Unforeseen Circumstances Chapter One: Incident On The Bus

Suburban woman gets her first taste of real city life.

I was trying to read my book, my Kindle in hand and my ear buds firmly in my ears. I couldn’t concentrate like this, not on the busy seven bus.

My car was in the shop, and I didn’t have enough to cover a rental car. So I had to resort to taking public transportation. Randy, my husband, also worked, but his job was on the other side of town, so asking him to come and get me would be a stretch.

I had four more days to go, but that was what the mechanic said last week, and I had to push the day that I would get my car back even further.

People were talking constantly about absolutely nothing of consequence, a baby crying, and the guy next to me was trying to spark a conversation with me from the moment I sat down. I was trying my best not to pay him any attention.

On top of everything else, it was one of the hottest days of the year so far. The bus smelled of sweat and body odor.

I had four more stops to go before I would be close to home. I was starting to hate living in the city, at first it was nice to be close to the hospital where I worked. The area I lived in wasn’t too bad. Sure, it was nicer when we lived in the suburbs, but that drive back and forth to work wasn’t worth it, plus the local neighborhood drama was getting to me, especially after my accident.

Randy was a city boy; he grew up in one of the biggest cities in the nation, so it was easy for me to ask him to relocate to the city. I had always been a suburb girl, grew up in a suburb where everyone knew everything about everyone.

I lived on a cul-de-sac of a nice community, and everything was great. So, living in the city was a huge challenge. Every night I went to bed with the sound of sirens going off, the houses were close together, and if there was an accident on any of the main roads, everyone came through our streets.

The plus side no one cared about what we were doing, who we were, or what we did. Everyone kept to themselves. It was a nice change from what I was used to.

Two more stops. I couldn’t wait to get off the bus and walk the rest of the way home. It wasn’t a long walk, maybe ten minutes or so.

I put my Kindle away and stood up. I pulled on the wire to notify the driver I was getting off at the next stop.

‘Another day down, Christie!’ I told myself as the bus slowed down.

As I was getting off, the man who was sitting beside me rushed at me, just as my foot hit the concrete pathway, he pushed me over and grabbed my bag, and he took off running.

I fell to the curb, my face hitting the concrete. I barely had time to react. I looked up, and he was gone. The bus stopped for a moment before carrying on.

No one cared that I had just been mugged; there were no sirens for me. No one stopped to see if I was okay. All they cared about was that I wasn’t dead.

“You okay?” a lady’s voice asked.

She was walking her dog, a small little thing that looked like it was more scared of its own shadow than me.

“Yeah, I think,” I slowly got up to my feet.

“Shouldn’t be carrying such a big bag on the bus like that,” she warned me. “It’s like putting a big bullseye on yourself.”

She shook her head and carried on walking.

Yeah, life in the big city. How glorious.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I was soaking my ankle in the tub when I heard Randy shouting for me.

“Up here,” I replied.

“What happened?” Randy asked as he came into the bathroom.

The damage wasn’t bad; both my knees were scraped pretty badly, my head was pounding, but I didn’t have any dizziness or blurred vision.

Lucky for me, I always kept a first aid kit in the house. I worked in the offices of the hospital. I knew little about first aid myself, but I learned a lot while working there.

“It’s okay,” I assured him.

I had just been emotional and embarrassed when I called him.

Randy sat on the edge of the tub next to me. “That’s going to swell,” he stared down into the water at my ankle.

“Yeah,” I grinned.

“What did they take?” Randy asked.

My bag had everything in it. “Everything,” I tried not to cry. “I canceled the credit and debit cards,” I wiped my face. “I called my boss and told her what happened, so my entry card to the ward won’t work, then…”

“Shhh,” Randy hugged me. “It’s okay, these things happen in the city. I did warn you.”

“I know,” I held onto him. “I know you did.”

I didn’t think it would happen to me. I kept hoping it wouldn’t happen.

I told Randy how everything went down. I told him I wanted to call the cops, but he told me they would just blow it off; it was a minor incident to them. I wasn’t seriously harmed, and everything he took would be worthless to him now that I canceled everything.

“He probably tossed your bag by now,” Randy told me as he helped me into bed. “He is long gone and looking for someone else.”

“How are you so calm about this?” I asked as Randy sat down beside me.

“I grew up in a worse place than this,” he laughed. “To be honest it was probably a pride thing, you weren’t paying him any attention so he got butthurt about it and took your shit,” Randy shrugged. “We used to do it all the time, keep your ID for a trophy.”

“That’s what you did for fun?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Randy smugly laughed. “Go to the boys and show off the bag and the ID, toss the cards, see what we could get for the bag if anything. Go on to the next.”

“Well, I am not taking the bus again,” I folded my arms.

“Yes, you are,” Randy said, smacking my arm lightly.

“You keep saying you’re tough and can be a boss bitch,” Randy stood up. “You’re going to get right back on that bus again and if you see him, you’re going to laugh in his face. That will show him to respect you, and he won’t do it again.”

I folded my arms and stared at Randy.

“You got this,” Randy smiled. “I am going to make you dinner in bed. Read your book and imagine you’re that princess or whatever she is.”

“She’s a mage!” I shouted at him. “An elven mage, who doesn’t take shit from no one!”

“Then be her, the next time you see him,” Randy blew a kiss at me.