Life on Wheels

Chapter 17: The Dark Side of Town

Chapter 17: The Dark Side of Town

It’s been a few weeks since the trial now, and we are finally starting to put our past behind us. Matthew has changed. He is a lot more timid around people he doesn’t know, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The longer we spend in the rehab, the more I am able to appreciate how much work goes into running a place like this. The therapists, the volunteers, the cooks, the management staff. Sometimes I think they don’t get enough credit. I want to plan something for them.

My plans will have to wait because we are doing some kind of direction lesson thing today. We are being driven somewhere around the city and have to interact with people to find directions back to the rehab. We have to cross streets, turn corners, and use our surroundings as much as possible. I gather a few things for the task and roll into the foyer. Everyone is meeting here together and vans are taking groups of patients around the city. I’m not on the same van as my brother, so I hope he can find his way around. I think this exercise will be good for both of us. We can’t rely on other people to tell us where to go or to take us places, so we have to learn how to do things like this for ourselves one way or another.

The van screeches to a stop and the driver calls my name. I roll off of the van with Otis. I know where I am but I’m not sure how to get back to the rehab. I’ve been dropped off just down the street from a bar that Dad used to go to all the time. It’s not in a great area of the city, but I know we have volunteers keeping an eye on us from cars.

As I begin to roll forward, I realize this is the alley where a lot of drug exchanges are done. I slow down to pass, but am confronted by a large man dressed in black covered in gang tattoos and chains around his neck.

He races towards me. My arms go around the wheels of my chair faster than I was ever able to run. I am going too fast to press the panic button on the side of my chair. I race down the hill and barely stop to cross the road at the bottom. I can tell the guy is still following me.

I go into the first accessible store I come to- a hair salon. The hairdresser at the front desk gives me a strange look.

“I’m being followed.” I explain.

“I’ll call the police,” she says.

Luckily for me, there are no customers in the salon right now.

“Yes hi I just had a girl come into my salon and she says she’s being followed,” the hairdresser explains.

I wait in the salon until a police officer shows up.

“I hear you’re being followed?” he asks.

“Yes,” I respond.

“Can you give me a description of what this person is wearing? Male or female? Hair and eye colour? Height and weight?”

“White male. he has really short brown hair and I think green eyes. He’s probably 250-300lbs, um maybe 6ft. Wearing a black tank top, black shorts, a black baseball hat, black running shoes, covered in tattoos, and he has probably 15 chain necklaces around his neck. He’s definitely up to no good,” I explain.

“And what are you doing in this part of town on your own?” the hairdresser jumps in.

“I’m from Crown City Rehab. We were dropped off throughout the city and we were doing an exercise thing where we have to find our way back to the rehab by asking people questions, using familiar landmarks, I got dropped off at the bar, Glass of Gold, I think it’s called. As I started moving forward, I realized that I’m not in a good part of town. I know there’s a lot of drug activity in the area and gangs and all that. I slowed down to pass the alley for some reason, and that’s when the guy practically ran out after me. I just kept going and going and going. My arms were going too fast around the wheels to be able to press the panic button on the side of my chair,” I pause to show the cop the red button. “I barely stopped at the road at the bottom of the hill. Then I came to the first place I could roll into. Now I’m here.” I explain.

“We’ll have you stay here if you don’t mind. We’ll notify Crown City about what happened. I’m going to see what I can do. I’ll call out some more cars and we’ll see if we can find this guy. Surely he’s around here somewhere. Someone had to of seen something. We’ll do our best, um,” he pauses.

“Melissa,” I say.

“We’ll do our best Melissa. I’ll let you know what we come up with,” he says.

I pull out my phone to call Matthew and find out if he’s around here.

“Matthew where are you?” I ask.

“Just got back to Crown. Where are you?

How did he get back so fast? I’ve been living here a lot longer than he has been. I’m just glad he’s safe and not the one in my position right now.

   “Hi. Um, I’m glad you’re back safe, but it’s a different story for me. I was dropped off just outside Glass of Gold, and some guy came out from the alley when I passed. He chased me. I’m at New Look. I’ve talked to the police and they’re out looking right now. I don’t know how long I’ll be here for. Can you tell Francine that I’m safe?” I ask.

“Sure thing. Hopefully they find the guy.” Matthew says, hanging up the phone.

An hour later, I am in the police station waiting for news. I finally get news that the man has been caught.

The officer offers me a ride back to the rehab. I thank him, but I’m not sure how he’s going to get me there.

“Does your chair fold?”

“Yes.”

“We can fold it and put it on the backseat. Your dog can sit in the back. I’ll help you into the front. Does that work?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” he says, smiling.

The police officer drops me off at the rehab and helps me into my chair. He attaches Otis to my chair. I thank him. I head into the lobby. Nobody is around. I find that strange. I head to my room. Matthew is reading. Yes, my brother is actually reading a book.

“You must be in a good mood,” I say.

“Oh thank God you’re alright!” he exclaims.

“Yeah. I’m kind of tired though. I’m going to have a nap. We can talk more later. It’s important that we stick together, and here we are back together again.” I say.

I fall asleep.