Chapter 8
Dead Man’s Curve
Freshman year at Case was a challenge for Bill. He had never needed to study in high school but found himself spending a lot of time hitting the books. The competition was incredible and he couldn’t believe how smart some of the people in his classes were. Mike was having a really hard time and had scored 23 percent on their first calculus exam. Bill had failed his first physics exam but had scored around average so he wasn’t too worried. He and Mike had been checking out some of the fraternities and at this point they were leaning toward Gamma Delta Iota, also known as God Damn Independent. The rest of the social situation was a double negative for Bill-there was a 4:1 ratio of males to females at the school which meant that it was tough to meet girls and it also meant that Dana got more attention than she’d ever had in her life.
Bill and Dana still spent a lot of time together but Dana dated around a lot and it wasn’t because of her parents now. Bill had learned to adjust to this and spent a lot of time at John Carroll University, another small college that was only a half hour from Case and had a better girl to guy ratio. Mike and Bill also went to visit Don at Kent State University, and those weekends were really crazy. Mike left the engineering school and changed his major to business. Bill learned how to study and started doing fairly well. During the spring there was a new rush of fraternity activities. Bill wasn’t really interested in joining a frat but one of his professors was the advisor to a fraternity and kept asking Bill about joining. Bill liked this history professor and he spent some of his free time hanging out with him discussing the subject so he thought he’d give it a shot.
Bill’s dad died when they were sophomores, a major heart attack. He had lost his job at the plant and couldn’t find steady work. Bill thought he’d died disappointed that he wasn’t able to provide for his family. He thought about dropping out but his mother had insisted that he stay and finish, it was the only way to avoid repeating what had happened to Dave. His Dad had left behind a reasonable amount of life insurance so there was still enough money to live and get him and Ellie through college. Ellie had stayed local and was in a nursing program, still working part time at the hospital.
Being a senior was tough and exciting for Bill, who was busy supporting one of the computer labs at the school, everything from networking to the personal computers. He had been able to get internships each of the three summers and had plenty of companies interested in hiring him after graduation.
Dana had crushed her MCATs and was already accepted to Case Western’s medical school so Bill thought he would take a job in the Cleveland area. There were a number of Fortune 500 companies as well as large banks and schools. Case was even discussing the possibility of Bill staying on in the department, with an opportunity to continue his education. He hadn’t made up his mind, still thinking through his options.
Great spring morning, Bill and Dana had gone out the night before and woke up in her room in the sorority house, her roommate conveniently away for the weekend. They were laying together, watching a Milli Vanilli video on MTV.
“These guys look so dumb.”
“They’re hot though, especially the one on the right. And that German accent.” Dana cooed.
“Vee have vays to make you stop thinking like that.”
“What would those be, Mister German guy?”
Bill spent the next hour showing her, never tiring of being with her. Even though there had been others for both of them they still stayed very close and for the most part committed. They held each other, and he traced his finger along the curve of her back, relishing the soft skin.
“What are you boys going to do tonight?”
“Don is coming up and we’re going to Jon’s house for a party.” Jon had been a suitemate of Bill and Mike freshman year but had decided that Case wasn’t for him and moved on to the real world. They still got together sometimes and Jon threw a hell of a party, worth it for Don to come up from Kent.
“That should be fun, I wish I could go there instead of having the annual alumni dinner for the sorority.”
“We’ll miss having you there, it should be a fun time. Might even do some of the 185th street crawl, Don has never done that.”
“Now I’m really jealous, you better sleep over Jon’s house, don’t want you driving after all that.”
“That’s the plan, Stan.”
Dana kissed Bill. “Don’t want you to go but I’ve got a ton of stuff to do for the dinner tonight.”
“Sure, have your way with me and then kick me to the curb. Anything you need me to do for you today? If not, we’re going to Coventry for the afternoon.”
“More fun without Dana I see. We’ve got everything covered for tonight unless you guys want to volunteer to do the dishes.”
Bill laughed and got his clothes on. “Any plans for tomorrow?”
“Nothing, what do you have in mind?”
“Was thinking about a baseball game, the weather is going to be great and Nolan Ryan is pitching for the Rangers. I haven’t mentioned it to the guys yet but they’ll probably be up for it.”
“Sounds like fun, maybe I’ll bring a couple of the sisters along too.”
“Ok babe. Love you, have fun tonight.”
“You too, stay safe.”
A couple of fraternity brothers were playing catch with a football in front of the frat house and Bill joined them. “What’s the plan for tonight Bill?”
“Party at an old buddy’s house over in Euclid.”
“We’re going over to John Carroll to a party, if your plans fall through feel free to join us.”
“Thanks guys, my buddy Don’s heading in and we’re also going to do the 185th street crawl so I don’t think we’ll meet up with you. Might go to the Indians game tomorrow, Nolan Ryan is pitching against Greg Swindell.”
“That should be a hell of a game, maybe I’ll tag along.” They made more small talk and a few other guys joined them. Don pulled up a few minutes later, horn blazing at the sight of Bill. He had really come out of his shell at Kent State and was already accepted to law school at Seton Hall. They hadn’t seen each other since spring break, which had been early this year.
“Jack! How the fuck are you?”
“Still better looking than you Don.” Mike must have heard the horn and had come out of the house.
The three of them spent a few minutes catching up, all of them so similar and so different from high school. Time didn’t matter to them, the months felt like minutes and they all were instantly transported back in time five years to all the memories they shared.
“Got any food Jack, I’m starving.”
“Let’s go to Mama Santo’s and get some pizza.” Mike offered. “Don can buy; he’s going to have a lawyer’s salary soon.” They joked around and had a great lunch in Little Italy, just down the street from the campus. After lunch they went to Coventry, which is an artsy part of the east side of Cleveland. They had fun looking in shop windows and making fun of people, still acting like teenagers.
Mike drove his old Honda Civic out to Jon’s house and they hung out for a while. Jon was in a band and they played some heavy metal music for an hour or so. Nobody else was hanging out, this wasn’t much of a party after all. They decided to do the 185th street crawl, which was a saying for going up and down the entire street and having at least one drink per bar. There were over a dozen bars on the street and the three of them were completely tanked as they worked their way back up from Lakeshore Boulevard on the west side of the crawl.
They were almost done, the freeway was in sight ahead and there were no more lights from additional bars. The last place looked like it was hopping, there were also a few nice cars parked out front, including a sleek black Camaro Z28.
“This is what I’m going to drive after law school.” Don said, running his hand along the sleek exterior. He tried the handle and the car was unlocked. They looked in the cabin and couldn’t believe how sleek it was.
“Look there boys” Bill said, pointing at the sun visor above the driver’s seat. There was a key ring that was barely visible. “We should take it for a quick run and see how it rides.”
“Shit Jack, this isn’t taking a case of beer, this is serious.”
“I know but we’ll have it back before anyone notices.” Mike didn’t need to be asked twice, he was already in the passenger’s seat. Don shrugged his shoulders and jumped in back, leaving Bill as the driver. Bill slid into the seat and started the car, the engine feeling like an extension of his foot. He put the car in gear and they were off and running. He didn’t know the streets around here too well so he jumped on the freeway headed toward downtown, planning to turn around in a few exits and bring the car back. Hadn’t thought about the parking spot, most likely wouldn’t be there when they got back.
“Let’s see what this thing can do Jack.” Don said from the backseat. Bill punched the gas and the car lunged forward, quickly eclipsing eighty miles an hour. Traffic was light and Bill had no problem weaving through the cars, the handling of the Chevy was so responsive and the big tires hugged the road.
“This car rocks, I want to drive.”
“O.K. Don, let me jump off at MLK and we can switch.” Bill didn’t see the cop on the side of the freeway in Bratenahl, which was a notorious speed trap in the Cleveland area. The lights came on, Mike seeing them first.
“Oh fuck Billy. The cops are coming, push this thing.” Bill glanced up, saw the red and blue lights and slammed the pedal down, the car quickly distancing itself from the cop. Bill was going to get off at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard but there was another cop car getting on the freeway.
“Shit, hard to outrun a radio.” Bill tried to stay calm, thinking that grand theft auto would not look good on his resume. He thought about the best way to go and decided to just go as fast as he could to try and get some distance between the car and the cops so he could find a place to get off the freeway. At East 55th another car joined the chase and Bill was starting to think that there would be a new cop at each entrance. Maybe he could get off in the flats and lose them down there, they could chill out and find a ride back.
“Bill, they aren’t going to give up, maybe we should stop.”
“Give me a few more minutes Don, I have a plan to lose them downtown.” Bill pushed the car forward, Cleveland Municipal stadium coming into view, when a better idea hit him.
Bill waited until the last possible second and jumped into the left lane to merge off route 2 onto route 90, which was a wicked bend in the road. The Camaro was built to corner, should be able to leave the cops way behind and lose the car once they got downtown.
The car held the road for a second or two and then completely lost contact, the world going into slow motion. The Z28 made contact with the road again at approximately the same moment it slammed into the wall and ground to a stop around the curve. Bill lost consciousness as the car sparked and screamed to a halt. He woke up, pushed the air bag off his face and oriented himself to the situation. Bill’s legs are pinned and he can’t pull them free to see what’s happening with Don, who isn’t making any noise. Mike’s head jerked and a guttural cry exited his mouth. His eyes focused on Bill, trying to get a grasp of the situation.
“I can’t feel anything in my legs Jack, are they ok?” Only Mike’s head is moving, the rest of his body is pinned to the door of the car and he looks immobilized. Bill focuses on the darker section of the car and sees that Mike’s legs are completely mangled and most likely no longer attached to the rest of his body. He wants to look Mike in the eye but can’t stop staring at the legs for a few seconds.
“Look fine to me Mike, when the ambulance gets here they’ll check them better.” Bill lied, not having the heart to tell his best friend that he was dying. Mike’s breathing became labored and tears ran from his eyes.
“I’m fucking freezing Jack, can you turn the heat on?”
Bill made the motion of turning the heat on and asked if that was better. Mike said it was but he was starting to fade, Bill could see the light in his eyes going out. He grabbed Mike’s hand, which was cold and unresponsive, and tried to get his buddy to stay with him a little longer. The sirens and lights were getting closer and Bill knew that this was probably the last time he’d see Mike. He worried about Don but didn’t want to keep yelling while Mike was fading.
“Mike, hang in there man. Think about the lake, all of the times we had fun on it. Remember the casino, all of the towners?”
Mike’s mouth attempted a weak smile. “We had some fun Jack. After they fix my legs we’ll have to go there for a weekend. It’s spring and things will start hopping again soon.”
“Yeah, me and you up at the lake, tearing it up again.” The paramedics were swarming on the car now. “The ambulance is here Mike, everything’s going to be ok.”
Mike’s tongue attempted to lick his lips but didn’t quite make it, the light in his eyes going out. Bill wanted to cry but just sat there in stunned silence. The paramedics were pounding on the window, yelling to see if anyone responded. Bill turned his head from his friend and nodded to them. It took a couple of hours to get him out of the car but Bill was numb from the shock of what had happened, not able to recall the saws or the jaws of life working on the Camaro. Don hadn’t responded and Bill overheard the paramedics say that he was gone too. How could he face anyone after this? He couldn’t believe what was happening and wish he’d died in the crash. Don and Mike both dead?
As they extracted him from the car, two cops put cuffs on him and were staying close by, even though the paramedics told them Bill wasn’t going anywhere.
“I’m guessing you stole this car, even a Z28 can’t take Dead Man’s Curve at the speed you tried. I was close behind you and we were doing around one twenty when you took the turn.”
“I stole the car from in front of a bar on East 185th, was going for a joy ride and then bring it back.”
The cop just shook his head, figuring that Bill was probably in a hell greater than any words could invoke. He didn’t mention that they were calling off the pursuit due to the unsafe speed and took down Bill’s information from his driver’s license.
“New York?”
“I’m a student at Case Western. The front seat passenger is, was, also a student there. Mike Watts. The guy in the back is Don Mitchie, student at Kent State. We’ve been best friends forever.”
“You’ll have a long time to think about it, lucky that car had an airbag or we’d be zipping you up in a body bag too.”
Bill had a broken femur but was able to make the court date with the public defendant at his side, unwavering from entering a guilty plea. He was nearing his twentieth anniversary in prison, close to the point where half of his life will have been spent inside.