CADD: Children Against Drunk Driving
Henry pulls on his coat and heads toward the front door, "I’m going out for awhile Jan". "Ok Henry, when will you be back", Jan asks. "In a couple of hours"! "Can we go daddy", Kate asks. Yea, Martha yells, "I wanna go to daddy".
"Yea, yea, ok, you can go too". "Come on girls, let’s hit the road". The girls climb into the back seat of the car and off they go.
Minutes later they arrive in front of Henry’s favorite pub. "Where are we daddy", Martha asked. "I have to go in here for a minute girls", Henry replied. "You wait here in the car and don’t get out, do you understand"? "Yes sir", the girls chimed. The minutes become hours. "What’s taking so long", Martha asked Kate. "I don’t know, what do you think I am, a genius or something", Kate retorted. "Well I am going to go see what Daddy is doing", Martha replied. "No", Kate ordered, "you know what daddy said". "I’m bigger, I’ll go see, you stay here". "I wanna go too", Martha whined. She started to cry. "Ok, ok, we can go together", Kate cajoled her sister, "stay behind me, ok?" "Ok", Martha whimpered. Kate reluctantly pushes the front seat up and opens the door of the pink dodge. Her black patent leather shoes glisten in the sunlight as her feet hit the pavement. Martha is in pursuit. Just as they reach the entrance to the pub, the door swings open and out steps their father. Kate and Martha freeze. "What are you two doing out of the car"? "I thought I told you to stay in the car", Henry slurred. Henry had more than a few drinks in the pub. Kate says angrily, "you were taking so long", "we want to go home"! "Ok, ok", Henry murmured, "get in the car". The girls run back to the car and climb into the back seat again.
Everything was fine until they turned into the new housing development where they had moved a few years earlier. The road curved sharply to the right, but Henry didn’t make the turn in time and drove onto the curb on the other side of the street and crashed into the light pole. The girls were thrown into the front seat of the car from the impact. Henry laughed a drunken laugh and started to back the car up. "Stop the car", Kate said. Kate and Martha were not hurt but more frightened than anything. Kate glared at her father. She was furious. She grabbed Martha by the hand, "come on lets get out". They climbed out of the car and walked home. They were lucky.©
Kay F Gibbs March 2000
"If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) The Merchant of Venice
