May 1 - Monday

My Big Weekend

Friday Paul and Goku went to the coast to fish. Before they could leave, however, the construction guys in our ditch burst a gas line and the cops asked us to evacuate our trailer. I took Magic Boy and The Baby to the grocery store. They had a table there full of watches, with a big sign that said "Watches $19.95". I looked at them because the watch I've been wearing is too tight and I don't like the braided leather band. (It was a Christmas gift from Paul.) I found a pretty watch with a silver- and gold-tone bracelet-like band. It came in a big leather box with some Italian name on it, and its tag said "$125". The video/candy/cigarette cashier assured me, however, that all the watches were $19.95. So I had to buy it. I know the tags with the big numbers were just a scam to psych bargain-hungry people like me into buying cheap watches, but they were a scam that worked. And I needed a new watch anyway.

Saturday we went down to the Barton Springs area to meet my friend Shelly and her kids. We were all having a more-or-less good time (I had "more" because I got to chat with Shelly, the kids had "less" because there were bees) until suddenly Magic Boy got lost. One minute Shelly and I were standing in the playground listening to me brag about what a great mother I am and how I watch my kids so carefully. The next minute we were gathering the kids so we could leave. The minute after that, Magic Boy was nowhere to be found.

At first I didn't panic. I just looked for him in wider and wider circles while Shelly waited with the other kids. I yelled out his name. Nosy people turned to stare at the bellowing woman, but Magic Boy wasn't there.

We went to the little train ticket booth and I told them the problem, thinking that maybe they had a PA system or something. Instead, the guy called the cops. I thought that was going a bit overboard, but I let him do it, anyway. Later I was glad he'd called so quickly.

Five cops on bicycles searched the park. I was to wait for them by the train depot. I stood there and couldn't stop myself from thinking "If he's in a car, he's long gone by now." Shelly waited at the depot while I walked to the parking lot attendants' booth. I asked them to watch the outgoing cars in case my son was in one. The guy told me that they didn't have enough people to do that. I thanked him sarcastically, morosely. He told me that two weeks before a woman had lost her three-year old, that he'd been found in the soccer fields across the street within three hours. He offered the use of his little golf-cart-type vehicle and its driver. I gratefully accepted. The golf cart's battery was dead, though. The guy said he'd go pick me up at the depot when it was fixed.

I felt bad that Shelly had come from out of town to have some fun, and then she was stuck waiting for me to find my kid. I apologized and suggested she go ahead and leave. Like the fabulous person she is, though, she said she'd wait with me instead. If she hadn't been there, I don't know what I would have done. The Baby started telling me he was tired and he wanted to go home. After the seventh or eighth time, I kind of snapped at him. Did he want to go home without his brother, I asked. He said no, that he wanted to find Magic Boy before leaving. I said okay. A bicycle cop kept riding back and asking if I'd found my son yet. I hadn't. He'd go to look some more.

I was just about to call my mother-in-law and ask her to come pick up The Baby. I was just about to insist that Shelly and her kids go home. (They were searching the gift shop.) I was just about to look up to the sky and apologize to God for being such a crappy braggart of a mother, when a cop on foot beckoned to me. "Here it comes," I thought. "Here comes bad news..."

"We found him." He said it so quietly and calmly, I thought I'd misheard. "What?" I said. "We found him. He's over here." The cop started walking. Those were the last words he said to me. He walked away from the playground, away from the water, away from the train, the snack bar, and the parking lot. I hurried to catch up. I picked up The Baby and carried him. We ran into a bicycle cop. The two policemen conferred. "Okay, can you get her?" asked the foot cop, referring to me. "Yeah, I got her," said the bike cop. He started to ride away and I understood that I was to follow him now.

He wove back and forth on the concrete, occasionally looking back to make sure I will still on the sidewalk behind. We didn't even go far, but I was sweating and panting and walking pretty slowly with The Baby drowsing in my arms. Finally we reached the end of the concrete and of the park. There was nothing left but the little knoll that separated that side of the park from the highway. Several police cars were parked there. I had to trudge all the way up to them before I finally saw Magic Boy, standing between two officers and crying. My bike escort cruised away.

"Mom, I was looking for you!" sobbed my son. "I was looking for you, too!" I said. And then my eyes filled with tears. Thank God we found him. All the things that could have happened... what would I have done... how could I live without knowing where... I put The Baby down and hugged Magic Boy. I blurted out several questions and phrases. I think that he'd been following a stranger, thinking she was my friend. I asked him if he'd been scared.

He smiled. "No! I wasn't scared!" he said. "I'm not crying!"

I thanked the policemen profusely. They didn't say much. I asked if they could please give us a ride back to the train depot. They conferred and then one gestured to his car. On the way back, I babbled out more thanks and still he said nothing to me. I said, "I guess you see this stuff happening all the time, huh?" No answer. Then I heard the voice on his police radio. "... missing child... four-year-old girl... suspicious character on west end of bridge... disturbance at picnic benches..." I hugged Magic Boy. "You were lost! We found you!" the Baby told him.

We went to Chuy's and my kids ate lots and lots of nachos. I drank lots of iced tea. Shelly and I had a long, entertaining talk. We hauled all the kids to the women's restroom. After washing The Baby's hands, I looked around and noticed that Magic Boy wasn't in the room. I quickly went out the door to find him. He was ambling around the tables. "I don't have to go to the bathroom," he said. Later, in the parking lot, Shelly said we needed to put a homing device on him. I'm gonna look for one in the phone book as soon as I finish typing this entry.

That night, I held Magic Boy on our bed and told him, "I'm so glad I found you." He said, "Yeah, Mom. I'm glad I found you, too."

Sunday I deposited the kids safely at my mother-in-law's before meeting my niece-in-law-to-be at a restaurant. Then we spent several hours scouting bridesmaid-dress patterns and materials. By the time I picked up the kids, Paul and Goku were home. They caught several very large fish. Paul wanted to take his boat to the lake, to wash the seawater off of it, he said. He bugged me until I said I'd go, too.

It was a beautiful, cloudy evening. Everything was the color of the screen behind these words you're reading. My husband and kids swam. I sat on the boat, enjoying the motion and the wind. The wind only blew gently against my face, not across my hair, so I felt that I correctly balanced within Nature. It was one of those moments when you're just glad to be alive.

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