Flight of the Dodo - 24. Chapter 24

I think it was because of my excitement in going to Wyoming that caused me to keep waking up through the night. Finally, the call to get up for the morning came and my excitement had not abated, but I was very tired from being awake so much. Time dragged as I showered, shaved, brushed my teeth, dressed in clothes that I thought might be appropriate for wearing while going to Wyoming.

I went out to the dayroom and most of the other patients were already in line for breakfast. I went over and stood behind Des the gin rummy player. I didn’t see Bobby the other gin rummy player. I thought about asking Des where Bobby was, but decided either he didn’t know or he did and was upset because there was no one else in the psych ward to play gin rummy with. Then Des turned and looked at me with one of those crazy faces that patients get before they are going to act out. I stepped back, but bumped into the man who was standing behind me.

“Hey, idiot, watch where you’re going,” the person I bumped into said.

“Sorry,” I said.

“I bet you’re not.”

“Do you want me to slug him?” Des asked.

“Yeah, and I’ll hold him so you can get in a couple licks.”

I wasn’t about to stay there and get slugged. I walked quickly away, but Des was following me. I walked over to the psych aide table.

“Edvard, what do you want?” Psych Aide Ray asked. “You are supposed to be in line for breakfast.”

I didn’t get a chance to answer because the man I bumped into grabbed my arm and spun me around. Then Des punched me in the stomach. I tried to bend over from the pain, but the man I bumped into wouldn’t let me do that. Then there were psych aides all around us. Two of them pulled the man I bumped into away from me and wrestled him to the floor. Two others grabbed Des and he was quickly put to the floor, too. I moved away because that was the thing to do. Plus, there were two nurses hurrying over with hypos. It was time for me to go back to the breakfast line.

I was standing there minding my own business thinking about going to Wyoming. I sensed someone and turned to see Psych Aide Stuart walking toward me. Also, I saw one of the nurses was with him. Now wasn’t the time to act out, so I said, “Yes?”

“How’s your stomach?” the nurse asked.

“Okay, as far as I know,” I said.

“Do you mind if I check to see if you were injured when Desmond hit you?”

“No.”

“Please pull up your shirt and undershirt.”

I did what she said to do. The she began to move her fingers over my stomach.

“Let me know if any of this hurts,” the nurse said.

I felt her poking me with the tips of her fingers and then she hit the place where I had been hit.

“Ow!” I said.

She felt around that spot, but it only hurt at that one spot and then she said, “I don’t think you were hit too severely. If you can keep your breakfast down, you should be okay to be discharged.”

“Okay,” I said.

“What caused that fight?”

“Des turned toward me and had that look patients get before they act out, so I tried to step away, but I bumped into the man behind me. He said he was going to hold me so Des could hit me more than once. I tried to get away, but they followed me over to the psych aide’s table and that man held my arm and Des hit me.”

“You should’ve said something,” Psych Aide Stuart said.

“I didn’t want to interrupt and get a hypo because I’m supposed to leave today.”

“Yes, but you should’ve let the aides know you were in danger,” the nurse said. “Well, it’s water under the bridge now.”

With that they left me, which was good because the food carts had arrived and patients were getting their meals. I got my meal and went over to a table that was empty. Now wasn’t a time to antagonize another patient.

————

I tried to wait patiently after breakfast, but I was too excited about being discharged and going to Wyoming with Uncle Ted. The clock seemed to moving slower than it usual. Already it was almost eight o’clock, but I was still in the psych ward. Maybe something had gone wrong and Uncle Ted had gone back to Wyoming alone leaving me to fend for myself after being discharged from the psych ward. That was a scary thought, but it stayed in my mind and there were no other thoughts to replace it. What was bad about this waiting was the real danger of going into a meltdown. Although I had asked for an anti-panic pill and was given one, the feeling of being close to a meltdown was very real.

“Edvard, is your suitcase packed?” Psych Aide Stuart said.

I looked up and saw him standing beside me. He came up to me, but the feeling of falling into a meltdown was so strong I hadn’t notice.

“Well?”

“Oh, I had better go to my room and see,” I said. “I think I packed it last night, but maybe I forgot. I think Psych Aide Ray was with me, but maybe he wasn’t.”

“Okay, come on, let’s take a look.”

I stood up and walked to my room. I opened the wardrobe door and there was my suitcase. There were no clothes on the hangers. I opened the three drawers and they were empty, too. I picked up the suitcase and noticed it was quite heavy. I laid it on the bed. I was nervous about opening it because there was a real possibility it might be empty. Being crazy, I have come to expect strange things like that happening.

“Are you going to open it?” Psych Aide Stuart said.

“I’m afraid it is empty,” I said.

“Okay, stand away. I’ll see if your clothes are in there.”

Psych Aide Stuart opened the suitcase and there were clothes in it. I went up to the bed and looked at the clothes. They appeared to be mine.

“Okay, I think those are my clothes,” I said.

“Good, close it and bring it with you, you’re being discharged,” Psych Aide Stuart said.

I picked it up and followed Psych Aide out to the nurse’s window. One of the nurses gave me a piece of paper and said, “Sign your name at the bottom where indicated.”

I saw my name printed above a line under which was the word “Signature.” I took the pen and slowly I wrote out my full name.

“This is your copy. Keep it with you as it has instructions on what to do if you need psychiatric care in the next thirty days. Also, in this envelope are your prescriptions. You can have them filled at the pharmacy on the first floor. Any questions?”

“Yes, if I need psychiatric care in the next thirty days, do I have to come back here?” I asked.

“No, your discharge instructions say what you need to do.”

“I wish you could tell my Uncle Ted this because I’ll probably forget by the time he gets here to pick me up to go to Wyoming.”

“Stu, can you advise the uncle?”

“Sure, I’ll take care of it,” Psych Aide Stuart said. “Come along, Edvard, let’s get you out of here.”

Since Uncle Ted wasn’t anywhere around the psych ward, I was afraid they were going to show me the exit and make me leave the premises before they called the police. But there wasn’t anything to do other than follow Psych Aide Stuart to the door. While Psych Aide Stuart unlocked the door, I dutifully stood behind him. Now wasn’t the time to get pushy. Psych Aide Stuart opened the door and I saw Uncle Ted standing outside. I walked through the door and went up to Uncle Ted.

“Good morning, Ed, nice to see you again,” Uncle Ted said. “Ready to go to your new home?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Mr. Bancroft, Ed has his discharged instructions, which you should look over,” Psych Aide Stuart said. “Also, Ed’s prescriptions are in the envelope. They can be filled at the Pharmacy on the first floor.”

“Thank you, I’ll take care of everything,” Uncle Ted said. “Ready to go, Ed?”

“Yes,” I said.

After going to the Pharmacy and getting my medications, we went out into the parking lot. I saw a red Ford F-250 Crew Cab pickup parked in one of the visitor parking spaces. They have signs indicating where different people can park. Doctors park in the spaces nearest the front door. Then there are the spaces for visitors. Staff members have to park the farthest away in spaces that don’t have signs. As we walked up to the pickup, a man got out of the front passenger door and walked to the back of the pickup. He was kind of short, like under six feet, had dark skin as if he’d been out in the sun too long and long black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. He was wearing a blue and white western shirt with pearl buttons, well-worn blue jeans, and what looked like cowboy boots.

“So this is Ed, huh?” the man said.

“Ed, this is Sam, our head wrangler,” Uncle Ted said. “He’s going to help me drive home.”

“Oh, okay, I’m happy to meet you, sir,” I said as I held out my hand. We shook hands.

“My name’s Sam and I expect you to refer to me as such.”

“I’m not used to using first names for my elders.”

“Well, Ed, I may be older than you, but you’re the boss’ son and, therefore, I answer to Sam.”

“Um, okay, Sam.”

“Well, Ted, that was easy. I tell you what, Ed, I going to let you sit up front because I can see you won’t fit in the backseat. You’re certainly tall. I bet you’re a whiz on the basketball court.”

“I don’t play basketball. I think I grew too fast and I’m very uncoordinated. Uh, Sam, are you an Indian?”

“Arapaho, Northern Arapaho, from the Wind River country.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Ed, give me your suitcase and I’ll put in the back,” Uncle Ted said. “You can get in the truck.”

I got in the front seat and Sam got in behind me. The inside of the pickup looked rather stark compared to E3’s Cadillacs and Syl’s Buicks, but at least there was a radio, not that I ever listened to one. I realized that to a certain degree I was still rather excited about leaving North Park for what might likely be forever. I knew Syl never wanted to see me again, but my concern was very strong for Erika, Emmett, and especially little Eric who had been protected so much from most of life’s every day hazards. Of course, there was nothing I could do about that, except to try to not worry too much.

Uncle Ted got in on the driver’s side, closed his door, and said, “Well, everybody ready to go?”

“I have some questions,” I said. “My library book, was it returned?”

“Yes.”

“My trust fund, did you notify the trustee I’m relocating.”

“Taken care of. Anything else?”

“My apartment, were you able to get out of the lease without a penalty?”

“Got it covered. Anything else?”

“No, I think everything that might have been a problem is okay. I’m still worried about my sister and two brothers, but there is nothing I can do, so I guess I’ll have to learn to live with never seeing them ever again.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much. Maybe I can convince your mother to let Erika and Emmett to come out to the ranch during summer vacation.”

“She won’t let them do that.”

“Well, I think it might happen, but don’t worry yourself about it.”

“Okay.”

“Ed, I want you to tell me if you need a restroom, so I can stop in time. Each time we stop for gas, you might consider hitting the restroom at the gas station. If everybody is ready, I’ll get us on the road east.”

I already had the latest highway map for Washington in my head, but we might have trouble finding stretches of interstate highway that went for any significant distance as all of today’s interstates were still being built back then. Our first problem was getting across Lake Washington. There was the old highway through the tunnel under the Mount Baker neighborhood and across the floating bridge to Mercer Island. There was another bridge across the channel on the east side of Mercer Island. From there the interstate went all the way to Spokane, but we were not going that way. Due to the time of the year, Uncle Ted decided going south through Oregon and Idaho was the best way to get to Wyoming. Since it was already November, he was afraid the passes in Montana would be snow covered. I got the impression Uncle Ted didn’t like driving in snow.

I hoped to have a book to read during the journey, but since I didn’t, I mostly watched the sights. It was interesting how we had to go from I-5 to the tunnel under Mount Baker and out onto the floating bridge. Uncle Ted grumbled all the way until we went into the tunnel, but he seemed to calm down once we were out on the floating bridge. As the pickup was higher than most vehicles I got a nice view of Lake Washington. Unfortunately, there weren’t any boats out. Of course, it was Friday morning and I suppose that was why. I have heard that on some weekends there are usually lots of boats on the lake including sailboats of all sizes and motor boats, too. I think there are fish in the lake, but I don’t know for certain as E3 only fished for salmon over on the Pacific coast at La Push. E3 went fishing with his older cousin Niles who had his own boat. Sometimes they would take E2 with them because he liked to fish for halibut and rock cod. I guess E2 didn’t like salmon.

I wish I had said something about getting a book to read because the ride was getting very boring because after Issaquah there wasn’t anything to look at other than other vehicles and forest. Trees we were passing were not very interesting to look at because they were all the same. I think it is that way because loggers harvest sections of the forest where only Douglas Fir trees grow. I think that is kind of wood they take to lumber mills on the west side of the Cascade Mountains. I think it is different on the east side of the mountains because it doesn’t rain as much over there, but I don’t know what kind of trees grow over there.

It was lightly snowing as we went over Snoqualmie Pass, but we didn’t have to put chains on. It continued snowing until we reached Lake Keechelus. The name Keechelus must be something foreign because I don’t think it is the dictionary. I suppose somebody knows the meaning because why would a lake be named so strangely? Of course, I don’t pay much attention to places in Washington State unless I have a reason to know them. I have run into people who do know a lot of things about Washington and I think I took a class at North Park High School on the history of Washington, but that was at the time I thought I was a dummy. I didn’t pay hardly any attention in that or any other class back then. Plus, that was during the time I thought I had been switched at birth, which was a very silly delusion and was the reason I had to go to Western State Hospital.

We left Ellensburg and went down a deep canyon on a two-lane road along the Yakima River to Yakima. Other than other vehicles, empty railroad tracks, and the river there was nothing to look at, so I kind of lost track of what was happening. Suddenly, I noticed the truck had stopped and saw we were at a gas station. That reminded me I was supposed to try to use the restroom. Uncle Ted wasn’t in the pickup and as I turned to get out, I saw that Sam wasn’t in the pickup either. But I got out anyway and went to look for the restroom. I knew it had to be on one side of the gas station or the other, so it was only a matter of going to one side to see if it was there. I decided to go to the side where the office was located and as I walked along the side of the building, I saw Uncle Ted and Sam come out of a dark green door on which word “MEN” was painted in large white letters. Uncle Ted was holding a stick that had a key hanging from it.

“Oh, Ed, I thought you might be coming along,” Uncle Ted said. “Go ahead and get it done. I’ll wait for you out here.”

I walked past him and saw that Sam was holding the door. I began to think that he was doing that because I was Uncle Ted’s nephew and he was trying to be courteous. I went in and the door shut. I tried to hurry as best I could knowing that Uncle Ted probably wanted to get on the road. I opened the door to go outside and there was a short old man with very dirty clothes standing in my way. He was wearing a stained light brown cowboy hat, and he was wearing very dirty sneakers whose shoelaces had broken and tied together with granny knots. He had an odor about him. He glared at me as only a crazy person can. I thought he was going to force me back into the restroom and attack me.

“Out of the way, kid, I ain’t in the mood to use force,” the man said.

I carefully sidled around him because I saw that he had a big knife hanging from his belt. I walked to the front of the gas station and a man in blue jeans and a red shirt that had a white nametag sewn above the left-breast pocket with the name “Dave” embroidered in red letters was walking toward me.

"Did you let that son of a bitch Shorty Jackson in the restroom?" he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“Why?”

“He had a knife and threatened me.”

“That wasn’t a real knife. It’s a rubber toy knife.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, well, Shorty’s nuttier than a walnut orchard. Hope the cops send some help or I’ll never get him out of there. I know he’s shooting up again. At least the hinge pins are on the outside.”

He walked into the office and I walked toward the pickup where Uncle Ted was standing.

“You okay?” Uncle Ted asked.

“That old man scared me,” I said. “I thought his knife was real.”

“But you’re okay, now?”

“I could tell he was crazy the way he was looking at me.”

“But you’re okay?”

“Yeah, now I am.”

“You hungry?”

“Yeah.”

“Supposedly, there’s a burger joint down the road in the next town that the attendant said was pretty good.”

“Okay.”

We got in the pickup and Uncle Ted returned to the highway. After a few blocks, I saw the sign for a bookstore, so I said, “Uncle Ted, can we stop at that bookstore? I’d like to get a book to read, if you will give me some money.”

“Good idea, Ed,” Uncle Ted said. He drove up to the store and was able to park in front.

I got out of the pickup and went into the store. I was struck by the weirdest smell. It was like old newspapers or old National Geographic magazines, but there was something woody to the smell, too.

“May I help you?” the old lady behind the counter asked.

But on closer sight, I saw that it was actually a man who had long white hair that had been braided and was hanging off his left shoulder. Then I saw that his skin was very white, too. He had a wispy white mustache that hung down at either end. He was wearing a red and yellow western shirt with pearl buttons like the ones Uncle Ted wore.

“I’m looking for a non-fiction book on New Zealand or Switzerland,” I said.

“Hmm, nope, don’t have any of those,” the man said. “What else are you interested in?”

“Anything on Washington history?”

“Nation’s capital, first president, or our state?”

“First president and our state.”

“Good choice, we got some of those. Can I help you, sir?”

“No, I’m with him,” Uncle Ted said behind me.

I looked at him and wondered why he came in. Then I realized I didn’t have any money, and I had asked for some to buy a book. I realized those kind of thoughts weren’t of a lucid person. I knew it was going to be hard trying to be as lucid as I could, but I needed to be more conscious of the task.

“Oh, okay, now, young man, let’s see if we can find your books,” the old man said, interrupting my train of thought. “You from around Yakima? I haven’t see you before.”

“We’re on our way to Wyoming where I’m going to live with my Uncle Ted.”

“Nice state, Wyoming. Spent quite a few years in Laramie. That’s where the university is. I worked in the library. Okay, here’s a nice biography of George Washington, the man not the town.”

I took the book from the man and saw that it was kind of old. I opened it and looked through it. There didn’t seem to be anything physically wrong with the book, so I said, “I guess I’ll take it. How much is it?”

“The price is inside the front cover.”

I looked where he said and saw the price was $1.50.

“How much?” Uncle Ted asked.

“$1.50,” I said.

“Okay.”

“Now, a book on Washington state,” the bookstore owner said. “Let’s see, history or travelogue.”

“What is a travelogue?” I asked.

“Tells you all about the sights.”

“I’d like a history please.”

“Okay, we’ve got two, no three. Here’s the best one, published in 1954, so it is fairly recent. The others are much older.”

I took the book and looked inside the cover. The price was $2.25. I looked through the book and saw there were pictures and maps. That was good because I like maps.

“How much?” Uncle Ted asked.

“$2.25.”

“Good enough, okay, let’s get these and be on our way.”

“Sir, do you have any recent highway maps?” I asked.

“Yes, they’re at the front counter. I think we’ve got all the states, including Alaska and Hawaii. They’re only twenty-five cents each. Tell you the truth, though, you can generally get them free at a gas station. Of course, they won’t have all the states.”

“Uncle Ted, could I get some highway maps of Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming?”

“Yeah, sure, that’s okay with me.”

While Uncle Ted paid for everything, I took the two books and the three highway maps out to the pickup. I was a little concerned because he didn’t come out right away. Then it was getting noticeable that he was still in the bookstore.

“I wonder why Uncle Ted hasn’t come out,” I said.

“Maybe he’s looking for a book to read, too,” Sam said.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, what?”

“What kind of horse will I ride?”

“I’m thinking you’ll probably do best on an Appaloosa mare named Daisy Belle. She’s a young horse, but very friendly and quite intelligent too.”

“Okay, I was just wondering. Speaking of wondering, why hasn’t Uncle Ted come out of the bookstore?”

“What me to go see?”

“Yes, please.”

I watched Sam go into the store and looked at my watch. After five minutes went by I was getting very concerned and then I realized I didn’t have my anti-panic pills with me. Then I saw the paper bag that had the pills from the Pharmacy at North Park General Hospital. I picked up the bag and saw the bottle of the anti-panic pills. I was safe, but, of course, I didn’t have anything to drink to wash the pills down, so that might become a problem if Uncle Ted and Sam didn’t come out soon.

Then I saw Sam come out of the bookstore followed by Uncle Ted. They were talking and after they got in the pickup they kept talking. I tried to follow the conversation, but nothing made sense to me. So I opened the book on Washington state history to the first chapter and began to read.

We stopped at that hamburger place and Uncle Ted bought us lunch. We took our food with us because Uncle Ted wanted to get as far as we could before it got too much past nightfall. Sam took over the driving and Uncle Ted sat in the backseat. After I finished eating, I went back to reading my book. I focused my mind on the book and ignored all other inputs.

We stopped at a gas station after quite a few hours and everybody used the restroom. There was a Coke machine at the gas station and Uncle Ted bought us bottles. I concentrated on drinking my Coke and after I finished, I went back to reading my book.

About an hour after sundown, we stopped at a motel in Caldwell, Idaho, and Uncle Ted rented us a room. He told me we could sleep in our underwear and that would save the trouble of having to get our suitcases out of the back of the pickup. There was a restaurant next to the motel and we had dinner there. We went back to the motel where I took my night medications and then got in one of the beds. I saw that Uncle Ted and Sam both got into the other bed. That seemed strange, but then I realized that if they didn’t sleep together, one of them would be in my bed. I knew if that happened I’d never get any sleep from worrying that someone else was in my bed.