Blinded

I had a bad habit. I didn’t check my bank account as often as I should. I knew what I got paid and I saved everything I could. It was a trend my father had instilled in me at a young age. All my bills were paid the same time every month with a set up withdrawal so I had very few reasons to go to the bank. After talking with Basil last night he agreed with me that mother could worry over the medical bills and we would handle the car. I told him I would look at what I could afford and together we would make a down payment. I had more money in my account than I had estimated. Last night I had scrolled through the recent deposits and noticed a few that were not expected. Not to mention we weren’t looking at just a couple dollars here and there but a couple hundred. I had printed off the sheets and highlighted them. Thankfully Skylar was back from his leave of absence and I was not concerned with taking a couple days off to deal with my family crisis.

I was now waiting in a cramped little office after having stood in line for almost half an hour. After a few minutes a very short woman with what I considered library glasses entered the room. She had to be only a few inches passed four feet wearing bright yellow and the small plastic chain on her glasses matched the color exactly. I waited for her to take a seat and we went through what I had found. She rifled though some papers and then looked at me from over the top of the glasses, barely sitting on her nose.

“You aren’t expecting any money from an inheritance from a recent death or a back payment from a company or organization?

“No, the only money that should be going in is my regular pay check.”

“I will look into this further. It is unlikely that it is a mistake deposit as we would have heard a complaint seeing as it has been happening for a while now. I will see if I can contact the account holder as it looks like it is a direct transfer from an account we hold. Until then I can only tell you to keep the money to the side and not to touch it. Once we make contact we will call to inform you of our findings.”

I sighed. I was hoping to handle this right away. I nodded and rose. “If that’s all I should be on my way.”

“Have a good day Ms. Burnett.”

I was annoyed they couldn’t do more and a little confused that something like this could happen. As I left the building I told myself to keep them on their toes. I would call everyday if I had to. The teller had handed me a card for the person I was going to talk to before I had been sent off to the small office. I passed a familiar face on the street as I walked and turned around just as he had stopped to stare. I smiled and tucked my hands into my pocket.

“Funny meeting you here stranger,” he laughed.

“It’s good to see you again Skylar. Are you off today?”

“No, I am going in for a later shift. Got a case transfer and the child won’t be in the city until late.”

Though rare, it wasn’t unheard of if a small town couldn’t take a troubled child. We would find a foster home for them temporarily. Usually transfers were through the day but if the town was a distance away it would explain the late hour. I didn’t bother with asking for more details. We had a rule that we wouldn’t speak about work if we could avoid it.

“How is your granddaughter?”

“Transferred to the children’s hospital here at her own request. Turns out the specialist here is the best in the country and they plan to take Margarita on board. We all very positive that things will turn out well.”

“Did her mother agree to this?”

“No, we had to go through the local office to have Margarita removed from her mother’s care. There was enough evidence her mother was in no condition to continue to be Margarita’s guardian.”

“I am sorry you had to go through that. I hope she comes to her senses soon, but I am glad Margarita is getting the help she needs. I will come visit her sometime. Just text me her room number.”

“Yes, she would love to see you. Tabbi talks about you often to her.”

“Maybe if she is up to it we could have a picnic with Lucas. You said she loves dogs once before.”

Skylar’s face lit up at the idea. He hastily told me as soon as it warmed up we would do so. I warned him about mother and he promised to drop in to see how she was doing. We were just about to part when something came to mind. A case I had taken over.

“By the way, I need to know how you handled a case. He’s a handful and refuses to talk to me at all. All he says is he wants to speak to the pilot.”

“The kid has an obsession with planes. I was in his room once and talked to him about the models I knew about. The older they are the more he loved them. I may have implied I was once a pilot. Not a lie I suppose, I am qualified to fly a plane. The point is he has taken to calling me the pilot. I will take that case back. His hearing is soon yes?”

“I believe next week if there isn’t a reschedule from the parent. You can go in my desk to get the file. I am going to try to be back in for Monday.”

“Take your time Kale. Worry about your mother first and go from there.”

“Thanks.”

We parted ways. I walked back to my apartment hoping I would be as good with kids one day as Skylar was. That was before reality crashed down around me again. Everything was piling up and I was becoming stressed. Only my walks with Lucas kept me calm. My night time was plagued with the dreams. They were more persistent and I was now hearing whispered voices in my ear. On top of it all, the containers I had given to the old man had once again appeared in front of my apartment door. I was so busy I hadn’t the chance to go see him and finally ask how he was doing that. Good news came when Basil and I visited mother next. We were greeted with wide brown eyes. Our mother had woken up and claimed to be feeling much better. The doctor did order her to stay put for a few more days to make sure she was accepting the antibiotics well. He smiled as he told us he was positive she would make a full recovery.

Mother would head home before the week was out. Basil and I worked out a schedule. I would live with mom for the first week. Make sure she didn’t over do anything as she was known to do. This would give Basil the time he needed to check on things in a physical capacity at work. I would take half days at work so when I returned there wouldn’t be as much catching up. I was also grateful I had banked all my vacation and sick days from the previous year. The next week Basil would live with mother. I could return to work full time and come over to help with dinners in the evening. We still had to go car shopping and we were having trouble with scheduling.

I stood in front of the calendar filling it out. Time sure was flying. I hadn’t even noticed the new year approach. Christmas had passed with mother in the hospital. I hadn’t regretted not doing anything for the holiday, nevertheless, I did feel guilty I hadn’t done something with Sam. Thankfully Skylar and Tabbi were happy celebrate in the new year. They too had their hands full. Basil and I had decided the car was going to be our present to mother this year. We still hadn’t told her about our plans. I thought it would be a great way to show her how much we appreciate all that she had done for us.

There were a few other important dates approaching. I would be happy to let them pass without second thought. I had the privilege of sharing my birthday with my father. I remembered fond memories of shared cakes and parties. Now it was a painful reminder I hated. While I celebrated life he was gone from this world. I often cut off communication with everyone, focusing instead on school or work. My birthday fell on a Saturday this year meaning the day our family hated most would also be on a Saturday. I wrote 13 in that box. It was the number of years passed since father had been taken away from us. Exactly one week from celebrating my birthday, a month before he was due home for vacation. I hadn’t celebrated my birthday that year. I had let it passed. I intended to share it with my father when he came home... I hadn’t celebrated my birthday since because father was never coming home. I couldn’t ruin the happy memories I had with ones he wasn’t present for. No one had interfered with my decision. Instead mother worked around it. I knew her small gifts through the year were to make up for the lack of birthday celebration. We just didn’t bring it up. Besides celebrating would be hard on her too and I had decided long ago I wouldn’t bring mother more pain.

I pried my eyes from the calendar and looked at Lucas. I checked the wall clock and sighed. “Let’s get this packing over and done with,” I mumbled. Lucas plopped his head on his paws and didn’t budge from his spot on the couch.

Mother’s place wasn’t as close to the park. Staying there would change our routine. I was forcing Lucas to adapt and I wasn’t sure how he would react. His mood the last couple days had been grumpy to say the least. Or I was reading too much into it and he was just being a grouchy dog for some unknown dog reason. I reminded myself I needed some human conversation soon or I would quickly go insane. A week chatting with mother would probably change my mind and I kind of looked forward to our time together. I entered my room and pulled out a suitcase before shoving a week’s worth of clothes into it. In the kitchen I grabbed the things I would need for Lucas. Lastly I gathered up my small tablet. I loved my tablet and all the features Shone Corporation offered with their products. I was just finishing the packing when there was a ringing of my cell. Basil was here for us to go get mom. I took up Lucas’s leash and gave him a glare when he didn’t move from the couch. He lazily climbed down and sauntered over to me. I hooked the leash and leaned down to be eye level with him.

“Right to the car mister,” I warned and I saw a twitch of his right ear.

I would take my car to mother’s and drop Lucas off there. We would then take Basil’s car to the hospital to get mother. By the time we got to the hospital mother was ready to leave. Somehow I got stuck with the paperwork. I gathered up the sheets and pamphlets that helped to better understand what mother had gone through and what to expect. More than likely I would ignore it all. The doctor had clearly outlined what to watch for and which signs meant she needed to return. I also collected the bill from the nurse at the nurse’s station, the one I was not looking forward to opening. I shoved it all in my purse and returned to the room. Basil was arguing over the use of a wheelchair.

“Sit in the stupid chair,” he demanded, clearly not for the first time.

“I can walk just fine. I was walking yesterday all around the floor.”

“Won’t you please just let me spoil you?”

“Basil, it isn’t necessary.”

I didn’t interfere. There were sure to be plenty of little spats over petty things between mother and I throughout the week. I looked down the hall a couple of times. I had hoped to run into Dr. Lowell one more time. I couldn’t explain why. It wasn’t like I had any more questions for him relating to mother. Basil won in the end and we were off to the lobby where we would wait until Basil got the car.

“Kale, promise me you won’t treat me like a child.”

“We just don’t want you to feel like you have to do everything. Rest until you’re a hundred percent and let us take care of the small things.”

She smiled sadly, probably hating the reverse in our roles. Mother loved to take care of us. As a stay at home mom that was her job and it didn’t end when we moved out. It took a lot of coaxing but, by the end of the two weeks, mother was happily herself and her appointment showed she was in the clear. Everything went back to normal. Lucas and I sat on the couch on a late Friday night watching some stupid cliche movie because nothing else was on. Now that I had started watching it I couldn’t flip the channel.

The phone rang suddenly and I jumped. Lucas didn’t move his head, laying casually in my lap and I did a weird stretch as I reached for my cell on the coffee table.

“Hello,” I forgot to look at the number in my haste to answer. I looked at the time. It was almost ten.

“Kale, I love you, you know that right?”

I may not have heard her voice in a while, however I could recognized her without hesitation. Tabbi had a sugar coated voice, not too high to the ears. During moments of excitement it was more on the squeaky side. In times of stress or sorrow she spoke more slowly. She was doing so now.

“Good evening, shouldn’t you be asleep by now?” Tabbi was an early bird. An odd combo when you considered her husband was a night owl. They made it work. They each had learned to give and take when needed.

“I would be, only I had a favor to ask you.”

“What’s wrong? Is Margarita okay?”

“She’s doing great! We’ve got an action plan and she’s sticking to it. That little geeg of mine has already read half the books on my e-reader and finished all the video games we gave her for Christmas.”

I laughed at the exaggeration. There were three things that mattered to Tabbi. Margarita, family and then her hobby and I knew if family and Margarita were okay then tonight’s call had to do with the last. “Is it the shop?”

“Ya. I don’t have anyone for tomorrow. I just fired a thief, one has the weekend off and the other is sick. I don’t mind pulling a full day of work, it’s just with it being Saturday I know we are bound to have a rush. I will make you anything you want. Chocolate covered strawberries or strawberry custard, oh; you love the chocolate creme pie...”

“You don’t have to bribe me with treats. I love helping you out with the shop. When do you want me there?”

“Lunch time? What about a twelve to eight shift?”

I knew the shop opened at ten on a Saturday. Tabbi would more than likely show up around seven to start on the day’s baked goods. Monday and Tuesday were her weekend. “I will see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you Kale. Thank you so much.”

“Go get some sleep lolo woman,” I said.

“I am not crazy. Just slightly abnormal. If anything you are the oddball with your weird slang.”

That was the problem with the older generation. They didn’t follow the newer slang of the younger generation. Mind you, as much as Tabbi wouldn’t admit it, some of it had grown on her too. I wished Tabbi a good night and headed to bed myself. The movie had ended anyway and I would have a long day tomorrow.