I checked the time and it was around four in the morning. I muted my alarm. I rubbed my eyes and squinted out the window to see that it was still pitch dark. I stretched, yawned, and splashed my face with water. Turning on the bathroom light was a struggle. Squinting my eyes, I brushed my teeth and shaved. I took a swig of water, and changed into my crackling new suit. I packed in my briefcase my notes, folders, snacks, a drink, and an umbrella. I called a cab and over the other line was a man with a deep, baritone voice. A monotonous tone, a tone that seemed as if working was the last thing on his mind. Strange things tend to happen in the early mornings. I threw on my peacoat, applied a dash of cologne, and headed out the door. Still half asleep, I stumbled my way to the cab, the chilly breeze welcoming me. Nobody else was walking. I yawned once more. Birds were chirping melodiously somewhere above. The half-moon hung atop the sky, as if watching my every move.
Leaves on the ground scattered from the wind. It was the hour where everyone on campus was asleep. It wasn't the weekend where you'd occasionally catch drunk students wandering around campus. It was a Friday morning in the hushed AM hours. What could anyone possibly be doing at a time like this?
The lonely cab was idle in the road. I got in, and greeted the driver, who was a lady with round-rimmed glasses.
"You here for 5:15," she asked me.
"You bet."
"Where you going?"
"Bus terminal."
"Aight come on in."
She was wearing an oversized jacket with a blanket rested on her lap. She was counting money as she was driving, something that got me feeling suspicious at one point. Meanwhile, I was looking at my exhausted-looking self from the side mirror. After a little meet and greet, I learned that she was a great poet and creative writer. Not to mention, she had a passion for law school.
"I want people to do the right thing, be a little thoughtful to one another," she said, eyes straight on the road. "I was in an accident on the 10 bus when the driver slammed the breaks in 8:45 in the morning. I've been trying to find a lawyer but he be tellin' me he won't support me because I got no bruises or fractures what am I supposed to be, dead? I just wanna be a private investigator or lawyer and learn this myself and help people the way they should be helped. I don't back down that's me. I was disabled since 2001 when my back popped when I was working underground at SUNY. That's why this accident doesn't slip away.. I don't let it slip away from me that easily."
She handed me her business card as she dropped me off in front of the terminal. I got on the bus, and slept for most of the ride.
At the career fair, a horde of people with identical attire were walking around the place. I could never really distinguish them unless I really paid attention. It was something else.
It took me six hours to get back. Heavy traffic, transfers. When I got back at the bus terminal, which was around ten, I waited for the bus. Shortly, a taxi cab slowly approached the curb and stopped right in front of me. What gives, I thought. I looked in the driver's seat and out came someone familiar. It was the lady who drove me here in the morning.
She called my name. "Is that you?"
"No way," I said.
This just goes to show how connected the world is, and how, by chance, we might bump into one another.
"You know that's why I want to take up on law school. I want to help people the right way, you know what i'm sayin'?" she said. "None of all that bullshit I get from what happened to me."
The next day I got up in the afternoon, only to wake up from a phone call from one of the companies I applied to yesterday. They wanted an interview for the next day. This meant that I had to go back. No buses nor train that could get there on time for the interview.
So the only alternative was via air.
Back to Boston I was.
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