Missing

If you ever need to call my mother in law, there must be a reason. When you call her she will answer the phone as if she is on her deathbed, out of breath and slowly speaking. When she hears it's me she perks herself up, if it's anyone else, she continues with her sorrowful voice. I have learned to pay no mind to that. On my way home I never call her, mostly because I have a knack for calling her when mike d is asleep and then she starts her lecture on how I woke him up, I have learned it's better to only call in an emergency. At the moment, she has no phone, she lost it at the casino, but I already typed all of the above so take it as the "What you should know." lesson of the day.
I walked through the door and put my bags down, the house was quiet and still. I went out back, knowing that she had spent the entire day with mike d and was probably exhausted. I knocked on the door, knocked again, then one more time. I walked around to the window to her apartment and knocked again, thinking they were sleeping and now a little worried. After no answer, I walked into the house and looked for the spare key. Found it.
All I could do was think, did she have a seizure, a sugar episode, or maybe she was "expired" and mike d is trying to see how many legos and hot wheels he could stuff into her mouth. I ran with the keys to find out what was going on. Once again, my mind racing.
I opened the door and her apartment was empty. This is not normal, she never leaves with mike d, maybe I missed her. I went to the house, her apartment is in the back and separated from the house. I walked into all the bedrooms, checked all the closets, the bathtub, the pantry, I was becoming frantic.
I called my grandmother, maybe my grandfather picked her up and they didn't call me. Well that was a mistake, my grandmother began asking saints I didn't even know existed for help. Her voice began to quiver, and she said to call around and do a double check, she was going to light a candle and pray. I hoped the house wouldn't catch fire, she is old and frail and if she lights a candle by the curtain and the wind carries the curtain just into the flame, then the entire nursing home consisting of both my grandparents and my elderly aunt would end up here with me, since my mom already has my sisters and there is no room. I could stuff them all into the apartment with my mother in law, she is korean and tiny, they will fit.
I then called my sisters, maybe she walked to my mom's house it's only a couple of blocks away. I called my son Tito and then sent a message to my husband. She was no where to be found. I paced the entire house, checked under the beds, under the comforters, there was no hiding, where the hell did the batty woman go?
Being a huge fan of Dexter and the first 48, I began looking for blood splatter, really what else could I do, sit and wait. I opened the door again, opened up all her closets, checked the corners, there was no sign of foul play, I counted the bottles, all three were there, where ever she went she needed to be back soon, he had no bottle. I saw her purse sitting on the counter. I grabbed a spoon and went through the inside, the wallet, the glasses, everything was in place. I sat outside and smoked my tenth cigarette. Knowing that once again, there is no way the cigarettes were doing anywhere near as much damage to me as she did.
I began to walk over to the side of the house, the area where I follow my dad to when he has to fix the plumbing or something. Yes I love to go under the house and follow my dad into the dirt and grime, there is a carpet laid out and there was only one time when he got semi shocked by a cable, not cool, but exciting. And I tell him about the treasure I swear I will one day find in this old shack. I bent down and pulled the closure open, nothing. Where the hell was she???
At that very moment I heard my name. I was talking to Nina on the phone and ran to the fence, I heard her, I screamed her name and ran around the other side, there was no way out through that side of the house, yes I live in a maze.
And there she was, looking like a wet nail lady, drenched in sweat and dragging a very pissed off 2 year old. Apparently she decided to take him to the park that is a block away and he went up on the ladder and wouldn't come down, it took her an hour to pull him off of the play set and drag him home. She weighs 70 lbs wet and he is a good 35 lbs solid.
I didn't have the heart to bitch her out, really she went to the park and I know how the little imp behaves, so I felt nothing but sympathy for her, she was completely out of breath and she was sweating and he was beet red, twisting himself out of her grip, hoping to escape, I know my child.
She told me he need a bath, I gave her a duh look, told her to jump in, I would bathe the both of them, she laughed and went to her apartment. I carried him to the bathtub and we got him all undressed. She didn't put any socks on him and the bathtub looked more like the gulf beaches. Sand from his body and shoes covered the bottom of the tub. Telling me that the plumbing will soon need to be fixed, and I am off to find treasure once again.