I hate driving at night, but when my brother called because he was too drunk to drive and stranded about an hour or so out, I had no choice.
GPS led the way to a place I’d never heard of, one hundred and twelve miles out, the signal cutting in and out. An unnecessarily long, dark drive, to the middle of nowhere.
As I approached I could hear I was in the right place, crazy sounds and terrible music reached me long before the giant farmhouse was visible.
I pull up unsure where to park, there’s no driveway, cars are parked on grass and in mounds of dirt. I park far enough away to avoid someone hitting my car or blocking me in. I step out onto the uneven, wet ground littered with plastic cups and empty bottles.
I get out to search for my brother, I call his phone again and again, straight to voicemail, typical.
I nearly trip over people having sex out in the grass, they remained unbothered. I awkwardly nod at random greetings I get from tipsy people who swear they know me.
I scream my brother’s name over the music in vain, no one can hear me and the one guy that responded was not even named Miguel.
Why did I agree to come get him? Why did I leave my warm and comfortable bed for this? Why do I always recuse him from the dumb situations he puts himself in?
I reluctantly pushed through a group of sweaty bodies attempting to dance although it was more a mix of jumping, off beat swaying and sloppy grinding. I shove away drunken hands that take the opportunity to grope me as I pass by.
I disregard the inebriated come ons and what they consider to be compliments, but really are crude sexual advances.
I desperately look for someone seemingly sober enough to maybe have seen him or know him, no luck.
Why do I keep calling out his name knowing no one hears me or cares?
Miguel?! This is the last time, I swear.
I unknowingly cross through an indoor game of football and a large shirtless guy sends me flying into a table. I crash into it, soaking myself with a variety of alcohol, no apology. Great, now I’m wet and sticky.
A guy who thinks he might know who my brother is said he thinks he might have saw him go upstairs. I listen because it’s the best lead I have.
I avoid a girl puking into a plant and a two girls wildly making out in the middle of the stairs. A group at the top of the steps offers me shots. When I say no and ask for my brother, they ignore me.
I check doors upstairs, smoke pours out of a room I open, I squint through the fog, no brother. Another room is locked, another room hosts a card game, no brother.
Did I hear my name? I did.
What a relief to see Alyssa, my brother’s girlfriend standing there, something I never thought I’d think.
By the look of disgust and annoyance on her face I knew she was sober.
She played innocent, but she always willingly follows him into these situations knowing how they turn out.
She led me to him, passed out on a lawn chair in the backyard. I knew trying to shake him awake would be pointless so I poured a water bottle on him to save us the time and effort. He sat straight up and said something that made no sense. We managed to get him up and to the car despite his will to stop and take every shot he passed. We put him in the back seat and I started the drive towards his apartment.
Alyssa sat in the passenger seat apologizing for his condition again and promising to finally get her license to save me from these nights. She always said that and yet here I was, as always saying it was the last time.
She went on about how they ended up at that party, her nasally voice like nails on a chalkboard. I could care less about their ventures, I was over this night.
Alyssa reminded me of the speed limit to hint that I was going too slow as she smacked her gum loudly.
Shut up Alyssa you can’t even drive, I think and bite my tongue so it shows not come out.
It was so dark, my headlights barely had an affect at their brightest setting. I could see only a few feet in front of my car, so yes, I drove slower than the limit. I didn’t know the area and the roads winded into shadowy, sharp bends.
I turned around a large fallen branch in the road and suddenly there was a girl. From nowhere, she ran out, she was in front of the car, then under it.
I screamed hysterically, slamming the brakes. I threw the car into park and leaped out.
To my dismay I saw the blood covered yellow dress beneath my car. I cry out madly for Alyssa to call the police.
I’m whimpering, poor girl, I got down to try to see her condition, it was bad, I knew it had to be.
I called out again when I looked up and saw Alyssa standing over me, giving me this look of shock and disbelief. She kept screaming my name over my sobbing.
She suddenly grabbed my shoulders and shook me and I stopped. She yelled at me, scared, worried. She asked me what was wrong with me, why would I do that? Why would I jump out of the car randomly and have an episode? She questioned if I was intoxicated.
Was she blind? Was she stupid? Was she intoxicated? Had she been so into blabbering about the stupid party and how fast I was going and scrolling through her phone that she did not see what happened?
I pointed behind me at the girl wedged underneath my car and she started at me with a dumb, clueless expression.
She asked, what girl?
I looked back the girl was gone. She must have managed to get up while we argued.
I started running around looking for her, she could not have gotten far. She must be disoriented and frightened.
Alyssa called me crazy, asking over and over, what girl?
I’m still out here, it has been an hour and I’m still looking for her. She needs help, I have to find her.