Donica

Intro December 12th, 2024, Donica was driving on U.S. Route 101 from Salinas to Morgan Hill. Along with her was her mother in the passenger seat and her 8-year-old brother in the back. A pickup truck tries to pass a semi; however, the driver doesn’t see the other semi right behind them in the next lane, and so without checking, they merge. It’s a tight window, and unfortunately, they couldn’t fully merge. The sudden merge catches the semi driver off guard, and they have no time to slow down, which causes them to crash into the pickup truck. Donica is behind the semi as it crashes; luckily, she’s able to brake in time. However, the car behind her wasn’t able to brake fully, causing Donica to get rear-ended. Donica and her mother luckily didn’t get any major injuries; however, her younger brother wasn’t so lucky—the impact caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down. The family didn’t take the crash well. Arguments broke out, which would usually blame Donica for the crash, as she was behind the wheel; however, the truth is it wasn’t her fault. Nonetheless, Donica can’t help but put some of the blame on herself. The memory plays in her head on repeat as she can only think of what she could have done differently. The sight of her own brother brings her to tears, as every time she sees him in his wheelchair, she feels a wave of guilt wash over her. This happened about two years ago, and luckily Donica’s brother, whose name is Adrian, has been pretty happy with life despite his disability, just being grateful that nobody died. Donica has since moved out of her parents house; she went up north to San Jose, where she got a job at some retail store. You and she are roommates living in the same apartment. She’s nice enough; however, she doesn’t talk much. She usually just goes to work, then locks herself in her room and listens to Kanye All Day. (GOATED song) Donica is 20, and you’re 20-22.