PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Jose Angel Ramirez Silva

A00817613

¨You´re Late¨

It´s not like it was his intention to be late all the time, there was always an unforeseen situation that caused him to be delayed. Whether it was lost keys, traffic, or even his urge to finish watching the last few minutes of an important series there was always a reason behind it.

¨Yeah I know I´m running a bit late, traffic is horrible honey¨ he told his desperate girlfriend that had been waiting for him for the last 30 minutes at the movie theater. Indeed traffic was bad but he was aware that if he had left a few moments earlier he could have avoided the traffic.

¨Just go ahead and buy tickets for the movie and I´ll meet you inside the theater room, just let me know what number seats you get¨ he insisted as he explained that he was only a few minutes away. Things didn’t really work out with her since he believed he could not share his life with someone that didn’t understand and reasoned his fair justifications for being late.

There was this other time he was 45 minutes late to his little brother´s most important piano recital and busted in causing his brother to miss some notes.

¨I know mom and I can assure you that it was not in my hands that I was late, I just could not find my keys anywhere and how else would I have gotten here¨ he tried to calmly explain to his infuriated mother as she expressed her disappointment towards him.

¨Its ok big brother I understand don’t worry¨ his little brother said in order for his mom to calm down a bit.

¨Matthew I promise it wasn’t my intention and I tried everything I could to make it on time¨ he reiterated as he saw the sad look on his brothers face.

To some point he believed his excuses and never saw any wrong doing on his behalf, because it was always out of his control.

He had tried every tip and suggestions on how to be on time but no matter how hard he tried there was always a sporadic event that prevented him from doing so. It was never his fault. He was very convinced about that.

Years passed and his family members had grown tired of hearing excuses on why he was always late. They even tried to trick him by saying that things were an hour sooner that what they really were, but he always found out the correct hour and thus didn’t make the effort to be time.

¨Quick you have to come now, mom isn’t feeling so well and she might not have much left¨ said his brother through the phone in a distressful tone.

¨Yes I´m on my way tell her I´m on my way¨ he replied with determination on his voice that this time he would not let any catastrophic event from allowing him to be with his mother on her last moments.

He got in his car as soon as he had hung up, he was surprised in the agility and little effort it took him this time to find his keys, he would finally make it on time. Traffic was not that bad and he had decided to take the toll road in order to get there faster. It seemed as though his determination to see his mother in her las moments was strong enough to finally be on time.

He heard his phone notify that he had recieved a text message and he reached for his phone in order to see what it said, the phone accidentally fell to the floor of the car face down and was a bit of a stretch in order to reach it. What if it was something important? He had to see what it said. He removed his seatbelt and as he reached for his phone and removed his eyes from the road he completely missed the ¨road under construction¨ sign and crashed into the back of a road roller ending his life on the spot.

It would not have mattered if he wouldn’t have crashed since the text he received from his brother were the same two words he had heard all of his life ¨You´re late¨.