Page 59 of Wreck Me

The officer sat quietly, waiting for my dad to continue.

“He showed up and assured me he’d take care of everything. I was still drunk from earlier, so he didn’t want me taking care of her… Her body.”

“Where did he bury her?”

“I don’t know.”

My heart sank further with his admission. The police didn’t know this yet, but if my dad didn’t know where she was buried, they’d never find her remains. My grandpa died from a heart attack six years ago.

“If your father was the one who buried your wife, Mr. Hart, then why was one of the things you were yelling at the young woman you attacked, ‘I fucking buried you’?”

I bit the corner of my nail, watching for any signs my dad might actually know where my mom’s remains would be.

Silence stretched in the interrogation room as a few minutes passed with no response from my dad. The officer took note of his silence, and continued to ask questions that made me lean into the glass, soaking up all the details I could.

“Mr. Hart, why did no one report your wife as a missing person?” The officer titled his head in question.

My dad slowly looked up at the officer. Through gritted teeth, he told him, “She had no family. Parents died when she was seventeen and she was on her own until she met me. I saved her. Gave her a home and a child. Then the bitch wanted to leave me.”

“Surely she had friends who would have reported her missing?” the officer pushed. Everything he said was in such a conversational way. It was no wonder my dad was suddenly singing like a canary.

“Nope. Just me and our kid.”

“Speaking of your son–Caleb, is it?”

My dad nodded in confirmation.

“Where was Caleb while everything happened with your wife? Was he in the house?”

He sighed dramatically, leaning back in his chair and cracked his neck.

“He was supposed to be in bed, but the little shit woke up and walked into the living room right after Lucy hit the floor. He looked around, then immediately ran back into his room and I didn’t see him again until the next morning. I told him his mom left us.”

I couldn’t handle hearing more. My chest already felt like an elephant was sitting on top of me and I had tears burning the backs of my eyes. A complete breakdown was emerging, and I couldn’t be here when it happened. Officer Collier nodded in understanding as I blew past him, throwing open the door and sprinting down the hall. I barely made it to a stall before I emptied everything that was in my stomach into the toilet.

Remembering that day still made the bile rise in my throat, but his confession gave me some semblance of closure. Knowing the reason my mother never came back for me wasn’t because she didn’t care about me, gave me a small feeling of peace. Unfortunately, I was still waiting for justice to be served in memory of her, but it looked like my old man would serve a long sentence in prison once his case went to trial. I dreamt of the day I’d sit in the back of the courtroom with a big ass smile on my face as the judge convicted him and they finally hauled him off for good. Until that day came, I slept better knowing he was behind bars, denied bail.

Police Chief Collier flipped his cue card, giving my row of officers the signal to stand from our seats in preparation of the pinning ceremony beginning. I couldn’t wait to receive my badge andofficiallybe Officer Caleb Hart. Keeping formation, the other officers and I marched out of the aisle and up to where the Chief was, coming to stand behind him in a perfect, straight line.

I waited as patiently as possible while officers were called one by one to receive their pins, my heart hammering in my chest the closer he got to reading my name.

“Caleb Hart,” Chief Collier called through the microphone, echoing through the room. As I moved forward, I heard Isla’s voice whooping with cheers, while I made my way to the front of the line. Saluting and shaking the hands of three different superiors, I accepted a large envelope from the third one holding my certificate.

Chief Collier clapped my shoulder as I stopped in front of him, giving me a warm smile and a nod. When Isla and I first went to the police station, I was terrified Chief Collier would be a complete dick to us because of who Isla’s father was and his connection to them. But it turned out it was exactly the opposite. He was a stern, but kind man, and took me under his wing with both my father’s case and the police academy.

As he pinned my badge to the front of my uniform, he dropped his voice, speaking to just me. “Officer Hart, I wanted to let you know that while we know you are anxiously awaiting justice to be served on behalf of your mother, the Ridgewood Police Department felt we needed to do something to honor her memory on your behalf. Next week, we’ll be installing a new bench in the town square in memory of your mom.”

My eyes widened, and I stood speechless in front of the man who had just given me a priceless gift on one of the most important days of my life. Thankfully, he didn’t expect a response and instead clapped my shoulder again, giving it a small squeeze. “Congratulations, Officer Hart.”

“Thank you, sir,” I managed to say before walking back to where the rest of the officers stood waiting in front of our folding chairs.

Once the final graduating officer joined the line, taking his place in front of his chair, we all sat in unison and, with our hands pressed firmly to our laps, as we listened to the Chief’s closing speech.

The audience clapped and stood in ovation once Chief Collier stepped away from the podium, signaling to us officers we could now break formation. I barely had the chance to stand from my seat before Isla lunged into my arms. She cupped my cheeks with her hands and peppered kisses all over my face, congratulating me repeatedly while I held her close.

Life with Isla was everything I had hoped it would be, and even though we had our struggles navigating down our individual paths, we were persevering, boosting each other along the way. In March we re-signed the lease on her—our—apartment. After a couple months of working for Dave and having some paychecks rolling in, I was confident I could handle half the rent. I put in as many hours as I could at the garage until I started the police academy, and even then I’d work some nights. Dave fixed my car and tried to get me to stay on at the garage by offering me a permanent position with higher pay. I declined, because regardless of how much I loved working there, my dream was to be a forensic analyst. As grim as it was, if I could study crime scenes and help the detectives figure out what happened to the victims, maybe I could give another kid the closure they needed earlier than I got mine.

Isla took over my job at Pack N Mail, becoming fast friends with Mal despite their twenty-year age difference. Mal became a maternal figure to Isla, which is exactly what she needed at that point in her life. Her own mother took almost two months to reach out to her, and after dodging her calls for weeks, I finally convinced her to hear her mom out. She agreed to meeting her in a public place and listening to what she wanted to say. The coffee date ended with my girl coming home in tears, but ultimately she and her mom agreed to keep in contact with each other.

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