened?” she asked Uncle Charles.
His silence was worrisome. “I was told that drinking might have been involved, but I don’t have any details yet,” he finally said.
“We’ll see you in a few minutes,” Rachelle said softly. She ended the call and kept her eyes on the road.
Whatever the cause of the accident, and regardless of who was at fault, the Burns family had revisited painful territory. All of their lives had been altered by a previous car accident years ago. The only positive today was that instead of a tragedy, this time it was just a close call.