F
flamingo
Guest
Douglas: I was in my office when I got a call that there was a crash in the courtyard and that Bradley was involved. I hurried outside and everything just seemed to stop as I took in the scene. Bradley's car was in the middle of the courtyard wedged against a lawnmower and had pieces of hedging underneath. Bradley was curled up on the hood and my eyes followed the path to the hole that was torn through the hedge row and to the driveway. Questions were swirling. How fast was he going? How did he wind up on the hood? Was anybody injured? I ran over to him and asked him if he was okay! Bradley sat up wobbly and dazed and said nothing. I looked around and saw Lattimore being held by a brawny man. I asked them if they were alright and what happened. Lattimore sneered, "Your son tried to kill me again!" The tattoo-sleeved bearded man said he was walking nearby when the car came through the hedges and hit the mower, but nothing else.
With no broken windshield, I asked the man how Bradley ended up on the hood. He said, "This red-haired feller was right there pretty close, and he grabbed that boy out of the car and threw him onto the hood. He started wailing on him and I grabbed him and pulled him away. He seems to believe that boy tried to run him over on purpose."
When it was clear that Bradley's bumps and bruises came more from Lattimore than the wreck itself, I told him to go relax in my office and we'd get things sorted out. I took the man's personal info and thanked him for intervening. He was visiting relatives and would be around a few more days if I needed his help again. Lattimore was near the end of his workday and I told him to hang out in the lounge and get something to eat and I'd meet him there later. I wasn't going to have them in the same room together. The Mini Cooper had some scars, scratches, and a few dents but was drivable. I moved it to the parking lot. The mower had moderate damage and would need to be hauled away. The hedges and grass are fixable.
I finally talked to Bradley and the more he spoke the more upset I became. He told me he was speeding to get to work on time and rounded the curve too fast and crashed into the courtyard. Needless damage to property and he could have killed somebody. I asked him why Lattimore attacked him and he said that it was an accident and Lattimore overreacted.
I told him to stay put while I went to the lounge to speak with Lattimore. I thought of something he had said earlier: "Your son tried to kill me again!" Again? What did he mean by that? . . .
With no broken windshield, I asked the man how Bradley ended up on the hood. He said, "This red-haired feller was right there pretty close, and he grabbed that boy out of the car and threw him onto the hood. He started wailing on him and I grabbed him and pulled him away. He seems to believe that boy tried to run him over on purpose."
When it was clear that Bradley's bumps and bruises came more from Lattimore than the wreck itself, I told him to go relax in my office and we'd get things sorted out. I took the man's personal info and thanked him for intervening. He was visiting relatives and would be around a few more days if I needed his help again. Lattimore was near the end of his workday and I told him to hang out in the lounge and get something to eat and I'd meet him there later. I wasn't going to have them in the same room together. The Mini Cooper had some scars, scratches, and a few dents but was drivable. I moved it to the parking lot. The mower had moderate damage and would need to be hauled away. The hedges and grass are fixable.
I finally talked to Bradley and the more he spoke the more upset I became. He told me he was speeding to get to work on time and rounded the curve too fast and crashed into the courtyard. Needless damage to property and he could have killed somebody. I asked him why Lattimore attacked him and he said that it was an accident and Lattimore overreacted.
I told him to stay put while I went to the lounge to speak with Lattimore. I thought of something he had said earlier: "Your son tried to kill me again!" Again? What did he mean by that? . . .


























