Her face hit the windshield, the seat slam her up. Too quick. Lights shining up against a tree. Don’t even know what happened. Windshield broke all to pieces. Smoke coming out the hood. She wiping her face. Interior light on, she got blood all over her hands. Face bleeding. She look in the rearview mirror, she don’t know her own self. Look like something in a monster movie. She screaming now. Face cut all to pieces. She black out again. She come to, she out on the ground. People helping her up. She screaming I’m ruint I’m ruint. Lights in her eyes, legs moving in front of her. Kids talking. One of them say she just drive right off the road into that tree. She don’t believe it. Road move or something. Tree jump out in front of her. She a good driver. She drive too good for something like this.

Cost three thousand dollars to fix the car this time. Don’t even drive right no more. Alan say the frame bent. Alan say it won’t never drive right no more. And ain’t even paid for. She don’t know about no frame. She just know it jerk going down the road.

She in the hospital a while. She don’t remember exactly, three or four days. They done had to sew her face up. People see them scars even through thick makeup the rest of her life. She bruised so bad she don’t get out the bed for a week. Alan keep saying they lucky she ain’t dead. He keep praising God his wife ain’t dead. She know she just gonna have to go through it again now sometime, till a worse one happen. Police done come and talked to her. She lie her way out of it, though. Can’t prove nothing. Alan keep saying we lucky.

Ain’t lucky. Boss call, want to know when she coming back to work. She hem and haw. Done missed all them Mondays. She can’t give no definite answer. He clear his throat. Maybe he should find somebody else for her position since she so vague. Well yessir, she say, yessir, if you think that the best thing.

Alan awful quiet after this happen. He just sit and stare. She touch him out on the porch, he just draw away. Like her hand a bad thing to feel on him. This go on about a week. Then he come home from work one evening and she sitting in the living room with a glass of wine in her hand.