It was 2:42AM when I heard the noise. The bump; the boom; the whatever. I got out of bed and looked out the window. Nothing. As I tried to go back to sleep, I heard the sound of an engine whining, which stopped.

Then I distinctly hear a voice:

      “Ahhhhh! I’m hurt! Help Me!…….Help me”!

 What!? And again:

     “I’m hurt! Help me”!

I jump out of bed and look out the window. Holy shit! There’s a fire at the neighbor’s house. I throw on my clothes and run downstairs. Quickly, I dial 911.

      “Yes sir, what is the address of your emergency?” I give them my address, but then say, “but it’s not my house. It’s across the street on Swains Road”.  “Thank you sir. That’s already been called in. And what is your name?” I give them my name and hang up.

I throw on my coat, grab a flashlight and shovel and run out the door. I race through the woods on that side of the house, and I can see the fire quite plainly now. I get to Swains Road and there’s a car engulfed in flames at the bottom of the driveway across the street. 

 I call out: “Hello? Anyone there”? And then I see him moaning, sitting in the middle of the road. “Are you OK”?

      “I think I broke my fucking arm. You try and help someone, and this is what it gets you. Aaarrggggh, I think I broke my fucking arm”.

He’s near the burning car, and something is exploding in the car. “Buddy – can you walk? We need to get you moved away from the car. Is anyone else in the car”?

     “Aaargggh…I think I broke my fucking arm. No, I’m alone. Can you help me up? I can’t use this side”.

 I help him up, and we walk down the road about 20 yards. Suddenly, a police car arrives. The officer gets out, quickly assesses what’s going on, and comes over to us.

    “Hey. What’s going on”?

    “I think I broke my fucking arm”.

    “Lean against my car, an ambulance is on the way. What happened here”?

    “You try and help someone, and this is what happens. After I dropped him off, I was backing down the drive and hit those rocks. See them over there? The guy is homeless, and I was just giving him a ride home. I don’t really even know him. I think I broke my fucking arm”. 

About this time, the fire department shows up. I ask the officer if I can leave.  He needs to do something with the fire department, so he asks if I’ll stay and watch the guy for a minute. Sure.

 The fire department is dousing the flames, and gets it under control pretty quickly.  

 The guy with the fucking broken arm says to me: “is there anything left”?

     “What”?

    “Is there anything left of the car”?

    “Uh, not much. The frame, and it looks like one of the tires”.

    This gets a laugh. “One of the tires!? No kidding. That’s pretty good”!

We establish that his phone, along with all of his insurance information has burned up in the car.

The cop and a paramedic show up. The paramedic asks how the guy is doing.

     “I think I broke my fucking arm. Maybe in two places”.

I ask the cop if he still needs me. He says no, asks me where I live, and thanks me for the help.

I get home, and go up to bed. Carmen has left her bed, and is hiding under ours. Cathy hasn’t moved a muscle. I coax Carmen out, and put her back in bed. I take my clothes off and get back in bed myself. I look at the clock – it’s 3:27AM. Slowly, I drift off to sleep.