AHA

 

It was Thomas’s first “man trip” with his father.  He was so excited to be going to San Diego with his Dad and he couldn’t wait another minute to share the thrill of doing the things he always wanted to do, like walking along the beach, going to the San Diego zoo, touring the Lexington and going to bars now that he was 21.

It was about 5:20 California time when the two finally arrived at the San Diego International Airport. The place was more crowded than the George Bush airport back home in Houston Texas. It seemed like there were lines of passengers entering and exiting the planes everywhere, and transportation carts went rolling at every junction in the building. Thomas was so ready to enjoy the thrill of California after struggling through statisics and science. This trip was his Dad’s way of celebrating his success.

After retrieving their luggage, Thomas and his father took a taxi to their hotel, the Bahia resort.

The resort was a marvelous place, filled with jungles, pools, and swimming tankes for sea lions.

After setting their luggage in the hotel rooms, Thomas’s dad began researching good places to go for dinner that night and several options came up. But one place that Thomas particularly wanted to go to before dinner was the Coin-OP game room on 789 Sixth Ave, which he heard about on one of the travel guides in the hotel lobby.

After a few minutes of resting, Thomas and his father went to the lobby to get an Uber ride. After about twenty-five minutes of driving through the uptown area, their ride dropped them off on Sixth Ave, where the two men walked down the street to the Coin-OP game room.

Thomas hadn’t been to an Arcade since he was 14 and he did not go out much on Fridays since they tended to be the wildest nights in Houston.

Thomas was rather amazed about the videogame selections they had. Every one of them dating all the way back to the 80s, like Pac-man, Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, and even the X-men video game.

After playing several games, Thomas had a beer with his Dad, and the two expressed their gratitude for the vacation.   Thomas heard something oddly familiar and looked over at an action video game.  The game!  The same one he played seven years earlier at Jax Grill. It took him back to the moment that he tried to forget.  It was shortly after dinner; Thomas and his family were driving home in a terrible storm. The rain was coming down in sheets, and the hail was dropping like bullets out of a mini gun. Thomas’s Dad tried wiping down the condensation with his hand while the wind-shield wipers flew back and forth.

His Dad didn’t realize that their van was right in the middle of an intersection where the cars move from the opposite direction. A truck coming from that intersection ran right into the left side of the car where his older brother Dale sat, sending the van spinning out of control into the park where it smashed into a tree.

Once the car came to a stop, his Dad asked everyone if they were okay.  Thomas’ Mom replied “I’m okay.” Thomas answered, “I have a headache and I may be bleeding.”

Everybody but Dale answered. When Dad turned his head, he saw Dale slumped over.  Thomas tried pulling Dale’s right arm to wake him up, but it didn’t work.

Someone called for an ambulance and one arrived within five minutes but it seemed to take forever.  The ambulance took Dale to the nearest Hospital and he was rushed into surgery while Thomas and his parents waited.

It seemed to take forever, but finally a Doctor told the family that Dale was dead. Tears rushed down all their eyes as Thomas’ Dad held both his wife and son close to him. It was devasting.  Thomas parents couldn’t stop blaming themselves, and finally they got a divorce.  And from that day on, Thomas never wanted to go out on stormy nights.

And even now as Thomas sat in that Coin-OP game room, he remembered his brother and the fun moments they had together.