One Thursday Afternoon

by Carmela Golden-Reyna

It was a Thursday in September 1999 when it happened. My mom had picked us up early from school to go to the dentist. When we got there, we all got a check up and our teeth cleaned.

On our way home we stopped at the store. We got a whole bunch of snacks. After we paid for all of the stuff, we went outside. But then Fidel, my little brother, wanted a bouncy ball. At first my mom said no. But then my mom thought about it, and finally said yes. After she bought him the ball we got in the car. Before we closed the door, Fidel dropped his ball. After five minutes of looking, my mom said to just get in the car and we would get him another one the next time we went to the store.

We drove out of the parking lot and entered an intersection where we stopped at a red light. Across the intersection was a shopping center on the other side of the street, where we were heading. The light changed to green and it was our turn to go. We got up to the driveway of the shopping center, but then we were hit! A truck on the right broadsided us. I heard a skidding sound and a very loud crunching of metal. We almost tipped over. And then all of a sudden I couldn’t see the things around me. Instead, I closed my eyes and saw a white light for a couple of seconds, and then I had a piercing headache.

My mom parked the car, and she got out. We all started crying in the car. Well, fake crying, actually. Amber saw Fidel fake crying and started fake crying herself. Then when I saw Amber fake-crying, I started fake crying because I didn’t want to be left out.

By the time we were all out of the car, though, there was no more fake-crying whatsoever. We just sat quietly on the sidewalk. I was feeling mad at the guy who hit us. I thought that maybe he was being selfish because he didn’t want to wait for the light. And our heads all hurt.

A policeman came and asked what happened. The other driver told them that he was changing lanes, and he didn’t notice that the light had turned red. But after that, the policeman was acting like it was my mom’s fault that we had the accident, and was treating my mom like she was dirt! The policeman was saying, "Get that car out of the way! What’s it doing there." He was yelling at her, and saying things like, "Look at this Mexican lady!"

Well, if you know my mom then you’ll know she doesn’t take that lightly. So she walked up to the policeman, put her finger in his face and started yelling at him. She told him that she did not like being treated that way, and that he was a rude man.

Thirty minutes later, my dad got to the accident. My mom was still yelling at the policeman, so my dad came over and to calm my mom down. The police asked my dad, "Are you her wife?"

My dad answered, "Yes, we’re married, but I’m her husband."

My dad later told us that the policeman said that because he was shocked and upset. Then everyone but my dad got in his car and went home.

If you’re wondering what happened to my dad, he went home in the car we had our accident in. The next day we took the car to an auto shop to get it fixed.

The car is fine now. I think back to that day and I know how prejudice people can be. I feel worse about what the policeman said to my mom, than what the accident did to the car. I know now that prejudice can hurt people.