Guardian

I rolled down the window and closed my eyes as the music from the radio filled the car. Eboni was on the side of me driving, singing her lungs out. It was two in the morning; we had just left the club and I was drunk. The wind caressed my face and messaged my hair as I slowly drained out the music. And also, Eboni, who struggled to hit every note. I was feeling amazing. All my worries and pain I had from losing my grandmother to Alzheimer's last year, were gone. I felt like I was flying in the sky somewhere. I felt like I was on top of the world. “Ohh Shit!!!” Eboni screamed out. Bringing me back to reality. I quickly opened my eyes in time to see lights from someone high beams coming right towards us. Eboni swiveled to get out the way, and then…. (EERRRRKKKK BOOOMMM!!!) Everything went black.

It was black everywhere, but I heard voices. Couldn’t really make out what they were saying, but I was scared. The voices began to fade in. “Are you okay ma'am?” “Stay with us” … a voice in the distance yelled out “The paramedics are here!” I slowly start to open my eyes. This sharp banging pain shot through my head as I struggled to see through the blur. An unfamiliar face was looking down at me as he cradled my head into his arms. “What’s going on?” I asked. My words sounded as if they barely exit my lips. “It’s okay ma'am, you’ve been in a car accident…” That’s when everything came back to me. I jumped up and frantically scanned around for Eboni. “Where’s my friend!?… Where’s Eboni!? I yelled out. “Calm down Ma'am, it’s okay,” This tall guy dressed in a paramedic uniform said soothingly while grabbing onto my arm. I snatched away “No, Where’s my friend?” I began to cry as I ran over to my car which was now flipped upside down. “Eboni!!!... “Eboni!!!!” I cried even harder realizing she wasn’t there. “Where’s my friend?” I fell to the ground in tears. A police officer came over to me. “There wasn’t anyone else in the car when they found you. The only other thing recovered was this little black book”. I looked up; his hand extended towards me with Eboni’s little black book. “What do you mean?” I asked. “The family that helped you told us that they were heading home from a dinner party when they noticed your car flipped over in the middle of the road. They immediately stopped their car and ran over. They said when they got to your car, you were the only one inside”. “How is that possible? My friend was driving?” “They said that they were sure no one else was in the car… but what I can do is take down your friend's name and see if we can locate her nearby”. He took out a notepad and pen. “You said her name was…?” I was stuck and confusion rest on my face “Eboni… Eboni Green”. I then looked down and noticed for the first-time blood dripping from my head; onto the concrete.

After being in the hospital for hours, getting x-rays and tests run on me. I finally was able to go home. I had a mild concussion and was given pain medicine to ease the throbbing ache. I was so distraught and confused. Where was Eboni? And why would she leave her book? After my grandmother died last year, I took it extremely hard. I turned to alcohol for self-medication, to numb the pain. To disappear from reality. I meet Eboni about 5 months ago while I was visiting my grandmother at her gravesite. She comforted me as I cried and asked God why? We were strangers, but it felt like we’ve known each other forever at that moment. We became best friends. She was an angel, and always tried to convince me to stop drinking.

I threw the little black book onto the coffee table and dragged my feet across the wooden floor. I entered the kitchen wanting to just rid myself of this agony. I searched through the cabinets searching for my medicine. And there it was, a tall bottle of Vodka. I hastily grabbed it, sure enough, that this here was going to make everything make sense. I walked back to the living room, plopped on the couch, and twisted open the top to all my problems. A tear began to fall as the liquor bottle kissed my lips. Then another dropped. I slowly lowered the bottle as I began to cry. “Why me?” … The sobbing sounds crowded the living room. I felt useless, worthless, and lonely. I just wanted to end it all so I could be back with my grandma. I had no one left. I searched through my bag for my pain medicine. Popped one, then two, and three pills. As I held the pills in my mouth, I started to have flashbacks of my grandma and Eboni, causing me to cry harder. I lift the bottle back up to my lips but before I got a chance to gargle everything down. That little black book on the coffee table caught my eyes. Why would she leave her book? I spat the pills out and placed the bottle on the coffee table, right before picking the little black book up in my hands. For some reason, this book was pulling me towards it. I’ve never asked what it was that was in the book. But I guess now I was going to find out. I opened the book up to the first page and it was a picture of my grandmother and me when I was just one years old. “What the hell?” I said in somewhat a whisper. Confusion filled my face. I continued to go through the pages. They all were filled with photos of my grandmother, some that I remembered and some that I didn’t. How did Eboni get these? And why did she have them? All kinds of thoughts were going through my head. On the last page of the book, a $20,000 check written to me fell out. Along with a picture of my grandmother and my grandfather who died 10 years before. They were dressed in all white and smiling. Tears began to fall again. They looked so happy. (RING RING RING) I jumped. I reached over and answered my phone. “Hello?”. “Hey, this is officer Tucker, I was just calling to let you know that we were unable to find anyone in the area with the name Eboni Green…. Matter of fact, we weren’t able to find anyone with that name on file at all in this County. Are you sure you have the right name?” My heart dropped, right along with my phone.