Faulted

by Jacqueline Druga

  Ruben was confused by that.

  “Ruben,” Jason answered. “His name is Ruben.”

  Immediately, Mindy stepped to him and hugged him. “Ruben … thank you for … salvar … my liftito.” She stepped back, squeezed his arms and went back to her room.

  “Wow,” Ruben said.

  Jason huffed loudly. ‘Give me your contact information. I’ll be in touch with all the employment contracts.”

  “Okay. But my pay from last night.”

  “Not my problem if you lost it, now is it?” Jason walked away.

  He never did get that envelope of money, he needed to give it to his ex-wife for child support for their seventeen year old son. Luckily, she was pretty understanding considering not only was he all over the news, but he was going to be working for Mindy Snow.

  That was six years earlier. And for six years he was her trusted driver in every city of every tour. They rented him a car to drive.

  In all those years, Mindy never really got to know him. In fact, because he was a man of few words, she assumed he didn’t speak English very well. Since the day she hired him, she always spoke loudly to him as if he were hard of hearing. Not only that, she claimed he helped her perfect her Spanish, she also took credit for teaching him English.

  Where some would get offended, Ruben knew she didn’t do it to be mean. She wasn’t a racist or bigot, she just wasn’t smart enough to realize it, her brain was fried. Ruben didn’t help matters, after the first couple months, he stopped trying to tell her. Then he just found it amusing and figured she’d eventually realize the truth.

  Six years later … she still hadn’t.

  She did however go from living on the edge to straight edge. She insisted those around her didn’t consume alcohol or drugs in her presence with such insistence that it drove everyone nuts.

  It didn’t bother Ruben when she ranted or screamed at him about her team, he just pretended he didn’t understand a word she said.

  THREE

  It was nowhere near as glamorous as CJ envisioned in his mind. When the security guy Roger said he’d be going with them to the airport, CJ thought wild times, a chance to see Mindy Snow up close and get a once in a lifetime photo op for his son. However, that was far from what happened. He was on shuttle three to the airport. Mindy was nowhere to be found, she was tucked safe and sound in a limousine Humvee that wasn’t anywhere near them.

  CJ didn’t even get to ride with the band. He, his son, and father were in the shuttle that not only carried the second string dancers, it had crew like the cord wrapping guy and the woman that raced behind the scenes to wipe Mindy’s sweat.

  He was in the nobody of nobody bus.

  Not that those people were really nobodies, they just weren’t Mindy Snow.

  His father, however, seemed to enjoy being in the company of the motley crew. The upbeat, talkative crew passed around a bottle of vodka, and huddled in the bathroom of the bus making a vain attempt to hide the fact that they were smoking weed through a vape.

  “Guys,” CJ told them, “We’re in California. It’s legal.”

  His father befriended them all, and was the person who made jokes that everyone found extremely funny. Except CJ.

  In fact their antics bothered him when traffic went from a slow crawl to a dead stop. He was certain, private security or not, they weren’t making their flight.

  Maybe it wasn’t his dad and the Mindy crew as much as the fact that he had to send a message to Kylie telling her they probably weren’t making it home on the two PM plane.

  CJ dreaded every single time he looked at his phone, because he didn’t want to see how fast time was ticking by, nor did he want to see a return text from Kylie.

  Carter groaned. “My battery’s at twenty.”

  “Maybe you should stop playing with it. Save it.”

  “I’m bored.”

  “Me, too.”

  “What’s going on?” his father made his way back to the row across from CJ. “When did we stop?”

  “Fifteen minutes ago.”

  “Dad, I’m hungry,” Carter said.

  “I know, bud.” He rubbed his head. “We should have eaten by now.”

  “You have snacks in your bag,” Guy said.

  “They’re for the plane, Dad,” CJ said.

  “We can get more at the airport.”

  “If we ever get there.” CJ clumped in his seat and looked at his phone. It was odd, he opened up his messaging.

  Nothing.

  “What’s wrong?” Guy asked.

  “I sent Kylie a text about how we’re probably missing the flight. She didn’t reply.”

  “You mean the same woman who sent you a text every fifteen minutes, every day.”

  “Strange.” CJ sent her another message asking if she had received the previous one. He kept staring, waiting on a reply.

  “Why don’t you call her?”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea. As much as I hate it, I have to let her know.” CJ dialed and placed the phone to his ear. A few seconds later, he pulled it away. “It went straight to voice mail.”

  “Probably dead from all the texting.”

  CJ started dialing again.

  “Who are you calling now?” Guy asked.

  “Hating to do it, I’m calling the husband.” CJ lifted the phone, then instantly pulled it back. “Odd. It went to voicemail as well.”

  “Doesn’t he have a fancy office?” Guy asked. “Maybe try there.”

  “It’s Saturday, I doubt they’re in.” CJ was about to call again when he leaned into the aisle. “I wonder if there’s an accident or something.” As soon as he got a clear look at the front of the shuttle, he turned to his father. “Where’s the driver?”

  Guy shrugged. “I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention.”

  CJ stood. “I’m gonna see if I can find out what’s happening. Keep an eye on him.”

  “I will.”

  “That means no partying in the bathroom.” CJ pointed.

  “I take offense to that. I raised you.”

  “Yes, that’s why I’m telling you.” CJ clipped into the short aisle, walking toward the front. No one on the crowded shuttle seemed to care or worry about the stand still traffic or the fact that the driver was gone.

  Maybe the traffic was normal and CJ was just overreacting because it was so close to his flight.

  Once outside the full extent hit him. He had been in traffic jams in the past, never ones where people stepped out of their cars.

  Nothing was moving, cars had stopped their engines and the occupants of vehicles were out and about on the expressway. In impatient attempts to get by traffic, cars made an extra lane on the shoulder only to jam things up further.

  There was something a little strange about it all.

  People were checking their phones. Shaking their heads.

  CJ didn’t see the shuttle driver. He’d thought briefly that maybe he went somewhere to go to the bathroom, then realized that was unfeasible since they were on a raised section of the highway.

  He looked left to right, but didn’t see him. He did see the second shuttlebus a little farther up the road.

  “Excuse me.” He approached a man playing around with his phone. “Is there an accident? Do you know?”

  “I don’t. Sorry. Was trying to find out.” He showed him his phone.

  “Did you hear?” a voice in the distant said. “All flights east are cancelled.”

  “They can’t cancel all flights, that’s got to be wrong,” someone else said.

  CJ heard that and dismissed it, it didn’t sound right. There was nothing on the news. No alerts on his phone. As he was about to go back to the shuttle, he saw the Humvee limo. The driver was standing by Roger the security guy outside the vehicle.

  Changing direction, CJ approached the pair. “Hey Roger, you guys know what’s going on?”

  “No, I was just asking Ruben the same thing.”

  Ruben pulled a phone from his ear.
“I was just trying to reach the first shuttle. They left about fifteen minutes before us. I thought they would have made it to the airport. No luck. They’re stuck in traffic, too. I used to drive a lot in this city, I have never seen the 105 so bad. We’ve been sitting here so long, people are getting out of their cars.”

  “We lost our shuttle driver. And ... someone back there.” CJ pointed. “They said all flights to the east are cancelled.”

  “That’s insane,” said Roger, “We’d have heard something. Something big is holding this up.”

  “It’s freaky,” said CJ. “I tried calling my ex out east and it went straight to voice mail. I hope something didn’t happen out that way.”

  “It probably is an accident,” Ruben said. “A big one. Maybe even a pile up. Might be worth taking a look on a local news site. Something like this is bound to make the news.”

  Suddenly, and with urgency, the rear door of the limo burst open and Mindy jumped out screaming horrifically. “Oh my God! Ruben!”

  Ruben and Roger rushed toward her.

  Did something happen? What was wrong?

  Mindy appeared scared and confused as she held her phone, turning left to right.

  “What is it?” Roger asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh my God,” she sobbed. “I can’t post. It won’t let me update.” Her words shook as she spoke, rushed. “I made a … typo! My poor fans. I hit post after I wrote, ‘help, I’m stuck’, I can’t change it.” She growled out a sob as if someone died and with her crying, nearly dropped to her knees. “There’s no connection!”

  Ruben blinked hard and swung his head her way. “What?”

  “Are you serious?” Roger asked. “This is the reason for all the dramatics.”

  “You don’t understand!”

  “No! I don’t. You scared the hell out of me!”

  “My phone.”

  “Holy shit.” Roger blasted. “This is insane behavior. Ruben tell her.”

  CJ watched and tried his hardest not to laugh. Initially he worried that she learned devastating news, but once he realized it wasn’t the case, he held back laughter.

  “Ruben,” she turned to him. “Can you fix … my … phone?”

  Ruben took it.

  Roger told her, “Get back in the car.”

  “It’s hot in there,” she said.

  “Get back in the car … the paparazzi … they may see you.” Roger raised an eyebrow.

  “Shit.” She spun around quickly and the moment she did …

  Boom.

  The loud sound caused an immediate and frightening silence. It clearly wasn’t an explosion, it was more of a sonic boom. Like something had broken the sound barrier.

  Just as the sound caught CJ’s attention, a slight vibration occurred, causing a clattering noise as the air appeared to ripple.

  Instantly he panicked, as he took one step to return to his son on the shuttle the ground began to shake.

  It started mildly, then it quickly built with intensity.

  The section of 105 where they had come to a standstill was on a raised section. It hovered over the street below by twenty feet, and as CJ raced for the shuttle, the highway swayed like a roped bridge.

  He couldn’t keep his balance, every few seconds he fell to the ground and fought to stand again.

  The rumbling was loud, causing pressure in his ears. As he spotted the shuttle, he then saw his father holding Carter tight in his arms. They had gotten out.

  Just as the thought, ‘Thank God’ came to his mind in relief, a loud crack jolted the road.

  Guy turned his head to his left, then wide-eyed he leapt forward in the nick of time. The shuttle and the cars before and after it dropped out of sight as that part of the overpass collapsed.

  Debris flew through the air, surrounding buildings dropped like matchsticks, and shattered glass flew through the air raining down all around.

  CJ bolted their way, grabbing onto them as the three of them tried with diligence to stay standing.

  Carter’s screams were muffled in his grandfather’s hold and the noise of the quake. CJ knew his son was scared, he had to be. He just held on to them. The only way off that overpass was to drop with the road, and if that was going to happen, it would happen to them all.

  Ruben saw Roger try to grab for Mindy, but he wasn’t fast enough or close enough.

  Surely it had to be panic that caused her to jump back in the Humvee the second the earthquake started. She jumped in and shut the door.

  What was she thinking?

  Ruben flung open the back door, inside Mindy fought frantically to put on a seatbelt.

  “You can’t stay in here.” Ruben shouted.

  “Shut the door. Shut the door.”

  He extended his arm in to get her, but another jolt of the ground sent him flying inside and the Humvee door slammed as Ruben landed on Mindy.

  He barely had time to understand or register everything she screamed at him when the hardest quake hit. It was a shock of the ground like no other.

  Ruben knew exactly what it meant. He felt the Humvee bounce upward and move.

  The road below them had given out. He was expecting it.

  He clutched the armrest on the door handle and grabbed onto her as the vehicle flipped upward and went airborne... But his grip wasn’t strong enough when the Humvee came down and impacted front end first.

  Mindy flew forward, careening into the privacy window, it held her without breaking, Ruben gripped to the seat for dear life as he dangled above her. The ground finally stopped shaking and the Humvee came to a halt resting upright on the front bumper.

  Ruben wasn’t sure where they landed or if they were trapped, but he knew one thing … they were alive.

  FOUR

  Boom.

  “No,” CJ thought. “Not again. Please not again.”

  It was the same sound.

  Carter cried. Cradled now in his arms, the boy locked his legs around CJ’s waist, he held tightly to his neck and wept. He was scared, and rightfully so. CJ wondered how one even begun to comfort a child, when his mind was just focused on protecting him.

  With each passing second that became an increasingly difficult feat.

  Moments before, CJ, his father, Carter and Roger, did the only thing they could do. They ran. Rushing forward as the section of highway they had been on crumbled to the ground below taking with it every vehicle and person on the road.

  They were on steady solid ground, the emotional cries of post trauma screams, along with car alarms filled the air. CJ was grateful to still be standing when the second sonic boom occurred.

  This time, for some reason, holding tight to Carter, he spun to the sound and looked up.

  He saw it. A flash in the sky, and ever so quickly, he swore he saw a light sail overhead.

  He braced himself and his son.

  There was really nowhere to run. Behind them was a drop off, ahead of them, more highway that could collapse.

  He waited, trying to think of how to hold on to steady ground while holding on to his child.

  There was a vibration, the ground rumbled a bit, nothing like the previous quake … then nothing.

  CJ released the breath he held.

  “My God,” his father gasped out the words.

  CJ turned. He saw his father stranding near the edge of the broken highway, looking down.

  “Dad,” CJ said. “Step back. Please.”

  “Oh my God, CJ. Look at this.”

  Hand cupped to the back of Carter’s head, CJ inched his way there. He was scared to get too close. Scared that another jolt of the ground could send him and his child toppling down.

  He could only imagine what his father looked at. Around them, structures and buildings had toppled, debris was tossed about the highway. When he finally looked below, he saw a cavern filled with cars. Body parts emerged between the wreckage.

  CJ felt instantly sick to his stomach.

  “They’re down there,” Roger’s v
oice was close.

  CJ didn’t know who ‘they’ was at first until he saw the Humvee limo below, balancing on its front end. It wasn’t stable, at least it didn’t look it. It could fall at any time. It was on top of a car that had been smashed like a tin can.

  “Help me,” Roger said with desperation. “Will you help me?”

  At first CJ didn’t know who Roger spoke to, then he realized it was him. “Help you?”

  “Yes, please. We have to help them. There are people down there.” Roger moved to the edge. “Please.”

  It wasn’t that far down to get to the heap of automobiles. A four foot fall, maybe slightly more. But at what cost? What was going to happen the second the weight of their bodies landed on the cars below? If there were people alive down there, would they make it worse?

  Although Roger intended on helping anyone he could, CJ was certain his primary focus was on the Humvee limo.

  Roger got down to the ground, turned and feet first started to climb down.

  “I’ll help you,” Guy said and stepped forward.

  “No.” CJ stopped him. “I’ll go. Stay with Carter.”

  “You stay with your son.”

  “Dad, no,” CJ insisted. He couldn’t with a clear conscious let his father go down there. Even though his father was a strong man, CJ was younger. He stood less chance of getting hurt. He peeled Carter from his embrace. “Go with Pap.” He handed the child over.

  Carter immediately gripped Guy.

  “Be careful,” Guy told him.

  CJ nodded and followed Roger, doing the same as he did, lowering himself feet first to the area below.

  The steel girders of the broken highway extended out, adding to the danger.

  The moment CJ’s feet rested on the wreckage of a car, he heard a ‘thump’ beneath him. He looked down. Just by his feet was a side window of an automobile. Two hands hit against the glass.

  “Help me,” a woman called out, muffled. “Help.” She banged against the glass some more.

  Why didn’t the window break? He couldn’t even see the rest of the car, only that window. The door wasn’t accessible.