Precious Time

The screen message was “No Bluetooth Device Detected.” Jim patted the pants pocket where he kept his phone. Nothing. He grabbed the wheel with his right hand and patted the left pocket. No phone.

“What the hell,” he cursed, wondering if he should drive back home to get it. Nowadays, without his phone, he felt as if only half of him was present.

He’d forgotten to set his alarm, and waking up late meant that his entire morning routine had gone on at a warp-speed frazzle. He might even be late for work as it was, never mind turning around to retrieve his precious phone.

A day at the office without his phone. Jim contemplated this with not a little angst.

And he’d been one of the last people he knew who’d given in to cell phones.

“I don’t need one,” he’d said for years. But then, because his wife, who’d bought one almost immediately after they became available, had bought him one for his birthday.

“Yes, I know I’m not getting any younger,” he’d said when he unwrapped his present, “but if I do have a heart attack, how will I be able to call 911 anyway?”

“Well,” Jean, his wife had said, “if it does not kill you, you may still have the ability to dial.”

“So,” said Jim, “I’m hoping that any heart attack I have won’t be lethal. That’s cheery.”

“It is cheery,” Jean had said. “From my perspective, if you have a heart attack, I definitely am hoping it doesn’t kill you on the spot. Let’s think positively.”

“That is not positive thinking, dear. And I don’t want this phone. Please take it back.”

“I will not take it back. You will carry this phone with you at all times, do you hear me, Jim Hasegawa? And if I ever find that you don’t have that phone on your person, I will give you all holy hell about it.”

To bring peace to his otherwise sunny marriage, Jim had relented, and from then on, because he loved Jean more than anything in this world, he carried a cell phone with him at all times.

He still hadn’t had a heart attack. Sometimes he wished he did, the immediately fatal type.

Jean was the one who’d gone unexpectedly. Jim had received a call at work. She’d been grading papers in her office at school. Her office mate had found her slumped over her desk.

From that moment on, if for no other reason, Jim had carried a cell phone to remind himself, constantly, of Jean.

He checked the time again. Maybe he could make it back home, grab his phone, and then floor it to work.

“Crap.” He did a U-Turn on Kalaniana‘ole Highway.

A moment later, the blue lights and siren were on his tail. Now he knew there was no question but that he would be late for work.

“Sir,” said the policeman, stooping a little to talk to Jim. “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

Jim looked at the name above the badge: Raven Ching. Leaning closer to the window, he said, “Officer Ching, I’m Jim Hasegawa. Jean’s husband.”

The officer leaned closer to get a better look. “Oh, Coach Hasegawa, how are you, sir? I was so sorry to hear about Mrs. Hasegawa. She was my favorite English teacher.”

“Thanks, Raven, I appreciate your kind words. It’s been a while. Are you still playing ball?”

“Well, kind of. I’m in a flag football league for, ah, old guys like me.”

“Wow,” said Jim, “it’s hard for me to think of you as old.”

Raven laughed. “Right, yeah? High school feels kine-a like just yesterday.”

Jim nodded. “Well, to answer your question, yes, Raven, I do know why you pulled me over. So please write the ticket. I know you have to.”

“Ah,” said Raven, “I really could just give you a warning.”

Jim smiled. “Nah, go ahead and write it.”

Raven wrote quickly and handed him the ticket. “Here you go, coach. Drive safely, you hear?” The two shook hands.

Yes, he was late now. But, at this point, Jim didn’t care. The phone was more important. He drove home, grabbed his phone, and then headed back to the office.

As he was driving toward town, a blue and white police car blew by him. It was Raven. Just as he was smiling about another chance encounter and about the coincidence of seeing his former all-star football player twice in the space of half an hour, he saw Raven’s car swerve toward the sidewalk and smash into the rock wall that ran alongside it.

He pulled up to the spot and jumped out of his car. Running to the smoldering wreck, he saw Raven slumped forward on the steering wheel, his head bloody. He appeared to be unconscious, but Jim could see he was breathing.

Pulling the cell phone from his pocket, Jim punched up 911 and reported the accident.

A crowd had gathered.

A woman standing next to Jim said, “Aren’t cell phones wonderful? If we’d had to find a payphone, we might have lost too much precious time.”

“Too much precious time, yes,” said Jim. “It is, isn’t it? Time is so, so precious.”

He slid the phone back into his pocket.