Heartbeats

Witness #1
Q-
A- Coincidences happen, I guess. Unfortunate coincidences too.

Q-
A- Well I’m not like, a “poet” or anything.

Q-
A- Okay, well, first off: I’m just a cashier there, and I’m still kinda freaked out by all this. And I didn’t even really get a glimpse at the lady – I’m just sittin’ there punchin’ numbers into the register when allofasudden I just hear this crash. There’s a shelf between me an the window so I – after hearing crash, just assumed the worst. I thought the store was getting bombed or something, so I just ducked behind the counter.

Q-
A- No, I don’t think there was any sort of crime committed involving that. But the chick that was buying the stuff just grabbed all her shit—Can I say that? Don’t write it down, okay, I don’t want my ma to see that I said that. Anyways, that chick just grabbed all her…stuff, and just ran out. That’s the only crime. She had like, three hundred dollars of… yeah okay good. ‘Cause my boss just thought I was full of sh…it, and I don’t wanna have to pay back what was stole, ya’ know?

Q-
A- Well that’s helpful. Look, there was just a crash: I didn’t hear a scream, I just hid behind the counter. Please don’t make me say that on the stand or something, kay?





Witness #2
Q-
A- Yeah, I saw it. She prolly got what was coming to her.

Q-
A- Well I wouldn’t say “divine intervention” or anythin’ like that. But crap like this happens for a reason. I’m not saying God put a little extra gusto into that ball, or that He pushed that lady’s pace a little bit, but I ain’t sayin’ otherwise neither.

Q-
A- God’s motive?

Q-
A- Nah. Just a couple kids playin’ baseball in some parkin’ lot. I see it all the time. It’s not like they knew what’d happen. Hell, I saw it and I barely believe it.

Q-
A- No, that’s called faith.

Q-
A- I didn’t know her. Good lookin’ broad about four inches shorter than me.

Q-
A- Well she was good enough for me to look for a while. You know how it goes, pal.

Q-
A- Yeah.

Q-
A- Well I was right across the street. I heard some screams from the kids and then just a gasp. Real quiet-like, then the shatter…I’m sorry, but I ain’t too used to seeing the cold handsah death close around someone like that. Just gimme a minute.





Witness #3
Q-
A- Ummm, yeah...I saw what happened. There was this real friendly thing about her that reminded me of my mother, sir.

Q-
A- Oh okay sorry.

Q-
(Break for witness to compose the witness’s self)
A-Well, I go through town on my way home and I always take the same route. I go down Elm ‘til I hit Third then take a left. The older kids had a game on the school field that day so these guys were just playing in the parking lot of that Wal-Mart that they’re building.

Q-
A- Yeah, but I can’t afford a bike. I don’t mind walking.

Q-
A- I was walking and I saw her across the street. She was walking up to the intersection and –

Q-
A- Umm, it makes kind of a T shape in the road. It’s not a four-way.

Q-
A-Yes, the parking lot is…was across the street from both of us.

Q-
A- She was just walking towards me-
(Witness near hysteria. Short break is taken)

Q-
A- No I’m not thirsty. I was stopped at the crosswalk and she was just walking by that place on the corner, and she saw me looking her and she smiled at me. And I can tell when people smile just to smile so they think you think they’re nice. She actually smiled. Like she was holding it back and seeing me listening to my iPod brought it out.

Q-
A- The Jonas Brothers.

Q-
A- Yeah. All of them are good though.

Q-
A- It happened so fast. I heard a crack and I saw the ball shoot past her. Right past her face! Inches away, and she kinda jerked her head back an put her arms up like…this- ya know? Her face moved faster than anything else though. Her beautiful smile was gone so fast and her eyes got real big.

Q-
A- The baseball just went like the glass wasn’t there. A big piece of glass broke off and…I…

Q-
A- No, I have to though. For her. She seemed like a good person. The glass just fell and I saw her eyes go feary and I just closed mine and ran down the street.

Q-
A- Not past her. I couldn’t live with myself if I did. I turned right and just ran through town crying until I got home.
 

Witness #2
Q-
A- They told me later it was ‘cause the glass was so old. New glass don’t break like that. I know from experience ‘cause I was part of a demolition team for a while.

Q-
A- Look jackass, that’s the not point and don’t make fucking small talk when I’m describing this shit. I’m only gonna say it once, and once is enough, ‘cause I know you’re goddamn recording this even though you never said you were.

Q-
A- Goddamn right. You weren’t there. …It’s kinda funny how the gasp was the loudest thing. And the most – I know this is gonna sound gay or whatever, but beautiful thing too. It was so weak but I still can’t get it outta my head. I looked up just in time to see her fallin’ an’ I rushed across the street. Her head was bleeding a little from it hitting the ground. But the worst was the big chunks of glass.

Q-
A- God must have really hated this poor chick or Satan must have really loved her, cause that glass messed ‘er up bad. When I got to her I could already see that she was dead. And-

Q-
A-Not literally. I mean there wasn’t shit anyone could do ‘bout it. The biggest piece had gone in right through the bottom of her neck and it hadta nicked the windpipe too, cause she was just gurgling blood. Just laying there gurgling blood. Holy shit, the blood. I could see her heart beating, ‘cause everytime it did blood would spurt out from where the glass hit her, but ‘specially her neck. People use the saying “deer in tha headlights” a lot. That was me. I was so grossed out that I couldn’t look away from her neck and mouth. I didn’t even look in her eyes.

Q-
A- No, fuck. I just stood there. I didn’t know what I was s’posedta do. Ya always hear that thing, “Don’t move someone aftur they fell. They could havah broke neck.”

Q-
A- That’s just part of it though. I couldn’t bring me ta do anything’. I wish I coulda held her hand or at least looked her in the eye and gave her some of that…emotion stuff. But instead I just stared at blood gushin’ from ‘er neck.

Q-
A- Her arms an stuff too, I guess. I didn’t see it ‘till they put her in that ambulance that came.

Q-
A- Oh yeah, long before that. She couldn’ta been there for more than a few seconds ‘fore she went.

Q-
A- I dunno. Maybe eighteen? She was out of it before that though. But I could tell she was livin’ cause of the spurts of blood that came out with the heartbeats.