WHERE OH WHERE

‘Leenie, come on. Leenie, lunch is on the table. Leenie, this is the third time I’m calling you–and the last.’ My teen daughter has either lost her hearing, isn’t hungry or gets a kick out of torturing me. She’s impudent,strong minded and a pain in my neck sometimes. ‘Come in now or I’ll eat lunch without you and you can starve.‘ That did it. I put the slice of lemon meringue pie I had saved for her in the fridge and may decide to have it as a snack later. With heavy steps, loud enough for god to hear, I plod to the living room, my tongue ready to slash out at her.

The sofa is empty. Leenie was lying there a few minutes ago. Where in the world did she go? The book she was reading in laying open on the floor, some pages curled under. That isn’t like her. I search upstairs. Her bed is made. I check the basement, the garage, the back yard. No Leenie. I sit in the kitchen eating the lemon meringue pie worrying myself into a frazzle.

The phone rings. My heart jumps into my throat. Darcy wants to talk to Leenie. ‘Well, you can’t. She has disappeared. Any idea where she might be, Darcy? Do me a favor and call around. Somebody must know where she is. I’m calling John Belson Hospital and the police.’ ‘Don’t panic, Mrs. Greer. She’ll show up soon.’ I do not need Darcy to tell me what to do.

My Tommy has an important staff meeting this afternoon but I call and leave a message for him to call me as soon as he can. Next I call the police. An officer with no feelings tells me to call back in 24 hours. I plead with him to at least write down her description, name, address and my phone number. ‘Put it on your bulletin board. I see that all the time on Law and Order.’ I whine a drawn out ‘Please.’ The officer hangs up on me.

Darcy has everyone calling me. Nobody has seen Leenie. ‘Don’t worry, your daughter can take care of herself,’ Betty, George, 5 classmates tell me. They shouldn’t have passed 5th grade. Leenie is 16 and can’t even make a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich without burning the toast. ‘It’s me, Tommy. Is our daughter home yet? No? Well, I’m in the car and should be with you in 10 minutes. Stay put.’ He makes it in 8. ‘Any word?’ My silence is my answer.

The phone rings again and I jump like a marionette when its strings are too tight. ‘Mrs. Greer. This is Sgt. Young. I have someone beside me who wants to talk to you.’ Of course, my first thought is it’s the coroner and hand the phone to Tommy. A smile covers his face. I strain to hear who is calling. ‘Daddy, what are you doing home so early? I thought you had an important meeting today.’ ‘My god, Leenie, is this really you? Where have you been? How did you just disappear when Mom was making lunch for you?’

‘What are you talking about, Dad? Put Mom on.’ ‘Don’t hand me that damn phone. I’ve been on it for hours. I’m too upset, too nervous to talk to that girl.’ I stand there as Tommy holds the phone out and we can both hear Leenie’s explanation together.

Suddenly I realize Leenie is not the wrong doer. I am. She told me last week about the trip to the zoo the 5 best kids in each science class were taking today. The teacher collected $2.00 from each student(and I myself had given Leenie her share for the bus and lunch),then forgot about it. The kids are studying monkeys and apes and would be away all afternoon. Maybe I should be studied, be put under a microscope. Those animals have more brains than I do

I go into the living room and pick up the book Leenie had left on the floor. King Kong’s picture is on the cover. He is climbing the Empire State Building with Faye Ray in his hand. Had I glanced at it maybe my memory would have flared and all this worry wouldn’t have happened. I apologize to my daughter, my husband, Darcy. I called the police department and explained, apologized to Sgt. Young. I put a sign on our front door, ‘I thank all of you for your concern and apologize for my dead brain cells.’

I promise Leenie I will make another lemon meringue pie tomorrow and she can have my share.