Not An Accident

by Tampa Tyson

  ************

  To make sure that I took it easy, Mom buckled me in the wheelchair before taking me downstairs to the café. She kept me in the wheelchair, too, as we ordered and found a table. She pulled one of the extra chairs out to make sure I had a spot to wheel in to, but even then, the table was a little high, so she ended up having to ask for a wheelchair tray.

  I noticed she had ordered me pancakes, just like Dad. Unlike Dad, however, who’d taken me to a pancake house serving delicious white Bisquick pancakes, these pancakes looked as if they’d been made by a whole-wheat pancake mix. However, I was too hungry to really care- I gobbled the whole thing up and drank down the milk Mom had given me.

  “My, my,” she said, “Someone was hungry.”

  I licked my lips. “Is Dr. Angie ready?”

  Mom pulled a pager out of her pocket. Dr. Angie had given it to her before we'd left the hospital room so that we'd know when he was ready for us. And now that I'd finished eating, the only thing I cared about was getting my cast replaced and going home. So, when Mom had the pager in her hand, I couldn't keep myself from looking at it every second.

  And when it didn’t light up- when Mom put it back in her pocket- I kept asking about it- kept asking if Dr. Angie was ready for us “Do you want to go to the playroom?”

  “No,” I began swinging my legs, “I want to go home.”

  “Take it easy, Gabby,” Mom said, “You’ll get your wish soon enough,” she looked down at her plate- she’d ordered eggs and bacon, but she hadn’t eaten any of it, “maybe I should tell you a story.”

  “Yeah, tell me a story!” If it helped speed up time, I was ready to hear anything.

  “It’ll be a true story this time. You’ll be able to participate if you want to.”

  I didn’t care wherever the story was true or false. All I cared about was being able to participate, and I didn’t feel like books gave me the ability to. Some TV shows were much better than that encouraging the viewers to participate.

  “As you know, Gabby,” Mom said, “yesterday, your Dad took you the emergency room because he suspected something had gone wrong with you. He hoped that bringing you to the emergency room would alert the doctors, but it didn’t work as he had planned. Nurse Amy brought you to the examination room... and—”

  “I wonder who put that rat poison in the hot chocolate.”

  “Don’t worry, Gabby, your father would never do such a thing,” Mom said, “at least, not on purpose.”

  "Right." Same thing with Robert and Kayla. Given Robert was too much of a rule follower to poison people directly, the only way it could have happened was if he'd accidentally spilled the rat poison into it while rummaging through Sage's cabinets.

  And Kayla, the only way she could have unknowingly brought alcohol would have been if her Sprite Cans had been spiked by somebody at the ski lodge- like Hannah. And if that had been the case, I’d have imagined all the construction barriers. "Dad must have been worried sick about me."

  "He was worried sick about you,” Mom replied, "more so the second time you were in the hospital than the first, but he always worried about you."

  “But...” Dad had been so worried about me, why had he been so adamant about making sure I remained productive a good life- versus putting my safety above everything else?

  “Your father’s anxiety is not like mine, Gabby,” Mom said. “the moment he came home from the hospital, the moment I saw him walk through the doors, the moment I tried to ask him what was wrong, he shouted at me that as far as he was concerned, I’d ruined his only daughter's life.”

  “Why?” I was so curious enough that the urgency of Dr. Angie coming to replace my cast began to diminish, “what made Dad think that?”

  "I don't know, Gabby," Mom said, "when I tried to tell him I was just trying to protect you, he got mad and told me he'd much rather have had a short time with a happy daughter than a long one with a miserable one. I guess I never thought that I was going a bit too far."

  “Why not?”

  "Given your father lost two children, I thought protecting you would make him happy."

  “How did he lose—” The pager went off. Dr. Angie was ready. We headed into the examination room, where he began the process of putting on the new cast. When he finished, he gave me a thin sling- made of flexible material that could also get wet and then he left.

  Mom pulled out a small photograph. At first, I only saw the sticky white backing but then Mom flipped it over. It was a wedding scene. The bride- a woman whom I assumed was Mother- = dressed in a white wedding gown, her hair tied and covered by a wedding veil- was standing next to her newlywed husband.

  “That’s us,” Mom smiled, rubbing her fingers along her wedding dress, “me, pregnant with you and your Dad didn’t even know it.” She giggled.

  I looked at the photo again. The wedding dress looked a little bit too tight on Mom; her stomach was sticking out. "When did he find out?" I asked.

  “When he told me to hold off on the wedding cake.”

  As Dr. Angie returned with a wheelchair and told us that as soon as my cast was dry, we’d be able to leave, I couldn’t help but imagine the second wedding scene. Mom and Dad, newlyweds, standing in front of a cut wedding cake- and Mom blushing as Dad took notice of her protruding belly. It was almost impossible for me to believe that I’d been there- unborn, yes, but alive. “Was he upset?”

  “You wouldn’t believe it, Gabby,” Mom slipped the wedding pictures back in her purse; my cast had dried, “he was insanely happy.”

  “Happy?”

  Mom transferred me to the wheelchair. “He’d gotten two other girlfriends pregnant. The first one, after losing the baby, broke up with him, and the second one, after telling him she was pregnant, broke up and vanished off the face of the earth. Apparently, she just wanted his kid.”

  Once we were outside, Mom transferred me into her van. As she began the 1-hour drive home, I began to instinctively kick the back of her seat. “Well, your father tried to find his child, but as luck would have had it, his girlfriend left no trace. He ended up sinking into this whole depression that worried his whole family.”

  I stopped kicking her seat. This story was beginning to get good. “Then I came along,” Mom continued, “and swept Johnathan off his feet.”

  I smiled. The story of how I came to be was getting even better. “He fell head over heels in love with me- he kept trying to propose to me prematurely- I kept delaying it, telling him I wasn’t quite ready, but he was so persistent that eventually I just caved in.”

  As Mom turned on the highway, she became quiet. Thinking that something had gone wrong, I kicked the chair, begging her to continue. “Then I became pregnant. With you.”

  Wow. This story was getting even more interesting! "I thought about canceling the wedding, but Johnathan's parents told me that'd be more heartbreaking to him than finding out the child wasn't really his."

  “I am Dad’s, ain’t I?”

  “You were born with his dark brown hair, yes,” Mom said, “and his complexion. The only thing you’ve gotten from me is my brown eyes. And to be honest, I hadn’t even intended on telling him I was pregnant the day of the wedding. Nobody was supposed to mention it, but somehow, he caught wind of it. And once I confirmed the rumor, he became overprotective of me, trying to ensure that the pregnancy would be carried to term.”

  “And I was born?”

  “Yes, the pregnancy was full term.” Mom switched lanes and got off the highway.

  “Then I was born, and things changed?”

  “Things didn’t change when you were born, Gabby, oh no,” Mom said, “it took more like a year or two. Up until then, your father was extremely protective of you- he took you almost everywhere, held your hand. I accepted what he was doing for your benefit but then he read an article.”

  "Did he read one about vaccinations?"

  “Oh, no, he saw that myth shortly after you were born,” we passed an isolated mall of Mom-and-P
op shops- the small parking lot nearly vacant, “I suspect you were 18 months old when he read the ‘dangers of over protective parents, but as I saw it only in his History, I have forgotten the exact date.”

  And they probably lived in a different house then too. With a possibly different computer. One that got thrown out. Internet security had grown a lot safer and a lot more private since its initial development, but the History remained. “What made you look in his History?”

  “We were in our house in Wisconsin and I noticed he’d stopped watching you so closely,” Mom said, “I got a little worried that he wasn’t taking proper care of you anymore and when I saw the article, I basically freaked out.”

  “And you took over?”

  “Yes. I did.”

  “To protect Dad? From the pain of losing me?”

  “Right.”

  “Why, Mom?”

  Mom turned the car right, into our neighborhood. “Because you’re the only child your father’s ever been able to love.”

  Chapter 18

  The town had long since given way to a crowded assortment of trees, trees that pretty much blocked out everything but the sun and bits of the glistening lake. My stomach grumbled. Probably cause I’d eaten too fast- I thought- I’d been too hungry to pace myself and now I was paying for it. “Mom? When will we be home?”

  “Soon,” Mom replied, “why?”

  “I kinda gotta use the restroom.”

  "You didn't think about that back at the hospital?"

  “I didn’t have to use it then.”

  Even though Mom made a noise that sounded like a grunt, I could see her smiling through the rearview mirror. Guess she was glad I was still alive. “We’ll be home in a couple of minutes,” she said, “and I’ve got a little surprise for you.”

  We pulled into the driveway and I clambered to get out, but Mom had put the child safety lock back on again. "I suppose that by being so heavily concerned about your safety, I kinda pushed you away.”

  “Mom...”

  Mom held up her hand, signifying for me to stop interrupting “I just want you to know, I am very sorry. Will you ever forgive me?”

  “Of course! As long as you let me out.”

  Mom laughed and then she opened the door. The next thing I knew, the garage door opened, and I didn’t see Dad’s car in the driveway. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s Robert and Kayla,” the two kids came running out, “they came here to visit you.”

  I was stunned. So, stunned that when Mom opened the door to let me out, I didn’t move. Kayla had to grab my hand to get me out of the car, and even then, I felt like the leaning tower of Pisa. Kayla seemed to notice this, though, as she quickly got me inside and settled me on the couch. “Maybe you should have told her this in the car,” Kayla told my mom as she came in.

  “Didn’t get a chance to.” Mom replied.

  It took a moment for the shock to wear off, a moment for my muscles to tighten and firm themselves up, and a moment for me to finally find my voice. “Why, Mom? Why?”

  “Because I realized your Dad was right.”

  I just stared at Mom.

  “Nearly losing you made me realize that I’d sunk too deep into overprotection mode and I told Dad that I was sorry. Asked him if he’d forgive me. He said yes, but I’d have to do something extra special to make it up to you.” She gave me another one of her motherly kisses, one that Kayla and Robert didn’t seem too bothered by.

  “I wish my Mom did that,” Kayla said.

  “Yeah, mine too,” Robert added.

  Mom stepped away from the couch. “Do you kids want some lunch?”

  "Yeah!" Robert and Kayla both shouted in unison. Mom headed to the kitchen and started microwaving hot dogs and cooking elbow noodles. I noticed she wasn't using the standard Kraft Mac and Cheese box, she was using GF Rozina elbow pasta. And when Robert whimpered, she was quick to soothe him.

  “Don’t worry, Robert,” she said, “this is for everyone.”

  Once the pasta finished cooking, Mom drizzled it with a small amount of olive oil and then let us put on salt and pepper as we desired. I didn’t use very much, Kayla used only a moderate amount, and Robert was only slightly on the heavy side. He licked his lips a couple of times- but neither Kayla and I were bothered. Then Mom served us our hot dogs and shortly after we’d eaten them, I heard the door open.

  It was Dad. He’d come home. He looked at Robert, a look at me and then briefly smiled at Mom. But then his smile vanished as he looked back at Robert. “What’s going to happen to him, Catherine?”

  Mom placed her hand on Dad’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, honey,” she said, “I’ve got this all figured out.”

  *************

  Shortly after we’d finished lunch, Kayla stood and told my Mom she had to go home. She then said that since Nicholas, who had decided to foster Robert, would be busy all night at the police station, she was thinking it’d be a good idea for Robert to sleep over.

  I was speechless. I’d never had a sleepover. “What’s a sleepover?” Robert asked.

  “It’s like going on vacation,” I said, “’less you never been on one.”

  “Never- Unless you count the hospital and construction site and they ain’t fun places to sleep over.”

  “Don’t worry, Robert,” I said, “sleeping over ain’t like that at all.”

  “What’s it like?”

  “Well, where do you usually sleep?” Kayla asked.

  “My bedroom,” Robert said.

  “Hmph. Well, sleeping over is like sleeping at your own house, except you might be at somebody else’s. Sometimes sleepovers involve movies and other fun things, but tonight it’ll just be Gabby and you sleeping.”

  Robert looked a little bit anxious at the thought. “Maybe it’d be best if we threw the sleepover at his house,” I said.

  “Sorry, Gabby, Dr. Angie prohibited that,” Mom came into the room to gather the plates on the table, “I can understand, as he wants you to take tomorrow off school, but he did give me permission to let somebody over... Robert?”

  “Yeah?” Robert still looked anxious.

  “Just try it. For tonight. And if you like it, you can watch Gabby for me tomorrow. You too, Kayla. I want you here.”

  “Okay, I’ll do my best,” Kayla hurried out of the house. The rest of the afternoon, Mom had me rest on the couch while watching TV. Even though Robert was mostly quiet as we watched movies, and scolded me if I dared to interrupt him, I enjoyed his company. His breathing seemed to keep me alert and awake. And his focus was intense.

  Eventually, it was dinner time, where Mom made us spaghetti. Robert acted as if he hadn’t eaten a filling meal in weeks- he gobbled the first plate down and then asked for seconds. “Sure.” Mom gave him a second. Then she brought me upstairs for another sponge bath. Robert came up and tried to come in the room, but at Mom’s request, he respected my privacy.

  Shortly afterward, Mom got a sleeping bag from the cabinet, which she tucked Robert into.... she refused to let me sleep in it. I kinda understood her point- probably best for me to remain in my own bed.

  Then she left the room, closing the door behind us. Robert closed his eyes but then he opened them. He looked up at me and asked me if there was anything he could do around here besides sleeping. I asked him what he’d wanted to do.

  He gave me three options- 1: Use a computer- we didn’t yet have one- we’d only moved a couple of years ago and most of the homework at my school didn’t require using the computer (and if it did, Mom would let me go to the library). He then told me he wanted some lined paper and pencil- but I had no idea where any were- and there were none in my desk.

  Finally, Robert asked if he was anything he could read. I quickly pointed towards my bookshelf and he asked me if I had any favorites. “Help yourself.” I only read a book if my teachers required it.

  Robert quickly skimmed through the bookshelf and took out 5 books, like I’d given him an all you could read bo
ok buffet. He returned to his bed, opened one of the books and started reading. I could tell his mind was engaged, and it made sense for me not to distract him.

  So, even as I sank deeper into my covers, I kept my light on. The only movement out of my mouth was my breath and I kept trying to hold it- until Robert, after laying the book flat on his lap, yawned. “What’s with you and books?” I asked.

  “They help me escape.”

  Of course. Robert turned off the light. He’d never heard a story from his Mom and Dad’s lips. Of course, he’d have to rely on the words of other people.

  “Goodnight, Gabby.”

  “Goodnight, Robert,” I said with a smile. Then I watched him until he fell asleep. Only then could I finally relax and let my guard down.

  This wasn’t an accident.

  Chapter 19

  When I woke up the next morning, I found a note on the kitchen table. Mom and Dad had both left for their respective jobs and Robert would be watching me. As Robert sat on the couch with me, I surfed through the TV channels, finding nothing good on.

  So, after changing the channel, I told Robert that I wanted to get in the act of reading. He went upstairs and brought down a couple of fiction books, but no matter how much I stared at them, I couldn’t get myself interested. “It must be really hard, huh?”

  "It's actually really easy,” Robert said, "you just gotta make sure the book that you're reading ain't for school."

  I looked at the fiction books again. Nothing. I sent Robert upstairs to get more books. He brought down all the fiction books this time. Still nothing. Then Robert brought down a couple of nonfiction books, including the book 7 Habits for Highly Effective Teenagers. I took it and read the first couple of chapters. Then the phone rang. Robert answered it.

  It was Hannah. She wanted to talk to me, Robert said, as he moved a nearby chair closer to the phone. As I sat down in it, I could hear Hannah trying to talk to me through the earpiece laying on the counter. “Gabby? Are you there?” she kept saying.

  As soon as I sat down, I picked it up. “Hey, Hannah!” I shouted at the top of my voice until I realized I was in rest mode and I needed to try to rest, “I took your advice.”