Thirteen Things I Thought About Between 12:15 & 2:15 AM
[one]
He's dead....just dead.
[two]
He has drowned in the pond.
[three]
He wrecked into a ditch on the way home.
[four]
The truck broke down and he is stranded.
[five]
He got drunk while fishing.
[six]
Someone slipped him drugs, or worse.....maybe he used drugs voluntarily.
[seven]
He has been arrested for trespassing.
[eight]
He is spending the night at Robert's house.
[nine]
He fell asleep while driving home and crashed into a tree or into an oncoming vehicle.
[ten]
He fell asleep in the truck in the driveway.
[eleven]
He lost track of time.
[twelve]
Someone came out of the woods and murdered Robert and him.
[thirteen]
He is in the hospital emergency room and is so mangled that no one recognizes him, and he has no ID on him.
Now, here's what I was all stressed out about....
Charles wanted to go catfishing in Clio around 8:30 last night. I said OK, but Chuck was a little hesitant. Chuck finally decided to let him go, but told him he had to be home by 10:30 or so. All agreed, and off Charles went.
Well, Chuck and I went to bed and eventually fell asleep. At 12:15 AM, Chuck got up to go to the bathroom, and when he came back to bed, he told me that Charles was not at home. I got out of bed immediately and went down to the kitchen and started calling and texting his cell phone every 15 minutes. I was calling and texting Robert's cell too, and both went imediately to voicemails every time.
Panic set in.
My messages went from, "Where are you?? You better get home now! Call me! I'm mad because you're not home and it's so late!" to, "Oh honey, call your mama. Are you OK? Where are you baby? Mama loves you....just come home please." If he was hurt or dead, I didn't want the last messages on his phone to be harsh...
I wrung my hands, prayed, imagined, worried, and prayed some more.
Around 2:15, MJ woke up and asked me why I was sitting in the kitchen alone. I told her that Charles was not at home and I was waiting for him. She told me that she thought that he was in his room asleep. I stood up from the table and peeked out the door...the truck was parked in the driveway.
I grabbed a small flashlight and tiptoed down the hall, eased open Charles' bedroom door and shined the light in his room and saw.......
him asleep in his bed!
I went back to bed and told Chuck that Charles had been in bed the whole time! All Chuck said was, "Oh...I didn't turn on the light in his room, so I didn't see him..."
[sigh]....Men....
