My Name is Harley

Sunday Again and Again and Again...      It turned out that we had to wait for a while for Mama to be better and wake up. We went to the hospital every day and stayed for as long as we could. Mia came home to be with us and my brother visited too when he could. Once people knew what happened Mama got a lot of cards and flowers. There was even an article in the newspaper about her. I kept all the cards for her but took some of the flowers to other floors where other patients could enjoy them. I ended up liking the hospital more after spending more time there. Everyone we met really cared about my mother and that felt good.       I realized that there were a lot of lonely people there at the hospital. Some people didn't have many visitors or even any visitors. I felt bad for them. When I stopped outside their door, their faces would just get lighter and brighter. I just wished that their families could see how much they needed some co...

  Saturday Again Again      Red and I both woke up early and found Dad downstairs making pancakes. They weren't as good as Mama’s but they had blueberries inside them and that helped. After breakfast Dad and I took out all my medication bottles and it turned out that we did know how to do my pills for the week. We just had to read the labels and remember which vitamins I took in the morning and which ones at night. I was proud of both of us because we figured it out. I knew that Mama would be proud of us too.       Dad called the hospital to find out when we could go see Mama. Her doctor wanted to talk to Dad and although I never liked it before, the hospital was my new favourite place. Not really. But I liked it a lot more now that Mama was there. Dad said that we had to be really patient and supportive while Mama was getting better. He told me that people in comas can hear everything that is going on and we needed to talk to ...

     Friday Again      The police called Dad first thing in the morning to say that they had a lead. That means a bunch of clues together I think. A Jane Doe had been brought into the hospital last Saturday after an alleged mugging. The lady whose name wasn't Jane but that they were calling Jane had a head injury and was in a medically induced coma. That means that they had given her drugs so that she could sleep for a while and let her body heal. It was Mama, I knew that it was Mama, it had to be Mama. She was pretty beat up and had had surgery to lessen the pressure on her brain. The police asked Dad if Mama had any distinguishing features, tattoos, scars, anything that would help them identify her. He told them that she had a lot of curly hair and a c-section scar from having me, but that was all that he could think of and he also asked if we could see her. The Constable said not until they had made some more enquiries. So no. I thought th...

Thursday Again      Last night Dad and I took every single thing out of his truck; every tool, every piece of wood, every scrap of paper, every piece of garbage and it took forever. It took us so long  and we still hadn’t found Mama’s letter for me. I was so tired that I ended up letting Dad finish the job. I went off to bed feeling pretty sad and hopeless. I didn't even brush my teeth or put on my pyjamas. I just fell into bed. I had a good sleep though and didn't even mind when Dad woke me up at 6 o’clock this morning. He had an envelope in his hand and was smiling the biggest smile that I have seen on his face all week. It was my letter from Mama! Dad found it under his bed when he was looking for his shoes! I am feeling really excited right now. Now we know where she is. Or where she was! This is what it said: Dear One, I am feeling worn out these days and like I need a little refresher; I’ve got to recharge the old batteries, you know what I mean? I am...

  Wednesday again        Dad’s old green car, the Green Meanie, the one that he let Joe use is a terrible mess. It stinks of smoke and is full of old dirty coffee cups and used lottery tickets. What made me really sad was thinking that Mama had to ride in it to get wherever she was going. She must have really wanted to get there, wherever it was. I looked all over the inside of the car as much as I could, to see if there were any clues, like Nancy Drew would do. It mostly was such a mess that I wanted to give up pretty quickly. But I remember how Mama said that if I needed to find something in my room, the best way to do it was to clean it up. She said that was how she found her own lost things, cleaning up. So I got a big garbage bag and a pair of her old gardening gloves and I started to take everything out of the car. I took out every piece of paper, every scrap of anything, looked at it and put it in the bag. I started in the front seat ‘cause that...

     Tuesday Again      I am supposed to go to school today so I guess that I will. I really don’t want to; I am so worried. I am taking my meds but I don’t feel like eating and my head hurts so I guess that I feel sick but I’m not really sick. The police came and asked Dad if Mama had any friends or associates in Red Deer. I don’t know why they would ask that. Also they asked some other stuff about credit cards and money and how their relationship was. Any stressors in the marriage. I am not sure about that but they sure did have a fight. I remember that’s what Dad said. I was not supposed to be listening but I could hear them talk when I was in my room. It did not sound good! The policeman smiled at me when I came into the room but his smile was big and quick and then gone so I'm not sure what to think about that.       Red was bugging me to take her for a walk so I did.  The woods behind the house were re...

    Monday Again      Dad and I went to the police station today. It's a low gray building with a lot of glass and people at different desks working at their computers and on their phones. Dad went into the detective’s office and talked to the man there for a long time. Then they asked me to come in and they asked me some questions too like did I know where Mama was, did I know of any reason why she would not come home, how did she seem the last time I saw her, stuff like that.      After that I told Dad that we should look around the hospital where his car had been. Maybe someone saw Joe and Mama there. Dad said that I didn't have to go to school today but that I should try to go to school tomorrow because it will give me something to do. He said that it will take my mind off things. Dad said that the police will help us and that Mama will come home. He said that there was a logical explanation for what is going on and th...

      Sunday Again      Dad just told me that Mama was supposed to be home last night and that he is not sure what to do. He looks worried and is using the phone a lot. He asked me how I was doing and I told him that I was okay but I am not. I know that if Mama was okay that she would be home here with us. She would have missed me as much as I missed her and would want to see me. I know it! I told Dad that we should call the police. He is going to call a friend of his to see what he says. He is in the RCMP. He will know what to do. I am going to feed the chickens and take Red for a walk and pray. I don’t know what else to do. After a while I started to bounce the basketball against Dad’s shop wall and he came out and told me to stop. I didn’t want to stop but something told me that I better stop so I did. One thing that Mama and Dad but mostly Mama was trying to help me with was something called perseverating. It's something that I ...

    Saturday Again      It has been one whole week. I have decided that I better start looking around more than just at our house or on our property. I think that when I get back to school on Monday, I should walk around a bit to see if there are any clues in town. Dad said that Joe’s body was found near the hospital. And also that Dad’s old car, the car that Joe might have been driving, was found near there too. Also I have heard of respite when people with special needs kids need some time away from their lives to rest and recuperate. Maybe Mama needed time away from me and just did not get a chance to tell me. I know I would need time away from me if I was her. People at school have told me that I am annoying. Maybe I annoyed Mama so much that she is taking a break.      The thing about Mama is that she is actually so nice to me most of the time. If she needed a break from me she would not want to tell me. She would hat...