Hawk
The mid-morning air is warm against my skin as I make my way from the parking lot towards the building. Back home, you can tell it’s almost fall, but here not so much. It feels like summer in mid-September. The full glass doors slide open when I get close to them. As soon as I enter the building the smell of cleaning solution and bleach hit my nose. Staff members in blue scrubs scurry about.
When I reach the front desk, the nurse behind the counter tips her head down and peers at me over her glasses. Her dark brown eyes roll over my body from my hat, down to the leather of cut down to the black fabric of my chucks. She’s not impressed.
“May I help you?”
If I sweeten her up, I might have a better chance of getting to the information I just drove through the night for, so I show her my best smile. “Hey, sweetheart.” I give her a wink.
“Na ah, pretty boy.” She puts up her hand, shaking a finger at me. “Don’t you be using that sweet talk on me.” She shakes her head. “State your business.”
I laugh because it’s not going to be an easy as I thought. I take a step closer and grip the tall counter. “Okay, here’s the deal. I think my mother is here.”
She places both hands on her hips. “You think?”
“Yes.”
“And why is it that you think and that you don’t know? I mean, if my mama were in a facility, God rest her soul, I’d know.”
I really don’t want to get into it with this lady. Biting my lip, I take a look down both hallways, hoping I’ll spot Tessa, but nothing. “All right,” I relent. “I was told that she might be here.”
“Darlin’, I’m going to need more than that. We have lots of mothers in this place, tons of grandmas, too. What’s her name?”
I have no idea what she uses as a last name. I doubt that she still goes by Gentry. “Her first name is Rose.”
Shock flashes in her eyes. “You don’t say? Well, boy, what’s your name?”
I let go of the grip on the counter, rubbing my hand over the smooth surface. “It’s Hawking, Hawking Gentry, but I go by Hawk.”
“My word,” she mumbles under her breath as she shakes her head. “I know who your mama is.”
“You do?”
She nods. “Yes, sir. Maybe if your name was Bill, it might be harder to decipher, but there aren’t too many Hawkings running around and only one woman who mutters that name while she’s sleeping.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. And you’re lucky because Rose’s chart has no restrictions.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that her next of kin hasn’t restricted visitations, so anyone has access.”
I swallow back the lump in my throat. Maybe now that I know where she is, I don’t need to actually see her. She’s here. That’s good to know.
“Come on, baby. I’ll walk you back.”
She leaves the front desk, and I watch her go, without movement. Tapping my fingers against the counter my mind races with my options. I can walk out right now. I don’t owe her anything. I’ve put forth more of an effort these past ten hours than she has in twenty plus years.
“Don’t do it, boy. Get those thoughts out of your mind and get to steppin’. Your mama is right down the hall, and she’s waiting.”