I didn’t go to school the next three days. Dad said Jenna and I could stay home if we wanted to. I wasn’t trying to take advantage of his kindness. I really didn’t think I could concentrate at school. If I was daydreaming in class before, who knew what I would have done after hearing the news about my mother? Plus, I didn’t know what to tell everyone, or if I should tell anyone else anything at all.
Jenna decided she was going to go to school anyway. I’m guessing she didn’t want to be around the house all day. I have my doubts if she ever made it to school though. I never saw her leave or come home with books or her backpack even.
I spent a lot of my time on the computer. A couple of times I sat down to watch Cosby or Seinfeld, but I kept spacing off. I couldn’t pay attention. It was weird. They were playing some of my favorite episodes too. None of it seemed important anymore. So, I turned off the TV and got on the Internet. I wanted to know more about what our family had gotten into. It scared me to think of Mom still in Baghdad. I hoped she was safe and getting good care, but I had to find out for myself.
I googled “Baghdad medical facilities.” When I saw the list of hits, I didn’t know where to begin. I had no idea where Mom was. I saw some common themes though. Overcrowding. Lack of supplies. Even looting. It didn’t make me feel any better. I only hoped the place Mom was in wasn’t overcrowded, wasn’t short on supplies, and wasn’t being looted. I just wanted her home.
Toward the end of the week we received word that Mom was in “stable condition” and would be at Walter Reed Hospital in a couple of days. It was good news, but there was still a lot I didn’t know. Why did she have to have surgery for a broken leg? Why couldn’t they just throw a cast on it, one that all of her friends and family could sign? How bad were her “minor” burns? Would I recognize her? When would I get a chance to see her? I had a whole new set of questions to answer. Would Mom ever be the same?
I went back to school on Friday. My dad drove me. I think he wanted to make sure I was okay to go. When I got to my locker, Seth was waiting for me.
“Hey! There he is! Where ya’ been, man?”
“Umm … at home the last couple of days.”
“You’re not sick or anything, are you? Tomorrow night’s the big night!” I had completely forgotten about Chris’s party.
“No, I wasn’t sick or anything.”
“Good. So you’ll be there, right?”
“I kind of doubt it, actually.” Seth’s mask came off quickly. “Listen, Seth. Remember when I told you my mom never called that one night?
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Well, my mom got hurt pretty bad.”
“In Iraq?” he asked, clueless. His eyebrows clenched up in this “I’m completely oblivious” kind of look. He was staring down at me, the way he had that first day we met at the park. But he didn’t have that look of confidence he’d had then.
“Yeah, in Iraq. Where else would she have gotten hurt?” I snapped.
“Okay, sorry … So, what happened to her?”
“A bomb went off. She wasn’t too far away from it, so she got a bunch of broken bones and got burned a little.”
“God, that sucks. Sorry, man. She’s going to be all right though?”
“Well, they think so, but no one knows for sure and we haven’t been told much of anything.”
“Huh. Well, tomorrow night should cheer you up if you come,” he said putting the mask back on.
I didn’t look at him. I stuffed my backpack into my locker, grabbed my books, and slammed the locker door. “I don’t know, Seth. I’ll talk to you later,” I said. I could sense his confusion as I walked away.
Sitting in Social Studies, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Normally I didn’t have my phone turned on in class. Mom and Dad told me that if I ever got it taken away at school, I wouldn’t get it back for a week. But that time I must have forgotten about it. I had other things on my mind, I guess. We were watching a video of a Martin Luther King speech and Mrs. Donaldson was really into it, so I slid my phone out, buried it in my lap and read my new text message. It was from Nicole, who was sitting just a few seats away holding her own phone in her lap. It read:
where have you been? sick? did you hear from your mom yet? i think my family is planning to come to your dad’s bbq tomorrow. will you be there? may have dance class but I will see if I can get out of it. text me back.
nicole
I quickly saved her number on my phone so I would never forget it again. I had completely forgotten about my dad’s birthday barbecue. I didn’t think there was any way he was still planning to have it. Not with all that had happened. Nicole flipped her hair around and looked at me, as I was about to send her a text. She smiled. I smiled for the first time in four days.
Mrs. Donaldson did her token glance around the room, so I hid my phone under my right thigh. Once she went back to watching the movie, I slid the phone from under my leg, popped open the keypad and hit reply:
haven’t been sick. mom was attacked and hurt pretty bad. details later. doubt my dad is still having his bbq but don’t know. talk after class?
I watched Nicole read the text. She quickly turned around with a shocked look on her face and mouthed the words, “Tell me what happened.”
I nodded and mouthed back, “After class.”
I met her at my locker right after class and filled her in on the details about my Mom. Nicole’s mouth was wide open as I talked about the bombing and she looked like she might cry. I hadn’t been able to form tears yet, but Nicole’s eyes welled up like a water fountain the second I said the word “bomb.”
“I’m so sorry,” she kept saying. “Is there anything I can do?” She put her hand on my shoulder. I liked the way her thumb rubbed up and down along my collarbone.
When I got home later that day, Dad was home early again. He was sitting on the couch staring out the window. The TV wasn’t on, he wasn’t reading, just staring blankly. He jumped up when he saw me walk into the living room.
“Dad?” I said not giving him a chance to greet me. “You aren’t still planning to have that barbecue tomorrow, are you?”
“Yeah, actually, I think I am.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. What was wrong with him? My mom, his wife, was lying in a hospital burnt up and broken, and he was going to have a party?
“Really? Don’t you think it’s kind of a bad time for something like that?”
“I know what you mean, son. But Mom would want us to continue to live our lives. She’s in good hands, and there isn’t much we can do from this end.” He said it so matter of factly that I wondered if some cold, uncaring, unfeeling robot had replaced him. “It’ll be a good way to get our minds off of it for a while. Weren’t you going to spend the night at Seth’s tomorrow night too? I think you should still do that.”
It had only been a week and he was already pretending like nothing had happened.
“Will you be around to help out at the barbecue tomorrow?” he continued.
“Uhh, sure. I guess.” I shook my head, turned around, and stormed up the stairs to my room.
Saturday morning. I woke up early. No one else was up yet. After brushing my teeth, I went straight to Dad’s office and sat down at the computer. I opened up a new email message and wrote:
Dear Mom, i know you won’t see this for a long time. i wanted to let you know that i am thinking about you. I hope you are feeling better and i can’t wait to see you.
Love, Tim
I stared at the short message for a while and then hit send. I didn’t know if she’d ever see it, but it made me feel better.