The Forgotten Wolf

Chapter 2

I waited outside of Dr. Kim’s office for my mother to pick me up. The air had a sweet smell to it from the blooming springtime flowers, and I enjoyed the gentle warming sensation the sun gave my exposed skin as I waited. I didn't have to wait long, though. My mother was a very scheduled woman and always arrived to appointments early. I spent my entire life hearing her say, “It’s better to arrive 5 minutes early than to arrive 5 minutes late.”, so much that the saying is permanently embedded into my brain.

I reached my mother’s car and hopped into the passenger seat. She was listening to her favorite talk radio station and fumbled for the knob to turn down the volume as I buckled my seatbelt.

“Hey Mae, how was your visit with Dr. Kim?” she said as she placed the car in drive and started to pull away. Her tone sounded cheerful, and she was smiling, but her eyes gave away her internal concern.

“Same as always, Mom. He gave me refills for my prescriptions.” I said half heartedly.

She looked at me quickly through the side of her eye but kept her face directed towards the road as she said “Oh…. Are they new ones?”. This was her way to find out what happened today with Dr. Kim and the medication change without outright asking me about it.

“No, it’s the same ones. With the same dosages. Ok.” I reply in a deadpan voice. I don’t want to talk about this right now, and she knows that. I never want to talk after my sessions.

The way I see it, why bother talking at all when everything you say and feel gets completely ignored because you are deemed f*****g crazy? I'm surprised I’m not completely mute to be honest.

As my mom pulls the car up to the drive-up window at pharmacy. I notice a group of three guys on motorcycles parked in front of a bar across the street. They were all very tall, had bodybuilder type bodies, and gave off a very intimidating aura that made me feel oddly uncomfortable. I didn't understand why I felt on edge or that I wanted my mom to just drive away.

“Mom, I'm not feeling good can you just get it later?” I asked laying it on thick as though I really was sick. “We are already here Maeve, 5 more minutes won’t kill you.” She said as she looked at me and rolled her eyes, skeptical of my sudden onset of illness, and rolled down her window.

As the window finished rolling down completely, and the pharmacist reaches the drive-up window we are all suddenly startled by an echoing roar. I jump so hard in my seat the top of my head grazes the roof of the car. I look around wildly for the source of the noise and immediately notice the 3 men by the motorcycles staring at our car. I lock eyes with the tallest one and immediately feel a primal fear I have never felt before and freeze staring back at this stranger. He is scary looking but if he wasn’t looking at me with such a angry glare I would say he could be handsome. Its hard to judge at this distance but I would say he had to be 6’5 at least, his hair is shoulder length and black that shines like he should be in a shampoo commercial. He wore a fitted V-neck black shirt with light colored jeans that were dirty in some places from riding his motorcycle, he also wore a chain necklace around his neck that looked as though something heavy hung from it tucked underneath his shirt out of view. It felt like the air would explode with the intensity of this irrational fear that followed through my body. I could hear my mom talking to the pharmacist but I couldn’t make out the words as if I was submerged underwater. I see his eyebrows contract into a deeper furrow. I don’t understand how he could get more intimidating with such a slight change of facial expression but he just did. As I’m frozen in fear staring at this stranger who looks like I just slapped his grandmother in the face. I see his eyes flash from a dark brown almost black color to a bright golden color.

A car then turns at the corner and passes in between us and I'm able to break out of this frozen state and turn to look at my mother. The person driving by is blaring a DMX song, my mom bursts out laughing hysterically, “It must have been that song that scared you so bad, Mae”. She playfully tosses my bag of medication onto my lap and pulls off still giggling to herself. “I don’t think its funny” I say as I look down. “Don’t be so sensitive Mae I was playing with you. You seemed really freaked out. I know you said you aren’t feeling lets get you home and you can lay down. I'll bring you up some soup” my mom says to me gently. “Great…” I think “she’s worried now just what I need”. I keep my eyes on my lap as she pulls out of the parking lot not daring to look up to see those men or more importantly that one man staring at me again.

On the drive home I keep thinking that I hear motorcycles behind our car and keep checking the side mirror to see if they are following me. “I must be just on edge from everything today. Overactive imagination, like Dr. Kim says.” I sigh as I try to rationalize what just happened.

The area that we live in is very rural and there are very few houses on this side of town. My house is at the end of a long, pot hole ridden, dead end street. The house has belonged to my adoptive parents family for generations. It’s a old colonial 2 story home. The white exterior paint chipped in many places from the wooden shingles after years of exposure to the elements. Even in it’s neglected state it’s still a remarkable home to be this deep in the forest outside of town.

My mom parks the car in front of the whitewashed brick stairs leading up to the front door. “Why don’t you just go up to your room sweetheart. You look pale. I’ll be up with your soup in a bit” she says. I open the car door open and swing out my legs “OK mom, thank you I love you.” I stand up and stumble slightly against the open car door reaching for it to balance myself. My legs feel like jello and I feel unsteady for a moment. “Do you need help? I can call your father?” mom says as she leans over from the driver seat to try to get a look at my face. “No, I'm fine just got a little light headed as I stood up.” I call back to her as I start walking up the steps to the door.

I get inside and rush up the grand staircase to my room down the hall to the left. I don’t want to get stuck talking to my dad about my visit with Dr. Kim. I'm sure my mom will give him the tea as soon as she gets inside. I make it to my bedroom and change into my favorite comfy pajamas and curl up in my bed. “Mom and Dad are just concerned about me wanting to get off the medication because they were traumatized when I got lost in the woods as a kid and they don’t want anything bad to happen to me.” I think quietly “I understand their worry but at the same time I feel physically worse taking the medication and want to try something else I'm almost an adult now I should be able to have some say in what I put into my body”. I hear my mom enter my room and I pretend to be asleep. She places the soup she made me on my nightstand next to my bed and tiptoes out of the room. While I lay there pretending to be asleep I succumb to my exhaustion and fall into a deep sleep.