Blood of Others by Rick Mofina Read Free Book Online

window.
    “I want to alert you to a fare, a
woman I dropped off here about fifteen minutes ago. She looked very despondent
for sure. Walked off alone on the east side.”
    The driver described Olivia.
    Picking up his phone to reach a
public safety patrolman, the toll taker said, “Patrol shift ends about now.” He
raised his voice to the driver over the traffic. “But I thought I just saw the
scooter start its last patrol.”
     
    A cool wind kicked up from the
bay as Olivia passed the South Tower, asking herself if this was the only
answer.
    Yes.
    San Francisco’s skyline glittered
like a distant dream that did not include her. Below, the black waters of the
bay beckoned her to escape the prison of a lonely heart, enticing her to
unshackle herself now. For she would never be free from the pain. It would only
get worse.
    Would it? How could she be sure?
    Hadn’t she tried everything to
overcome it, to conquer her low self-esteem, her fear of rejection, her
shyness? Yes. And hadn’t she failed? Oh, how she admired, envied, the single
women who did not need a partner, who had friends, children, careers, social
networks, lives to share, something connecting them.
    They mattered.
    She mattered to no one.
    No friends. No family. No one,
except a sick aunt in Chicago, who had come to her mother’s funeral years ago.
Olivia had sat with her alone in the funeral home chapel near her mother’s oak
casket for over an hour. They were strangers and hardly spoke.
    Olivia had reached the middle of
the bridge.
    How had she come to this?
    Was it because her birthday was
near? Was it the young couple with their baby on the bus enjoying a life she
ached for? Was it the bridal shop murder, turning even her fairy-tale dreams to
dust? Was it the reality of a dead flower pressed in a romance novel next to
her bed in an empty house no one visited, where she adjusted paintings no one
saw, arranged furniture no one sat in, cooked meals that were eaten in solitude
to the ticking of a grandfather clock?
    Am I living in vain?
    Then is this the answer? Had she
tried everything?
    Her hands gripped the cold metal
railing.
    She was uncertain, feeling the
bridge’s vibrations in her hands. It was two hundred and forty feet to the
water. The drop took four seconds. Four seconds and it was over.
    Do you want to end the pain,
or end it all?
    In her heart she knew she had so
much to give, so much to share, if she could only find the right person.
    There had to be someone for her
out there. There just had to be somebody.
    She lifted her head, breathing
deeply. The night sky was so beautiful. Tell me what to do, she pleaded
with the stars, hands fixed to the railing. Please tell me what I should do.
    Her answer came in her memory of
Mr. Caselli’s advice to her before he died.
    “You should jump into life.
Don’t be so shy all the time. Don’t be afraid of a heartbreak or two,
Olivia.  That is how you know you are alive.”
    Don’t be afraid.
    At that moment, it was as if his
gentle hand took hers as a breeze lifted her hair from her eyes.
    This is not the answer,
Olivia. Don’t be afraid. Take a chance.
    It was time for her to take
control. She did have a life and it was worth living. Olivia relaxed her
grip on the railing.
    “Everything okay, miss?”
    Olivia didn’t notice the scooter,
nor its lights as she met the friendly face of a large public safety patrolman,
standing next to her.
    “Is there anything I can do for
you, miss?”
    Olivia was no longer alone.
    She looked to the stars, the
lights of San Francisco, feeling her ice-cold isolation melting in the warmth
of a human connection.
    “Thank you. Yes. I think I’d like
to get a taxi to take me home.”
    The patrolman was expert at
reading people who came alone to the Golden Gate Bridge. He had witnessed some
tragic events at this very spot.
    “I think you’ve made a good
decision.”
    Olivia’s driver was the same one
who had dropped her off. During the trip home, he shared a joke