brought me drugs every four hours and I’d sit there for a moment looking at the pills. I had my own reasons for thinking twice about taking them. But those reasons weren’t enough to stop me.
I got out of bed on the second day and made it to the bathroom before throwing up in the sink. By the end of that day I could sit up in the bed and turn my head without making the room spin. I slept a few hours that night.
On the third day, Dr. Glenn came through on the morning rounds and gave me three random words to remember. Then he went through all his tests. When he was done, he asked me to repeat the words back to him.
“What words?” I said.
He looked at me.
“Table, bicycle, chair,” I said.
“Congratulations. You get to go home and rest for the next seven days. Then you need to come back for another checkup, and to have your stitches taken out. If you start to feel worse, you need to call me right away.” He gave me his card.
“Thanks, doc.”
“You lead an interesting life,” he said. “I’ll give you that.”
Vinnie showed up not long after that to take me home. I put my clothes on. Then they stuck me in a wheelchair and rolled me out of the place.
“To the ice arena,” I said. “I feel like playing hockey.” The sun was out, glittering all over the white snow and making my head hurt enough to die right there in the parking lot.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you home.”
“Take me to my truck.”
“No way.”
“Vinnie, just take me to my truck, all right? I can drive it home.”
“It’s not gonna happen,” he said. Then I saw his cousin Buck pull up in his beat-up old Plymouth Fury.
“You gotta be kidding me,” I said. “I’m getting a ride home in this?”
“No, just to your truck,” Vinnie said. “Then I’ll drive you home.”
Vinnie climbed into the backseat and gave me the front. Buck looked me over a couple of times and gave a low whistle. “Man, you got run over,” he said. He pulled out and drove down the street toward the church.
“You ever get your license back?” I asked him.
He shrugged that one off. He was a big, round man, with dark hair falling halfway down his back.
“It’s one thing to drive around the rez,” I said. “They catch you in the Soo, it’s gonna be a different story.”
“Alex, give him a break,” Vinnie said from the backseat. “He’s doing you a favor.”
“I know that, Vinnie. I just don’t want the man to go to jail over it.”
“All that working over you got,” Buck said, “and they didn’t bust up your mouth? You’re still talking too much.”
“Right here at the church,” Vinnie said. “His truck’s on the side there.”
Buck pulled into the parking lot and stopped next to my truck. It was covered by six inches of new snow, and circled by more snow on the ground where the snowplow had worked around it. I let Vinnie and Buck clean it off for me while I walked just far enough to see around to the back of the building. There was no trace of what had happened here in this one patch of ground next to the red brick wall. The snow had covered up everything.
“Alex, what are you doing?” Vinnie had started up my truck and was scraping the last of the ice from the side window. “Let’s get you home.”
I thanked Buck for bringing Vinnie over, suspended license and all. He surprised me by grabbing me by the shoulders and hugging me. “Take care of yourself,” he said. “You’ve got too much trouble in your life. Vinnie can’t watch over you all the time, you know.”
I wasn’t about to argue with that one. I thanked him again and watched him rumble off in his old Plymouth. Then I got in the passenger’s seat of my own truck. It felt strange not to be driving. But I figured what the hell. I closed my eyes and waited for Vinnie to pull out of the parking lot.
It didn’t happen. I opened my eyes and saw him looking at me.
“What?” I said.
“You gotta promise me something.”
“What is
I got out of bed on the second day and made it to the bathroom before throwing up in the sink. By the end of that day I could sit up in the bed and turn my head without making the room spin. I slept a few hours that night.
On the third day, Dr. Glenn came through on the morning rounds and gave me three random words to remember. Then he went through all his tests. When he was done, he asked me to repeat the words back to him.
“What words?” I said.
He looked at me.
“Table, bicycle, chair,” I said.
“Congratulations. You get to go home and rest for the next seven days. Then you need to come back for another checkup, and to have your stitches taken out. If you start to feel worse, you need to call me right away.” He gave me his card.
“Thanks, doc.”
“You lead an interesting life,” he said. “I’ll give you that.”
Vinnie showed up not long after that to take me home. I put my clothes on. Then they stuck me in a wheelchair and rolled me out of the place.
“To the ice arena,” I said. “I feel like playing hockey.” The sun was out, glittering all over the white snow and making my head hurt enough to die right there in the parking lot.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you home.”
“Take me to my truck.”
“No way.”
“Vinnie, just take me to my truck, all right? I can drive it home.”
“It’s not gonna happen,” he said. Then I saw his cousin Buck pull up in his beat-up old Plymouth Fury.
“You gotta be kidding me,” I said. “I’m getting a ride home in this?”
“No, just to your truck,” Vinnie said. “Then I’ll drive you home.”
Vinnie climbed into the backseat and gave me the front. Buck looked me over a couple of times and gave a low whistle. “Man, you got run over,” he said. He pulled out and drove down the street toward the church.
“You ever get your license back?” I asked him.
He shrugged that one off. He was a big, round man, with dark hair falling halfway down his back.
“It’s one thing to drive around the rez,” I said. “They catch you in the Soo, it’s gonna be a different story.”
“Alex, give him a break,” Vinnie said from the backseat. “He’s doing you a favor.”
“I know that, Vinnie. I just don’t want the man to go to jail over it.”
“All that working over you got,” Buck said, “and they didn’t bust up your mouth? You’re still talking too much.”
“Right here at the church,” Vinnie said. “His truck’s on the side there.”
Buck pulled into the parking lot and stopped next to my truck. It was covered by six inches of new snow, and circled by more snow on the ground where the snowplow had worked around it. I let Vinnie and Buck clean it off for me while I walked just far enough to see around to the back of the building. There was no trace of what had happened here in this one patch of ground next to the red brick wall. The snow had covered up everything.
“Alex, what are you doing?” Vinnie had started up my truck and was scraping the last of the ice from the side window. “Let’s get you home.”
I thanked Buck for bringing Vinnie over, suspended license and all. He surprised me by grabbing me by the shoulders and hugging me. “Take care of yourself,” he said. “You’ve got too much trouble in your life. Vinnie can’t watch over you all the time, you know.”
I wasn’t about to argue with that one. I thanked him again and watched him rumble off in his old Plymouth. Then I got in the passenger’s seat of my own truck. It felt strange not to be driving. But I figured what the hell. I closed my eyes and waited for Vinnie to pull out of the parking lot.
It didn’t happen. I opened my eyes and saw him looking at me.
“What?” I said.
“You gotta promise me something.”
“What is
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