Crossroads (A Short Story)

‘Crossroads’ is where the roads of two people’s lives are destined to meet.

Yosef is a college student whose life has gone astray not until the day when he meets a candid-but-pretty girl named Isabel, who starts to help him change the course of his life. But that is also the day when his friend Miyoko, whom he treats as his own brother, dies in a car accident. Miyoko has an undisclosed relationship with a girl whose name is Bella, and she is not aware of the tragic fate of her boyfriend. So Yosef makes a solemn promise to find her and tell her about Miyoko’s undying love for her.

Yosef will find himself walking on a twisted road leading to a crossroads between Isabel who is keeping many secrets from him and Bella who is still healing the wounds of her heart after the loss of a loved one. In the end, Yosef must choose only one or he will lose both of them.

‘Crossroads’ is a story about second chance in love… and a story of finding inspiration you never know is just always right in front of your eyes.

There is a chapter in our lives that we may call the ‘Crossroads’, and this is where the roads of two people’s lives are destined to meet…

Part 1: Miyoko

My phone’s ringtone woke me up from a deep slumber. I searched blindly for my phone on the table at my bedside. Still lying on my bed, I pressed my fingers against my eyelids to clear my vision and read the text message I’d received from a friend.

From: Miyoko

August 1, 2007 5:23 AM

Yosef, meet me at d north intersection of Sevilla Avenue.

I’m going 2 introduce sum1 2 u.
Be there at 8PM. Don’t be late. Okay?

My friend Miyoko is not a Japanese. His family owns a Japanese restaurant, and he was named after the restaurant’s name.

This dude used to be a womanizer. He would shift girlfriend almost every month. And there had been a few instances that he had two girls at the same time. He’d never had a serious relationship.

But that was before. I had noticed he had changed in the past few months. Perhaps, that ‘sum1’ in his text message had changed him.

“Alright, I will come.” I texted back.

I didn’t bother to return the phone to the table, and it was still in my hand. I quickly drifted off again.

Hours later, my sleeping eyes were distracted by the sunrays passing through the window. I reluctantly rose and sat on the edge of my bed. As my feet touched the ground, I felt a hard object on the tiled floor. When I looked down, I saw my phone. Its screen had some fine cracks now. It must have slipped off my hand while I was sleeping. So stupid, I told myself, I should have returned it to the table.

I picked it up and examined its misfortune. I pressed some keys and realized it was still functional. It was an expensive phone. My parents gave this to me on my first day in college. Although they didn’t tell me, I knew that their gift was an implication that they wanted me to study hard.

However, I screwed up during my third year in college, because I devoured my time playing computer games with my classmates. I was always present in drinking sessions with friends. I also learned from them to be a smoker. My life had gone astray. I was travelling the wrong direction but I couldn’t turn back.

I thought about asking my parents for a new phone. But I knew they would not grant my request, not until I proved to them that I would study hard.

Unlike me, my friend Miyoko is a man of intelligence. He graduated from college with honor. He took up a degree that would really benefit him in the future, since he was expected to manage their family business. Because of him, their restaurant has expanded to many branches.

He is really an ideal man. Perhaps, that’s the reason why a lot of girls are desperately in love with him.

And I’m envious.

* * *

It was almost 8 pm when I arrived at a somewhat crowded Sevilla Avenue.

Many prominent restaurants were established in the area, and seeing them made my stomach churning. On the other side of the street was the Miyoko restaurant, the restaurant that was famous for its beef stew.

The glass storefront and the xanthous light illuminating the Japanese custom inside the restaurant gave me a clear view of a dating middle-aged couple. It was too late for me to realize that they were not just some strangers. They were actually Miyoko’s parents.

I suddenly wondered if they would also meet their son’s new girlfriend. Miyoko introduced his former girlfriends only to me, because he was always afraid that his parents wouldn’t like them. He said his parents had once told him that he should have a girlfriend who came from a rich family like them. Or should I say, like us.

In any case, he used to be a womanizer so it had never been really necessary for him to introduce those girls to his parents. But maybe the new girl is an exception.

All of a sudden, a near streetlight flickered. I glanced at the lamppost and caught a glimpse of a woman leaning against it. Her arms were crossed, and her head was turning from side to side. I guessed, just like me, she was waiting for somebody.

Just so you know, I wouldn’t look at a girl twice if she wasn’t pretty. That’s why I looked at her out of the corners of my eyes. Although I was only seeing the side of her face, I was betting that she was really beautiful. She had a fair complexion, not to mention she had a plump bosom. I looked at her body further down. She was wearing an above the knee skirt. That’s why I could see how smooth her legs were. And her butt? Well, that was something she should be proud of. To sum it up, she’s my ideal girl.

All of a sudden, she turned her gaze on me. Not only that our eyes met, I saw her whole face. I really thought I saw an angel who had fallen fom the sky.

I quickly looked the other way, and I literally could hear my heart beating.

Ten minutes passed, but Miyoko had not arrived yet… Another ten minutes passed. If another ten minutes would pass, I would definitely lose my patience.

So I took out my phone and texted him, “Hey! Wer r u now?” I felt a sudden relief when I saw that my cracked phone could still send a message.

“Sorry… I’m in d middle of a heavy traffic,” he replied quickly.

“FAMOUS WORDS!”

Due to boredom, I took out a pack of cigarettes and lighter. I actually didn’t like smoking before. I was only smoking when I was with my friends who were mostly smokers just to say that I was joining them. But obviously, it had become a habit already. I clamped one cigar between my lips. I lit it and a mass of smoke billowed out of my mouth.

All of a sudden, the woman walked towards me, still cross-armed. Is this for real? I was always the one approaching the girls. But this time, it was the girl who was approaching me.

“Want some?” I asked, showing my cigars to her.

To my surprise, her response was far from what I was expecting:

“Can you be polite enough to ask permission from the people surround you if you can smoke? You should be considerate enough because I’m a non-smoker and I can inhale the smoke of your cigarette.”

As my lower jaw hung downward, the burning cigarette fell from my mouth.

“Can I?” I asked nervously.

“No!” she exclaimed, turned her back on me, walked back to her initial position.

That’s what I love from the girls today.They’re fearless. That’s why I got more interested with this girl.

* * *

Ten minutes passed. I already lost my patience, so I decided to call Miyoko:

“What the hell? I’ve been waiting here for more than 30 minutes.”

“Wait. I’m coming. I’m just a few blocks away—”

And the next thing I heard was crashing and then shattering on the other end of the line. The worst thing that I thought first was that he got involved in a car collision.

“Miyoko? What’s happening there?” I asked worriedly.

“Yo-se-e-ef”, he said in great agony, while having difficulty in breathing.

“Miyoko, I will go there. I’m going to help you. Just stay calm!”

I was confused. I didn’t know where to go to look for him.

“Yo-sef… tell… Bel-la… I… love… her.”

Bella? Who’s Bella? And then, I remembered his new girlfriend. Bella must be her name. However, if he would introduce her, then she must be with him in the car.

“Miyoko, wait for me. I’ll be there. I’m going to help you and Bella. Tell me where you are now.”

The audible breathing suddenly stopped on the other line.

“Miyoko?”

There was no response

I didn’t know where to go. I was spinning around and couldn’t decide which road to take. A sudden adrenaline rushed through my body and told me to run the road in the direction of the woman who had reprimanded me a while ago. I was holding up my phone against my right ear, when I accidentally hit her with my right elbow. I knew that she was hurt, but I didn’t apologize anymore. She was calling me out, but I kept running.

Miyoko was dying. And with every second I would waste, I might not be able to save him.

I reached an intersection and realized I travelled the right road when I saw a crowd gathering around a scene.

Some were just watching. Some were just peeking, curious of what was happening. Some bastards were taking pictures and videos. I hurriedly elbowed my way through the crowd without saying excuses until my eyes witnessed the tragedy that had happened.

Two cars were at the scene of the accident. An SUV had deep dents on its hood due to impact. A man and a woman were inside, blood dripping on their foreheads.

What happened to the other car was far worse – Miyoko’s saloon had turned upside down. Shredded glass windows were scattered on the ground. I hesitated to take a step forward when I saw a flood of blood.

Few people were trying to snap the car’s door open. I barged in and introduced myself as the victim’s friend. I asked anxiously if somebody had already called an ambulance, and then a middle-aged man said he had called already and the help was on its way now.

I tried to stay calm, before I crouched down. And through the car’s windshield, I saw Miyoko’s unconscious body. His face was smeared with blood. He was inverted inside the car, since he was still strapped on his seat belt. His phone was still in his left hand and it was beaming at me. I called him out, but he was unresponsive.

I asked the people around to help me try to bust the door. But as we did, it only bent a little. We even tried the door on the other side, but it was also hopeless. Our last resort was for an ambulance to come.

There was nothing I could do. I just found myself gradually kneeling down the ground, not minding the glass shards.

Then, I thought of someone – Bella. I quickly got to my feet and looked at the passenger seat – but found no one. Could it be that she’d been able to come out of the car? Or could it be that she’d not been in the car at all when the accident happened and she was somewhere safe and sound?

At that very moment, I caught a glimpse of hope when I heard a siren drawing close.

* * *

Red lights were flashing everywhere, while the sirens of the ambulance and the rescue truck were echoing.

I ran across the rescuers, as they hopped down the vehicles. I anxiously asked them to please save my friend. One of the men patted my shoulder and told me that they would do all they could do. Another man asked me to stay calm and pray for my friend.

The least thing I could do was to watch while the rescuers were carrying out the extrication. They started to rupture the door on the driver’s seat using their equipment.

In just a few minutes, they were able to take Miyoko out of the car. That was the time when I realized that what had happened to him was even worse than what I had expected – his legs were crushed and his clothes were soaked in his own blood as if they were originally red.

They carefully carried his body and laid him on a stretcher. They whisked him away into the ambulance, and I followed them behind. One of the rescuers placed his middle and index fingers on his neck.

“Please tell me he’s alive,” I said apprehensively.

The man didn’t respond, but his eyes were telling me that Miyoko had no heartbeat anymore.

What happened next was more breathtaking. Another man quickly gripped out a defibrillator and laid it on Miyoko’s chest. The victim’s torso hopped up in every electric shock sent. But after several attempts… it didn’t work out.

I wanted to suggest rushing him to a nearby hospital, though I knew the doctor would only declare he was dead on arrival. My strength was taken away and I slumped down on the side of the ambulance next to the wheel. Strangers tried to console me. They were mouthing words, but I became deaf to hear what they were saying.

Suddenly, I remembered something important I should have done a while ago – I should have called Miyoko’s parents. They must still be in the restaurant, unaware about the fate of their son. I stood up and faltered away. I took out my phone and mustered all my strength left to dial Miyoko’s mother’s number.

“Yosef, why did you call? Miyoko is supposed to meet us tonight in the restaurant, but he’s still not here. Is he with you?”

“Auntie, Miyoko is…”

I closed my eyes and asked myself: How am I going to say this?

 

Please continue reading here: https://www.wattpad.com/25267333-crossroads-part-1-5