Broken Bones and Procrastination

July 11, 2019

During the year John Kerry was the Democratic candidate for president, I was still very much into politics. I think it was more simple back then.

I remember watching the town hall debate and having a few drinks after work. Patrick came in and reminded me that his friend was having a birthday party at the skating rink. I had completely forgotten.

I told my husband that he would need to drive as I had been drinking. We decided to make it a family affair. We all went to the party to skate.

At the skating rink, we were all given skates. I remember feeling mine out. The wheels felt loose. I asked the guy behind the counter about it. He took them back from me, looked at them and handed them back saying they were fine. He’s the expert, so I put them on.

I still had a slight buzz going from the couple of beverages I had consumed at home. I wasn’t drunk but I was a little altered.

The bright lights flashed inside the darkened arena. Families with kids skated in circles.

Jesse was too small to skate. He didn’t want to try. Charles and I were taking turns watching him and skating around. Patrick took off with his friends and they were just having fun.

One of our friends said they would keep an eye on Jesse while we skated around. So, around and around we skated. Charles, my husband at the time, was an excellent skater. He whirled around me quickly. I used to be a proficient skater but my rental skates felt funny. I had long lost my ability to twirl like I did as a little girl.

Charles continued to buzz by me making the rounds of the circular arena. Each time he passed me, he smacked me on the ass. He thought this was hysterical. I didn’t mind it. It was a light tap to let me know he was passing me, again.

Patrick saw he was doing this. He was observing this as his stepdad went round and round.

Charles whizzed by me again. Smack.

Patrick comes up from behind me. Smack. He giggles. Thinks he’s being cute like his stepdaddy. Which it was cute. The problem wasn’t the execution of the move it was what followed after.

Patrick smacked my butt but failed to move on. Patrick moved in front of me and fell. I attempted to maneuver around him but my skates locked up.

I tripped and fell twisting my ankle. I fell with my whole weight crushing my ankle. I heard it pop. I felt the bone break. I knew it was bad. I pain was intense. Labor pains were not that intense. I didn’t want to breathe.

Patrick came over to me and started crying. He said something about breaking his momma.

The music stopped, the lights came up and the floor was cleared of skaters.

They tried to move me. I was adamant about not being touched or moved. The skating place was starting to get antsy. They made me sign, “Please don’t sue me documents.” In my painful haze, I signed them.

Somehow, I allowed Charles to pick me up and carry me to the car. My ankle flopped at an awkward angle. He took me to a quick care where they confirmed I broke my ankle. They put me in a soft cast and told me to call an orthopedic surgeon.

I had another problem to contend with. Patrick’s birthday party was in less than 12 hours. We would be having 20 kids over for party games, cake and ice cream. I was supposed to pick up sandwiches and the cake in the morning. I had not finished putting the goodie bags together. I hadn’t put together the crafts that we were making. I was going to do that after we got back from skating.

We got home near 2AM. The party was at 11AM. By 8AM, I was on the phone with people trying to get things delivered. I was able to plea with the sandwich lady to deliver her goods. My mom picked up the cake. Charles picked up the house. I orchestrated the operation from the lazy boy chair in the living room with my foot propped up.

We had left Patrick at the skating rink with his friend, Liam whose birthday it was. His mom said she would take care of him. Patrick later told me that the skating rink gave them anything they wanted all night long for free. They just kept saying, tell your mom not to sue us.

Patrick came home and had a wonderful birthday party. I was in pain and partially drugged, but I remember fun being had by all.

I was only in my second year teaching. I was still not good at having things done on time. Just like I had put things off at the last second for the birthday party, at work I had put off an IEP to write. I had to go to work and write an IEP for a student. I knew I would not be attending the IEP but I was most definitely responsible for writing it. I had been given the time to do it but I had put it off, procrastinated.

I went to work in my soft cast, armed only with a handful of Lortabs. This is when I discovered I could not stomach codeine, but I didn’t know it at the time.

I went to work, popped a pain pill, wrote the IEP. Then I proceeded to vomit nonstop. I got so sick, they sent me home. I was glad because I was in such pain and I was sick, but the IEP was done.

I went to see the surgeon. He said for sure I snapped the bone. I would need surgery. I don’t remember much about the surgery. I ended up with two screws closed with nine staples. You can still see the staple marks and the scar on my right ankle.

I was out of school for a few days. I didn’t know how much sick leave I had. I didn’t want to use too much. Once they put me on crutches, I came back. The pain pills made me sick, so I didn’t take them and took Advil.

Driving was difficult as it was my right ankle that was broken. I learned to drive with my left foot. I became quite skilled.

I was in a cast for three months.

In the end, I learned don’t drink and watch politics, you will only become more frustrated. Trust yourself. If you think your skates are fucked up, they probably are. Don’t sign anything under duress. Use a chopstick to scratch the inside of your cast. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE.