Under the Influence

Mirna X. Toxtle

Have you ever had an experience
of being in a car accident or have seen your friends or family
members driving irresponsibly?

Under
the Influence

At
eight years old, my mom thought my dad was no longer affiliated with
alcohol. She trusted him with my two brothers and I with him on our
weekly Sunday visitations. He would feed her lies about his 5-month
soberness and would constantly reassure her that he was fine.
Unfortunately, as I would later discover, my father was still greatly
influenced by alcohol and would cover his tracks with large amounts
of cologne and different sets of clothes. On a particular Sunday
morning, my father was at least an hour early to the police station.
As a naive child, I did not think much of it besides the fact that I
would have extra time at our community park with my dad. Once my
siblings and I said our farewells to my mom and got into my dad’s
car, he told us we will not be going to a park. I whined as any child
would, but I was won over when he told me he would buy me some Hot
Cheetos at Rosa’s Market.

At
the cashier register, four things were placed on the counter: a case
of flavored blue juice, my brother’s Hubba- Bubba gum, a case of
Corona alcohol, and my Hot Cheetos. We made our way to the home of
his friend, a man who was also my godfather. My siblings and I spent
the day with my godmother while my dad and his friends were watching
a soccer game in the back yard. Every now and then, I would see him
drink from his bottle but I avoided saying anything since I felt it
was my place not to. “He was my dad”, I thought to myself, “he
would never hurt me or my brothers.” Instead, I enjoyed my chips,
my empanadas, and playing with the kids running around the house. I
don’t remember what time we started heading back to the police
station. All I knew was that we had to be at the police station by 6
PM and that my dad was extremely late since he was rushing us to our
seats.

The
ride was mostly normal. There was no music playing since his radio
was broken and I had lost all of his CDs. My two brothers were in the
back asleep and I was in the front seat. I remember the vivid moment
I was about to close my eyes and seeing the moment my dad ran a red
light in an intersection. A car was driving right towards my side of
the vehicle but my dad was quick enough to swerve on time. He hit the
break so hard, my body flung to the dashboard and I got a permanent
scar on my left eyebrow. My mom arrived at the scene while my dad was
being arrested for driving intoxicated with minors in the car. My
brothers and I stood huddled together waiting for my mom as my dad
was taken away, not to be seen until months later.