A woman drops her pen on her way to work this morning, July 31st, 7:22am. She catches the 22a bus a couple blocks from her apartment. She picks up her pen, and continues walking briskly. She's about to cross 32nd street when a BMW screeches by, much faster than it should be going. She gasps, aware that she was lucky to still have her life, but not fully aware of just how much luck, good and bad, that she had. If she hadn't drop her pen and walked hurriedly across that same street into the BMW's path, she would have been right in that car's way. She would've broken both of her legs and her right arm, gotten 6 weeks off of her stressful job, and when she came back her boss would have realized what an asset she is to the company, and she would have gotten a promotion, and then a raise.
A man driving a stolen BMW is speeding down the streets, trying to escape the cops that have been following him just as speedily for miles. As we already know, he makes it past 32nd street just fine. Things are looking up for the thief, the cops have lost a couple blocks because of his sharp turns.
The woman from earlier gapes at the racing BMW for only a second before she continues walking. She hears sirens but thinks they are off in the distance- on the freeway, maybe?- because of the headphones she's wearing are a little too loud. She continues crossing 32nd street and moving right in front of the squad car that is chasing a car thief.
The driving police man had just turned the same sharp corner that the BMW had just appeared from and wasn't expecting the pedestrian in the process of crossing the street. He tries to brake, and only manages to slow fractionally as he knocks the oblivious woman to the gravel, and then he finally swerves to a stop. He leaps out of the car, momentarily forgetting the thief, to care for the fallen woman. His partner stays in the car, calling something in on the radio. He's learning fast for a rookie, the driver thinks.
The woman is still conscious despite her many injuries, and if she could feel her legs she would no doubt have gone into shock with the pain. A man-a cop, she slowly realizes-stands over her. He's talking but she can't focus on the words. Strangely, with utter clarity, she realizes she's going to miss the meeting that she was in such a rush to get to. If the woman lying in the street hadn't gotten hit, she would have made it to her meeting on time, of course. A close co-worker of hers would have asked her out to lunch, and she would have said no. She doesn't date the people she works with, she'd say. That would be the beginning of her co-workers obsession with her that would last several months until he would ignore the future restraining order and corner her in an alley, stuff her in a laundry bag, bring her to his garage and he brutally slaughter her.
After getting the woman to the hospital, and finding out that she had broken both her legs and her right arm, the squad car driver heads back to the station with his partner. Once there he gets called to the director's office and was told, among other things, that he's getting on in his years-it had been almost 35 years on the force-so the director told him it was time to retire. The now retired cop had been angry at first, but slowly realized he was thankful to get out. He followed the director's logic in his theory that this 'blunder' (hitting the pedestrian and losing the car thief in the process who, fortunately for them, ran a red light on 24th street and was hit sideways by a mini-van) was only the beginning, considering his age.
If the ex-squad car driver hadn't retired that day, hadn't hit that woman, the next day he would have gone on patrol with his partner as usual, at 4:30 am, and he would have pulled over seeing some kids acting suspiciously. Upon approaching them, he would have seen one kid stash a wad of cash quickly into his pocket. Another kid went ahead and bolted down the sidewalk, a small bag in his hand. The cop would've taken chase, his partner taking care of the kid who was smart enough to stay put, or perhaps not smart enough to run.
The running kid almost tripped a couple times, but still stayed ahead because the cop was a pretty old guy. He turned a corner right into his older brother and some of his friends. The running kid yells 'Cop!' and his brother's friends start to get in some kind of positions. Just then the old cop himself turns that same corner and is immediately shot in the gut. He would've retired soon, if he hadn't gotten shot. If he hadn't already been forced into retirement the day before, July 31st.
Instead, the kids did their drug deal in peace. The would-be running kid's older brother's friend never had to shoot a cop, was never traumatized into turning his life around after a tough life in jail. The running kid never witnessed a murder, in fact the running kid never actually had to run. The dealer that the running kid was with was able to keep his money, able to buy some real food for his little sister that his mother didn't seem to care about, since she never bought food herself, only booze. Most importantly, the retired cop never got shot, instead lived out his retirement for many years, visiting his son and daughter-in-law frequently, maybe more frequently than they liked.
A woman is frantically getting ready for work, July 31st 7:13 am. She calls up to her son, 'We're going to be late!' as she rinses off her daughter's breakfast plate and puts it in the dishwasher. Running out to the car, she drops her keys. Her kids are already in the mini-van, with their seat belts on, ready to go as she has to bend down to pick them up. Keys in the ignition, she starts driving to her kids' school like any other weekday. She gets held up by a tow truck soon enough, and her mood worsens as she is already running late. She looks at her watch, briefly, as she waits for the light to turn green at the traffic light on 24th street. When she looks up, it has turned. She is anxious about being late for work because first she needs to drop the kids off at school. She's thinking about too many things as she crosses the intersection.
The BMW thief is thinking up. He's sure he's going to get away now, after seeing the cop car stop in the stolen car's rear-view mirror. He continues driving almost lazily now, as he eases his foot off the pedal just a bit, still going too fast. What could he say? He likes going fast. Especially in this car. The light up ahead is yellow, and the thief smiles at the idea he's just had. He stomps his foot on the gas, sure that he'll make it because he's practically invincible. He doesn't even care when the light turns red, he doesn't hesitate one bit. He barely even thinks about it, until an enormous amount of pressure is exerted to his right side.
The woman on her way to work knew it wasn't her fault. The BMW came out of nowhere. The light had been red, and there were many witnesses to that fact. She told her kids not to panic as she fished her insurance card out of her purse. In the distance, she heard sirens. She looked up and saw a man get out of the car she hit, and she saw him start to run. She didn't understand. She hit him, even if it was his fault.
If the mother on her way to work hadn't dropped her car keys getting into her mini-van, she would have been in front of the tow truck and passed the green light that she actually missed, completely missing the BMW who would've gotten hit by the tow truck in such a way that he would've snapped his neck. The mom wouldn't have been late for work, her kids on time for school, and the rest of her day gone by without a hitch- maybe.
Maybe the tow truck driver decides to stay home instead of go out to eat the night before, and eats left overs that make him sick and he calls in sick. Maybe the car thief takes a different route- one that avoids both women going to work completely. Maybe he chooses to invest in a different stock, one that doesn't plummet and drive him to desperate criminal acts at all. Maybe the mother's son takes two minutes longer making his hair look cool for the girl at school.
Maybe the woman on 32nd street doesn't drop her pen on her way to work on July 31st, 7:22 am.
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