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All the clocks are set and I am about ready to head out to Portland. I got a message from Katie at 4:34 saying that she did not understand my message but hope that I was all right. What a bunch to play games with! Sometimes I have no idea what the hell is going on. Last night I watched Eight Below and I considered it good. It was about eight Huskies that had to be left at a station  in Antartica and they lasted almost a half a year before they were rescued.

Sunday morning at 4:35AM got this text message from Katie: “I am not sure what that means but I hope you are okay”.

I hope I don’t say too much about this weekend. I may not be as discrete as I need to be. Much of this has to be between you and me. I gave Katie a call as I neared Portland and she said to come to the friend’s house on 82^nd   Avenue and she would have Mikey ready. I called from a parking lot nearby and said should I come to the house and Katie answered again and said no Mikey will walk to you. The house is about a block away. I stood on the sidewalk looking down the street. I saw him first and then he spied me and came racing toward me. He was all smiles and glad to see me.

Right away he says mom wrecked her car and it is going to take five hundred dollars to fix it. No oil in the engine and it cost four thousand dollars. He kept repeating I just got to find some money. The car is apparently impounded in Gresham. He is in my car now and he said I had to sleep beside the road and it was so cold. I was trying not to react too much. I noticed some tear stains on the side of his face. He said yesterday had to be the worst day of my life. He wanted to go to Starbucks for a cinnamon scone but we made a local deli instead and he gets chocolate donuts, his favorite and some fig Newtons. He calls Katie and tells her he has some food. He says I really need a pair of shoes I saw in WalMart yesterday but mom did not have any money – thank God she did not take them. Anyway the TajMahal would have been his if he had asked. We buy only the shoes and he put them on in the car. He thinks he wants to ice skate but thinks better of it and opts for the skateboard park near where Michael used to work under Burnside Bridge. Hmm. We sneak by Annie’a and pick up the skateboard. Well, we are driving by OMSI and see a big crowd so we park and tour the museum, etc – tried everything at least once for several hours. The afternoon is fading fast. We leave and check out the skateboard park and it has several teens and early twenties. We watch for a while and when I mention it does not look very good for an eight year old. He is obviously disappointed and he is quiet for a while.  This has happened several times during the past couple hours. In the conversations we have he mentioned going to Eugene for two week and then to California. He mentions his “new daddy” – I repeat that and try to keep the judgment out of my voice. All I can think is that Michael had called him (an idiot dip %^$^%)

We start driving and talking again. We get some more food and then locate a car wash because he wants to clean the car for me. We take turns squirting one another and he does a good job as a matter of fact. Eventually we end up at the 60^th Avenue Park and play monster until we cannot see. I flung him too hard on the skateboard and skinned his arm (he was tough and I wasn’t). Anyway we called Katie –voice mail. We have this conversation that Annie had kicked them out of the house (not sure about this). He keeps his head turned away from me. We start looking for a bowling alley that serves food and end up at the Korean place he likes. It has this sort of endless belt that comes by every booth. We order the usual chicken, rice and salad. He really eats better than I have ever seen him. He takes about four things off the serving belt as well – okay some sweets but some good food too.  I call Katie and she says to take him to Annie’s that she is on an errand. Annie does not know about the car. Eventually I take him back to Annie’s. She tells me she and Bernard are going to the coast tomorrow for a couple days.

I guess basically I am really concerned about Mikey. I am trying not to be over dramatic but I feel the whole thing is on thin ice. The relationship between Mikey and Annie is definitely not what it was six months ago. I think losing the car adds some more problems between Annie, Katie, and Bernard. Serious. I doubt if she has a way to California. The place where I picked up Mikey was the place she was hanging out before. Keeping me away raises the red flag of drugs. Mikey wants to be with his mom and really hates to be around Annie. But I would not be surprised that Katie goes alone to California or maybe worse. Anyway I hate to lay this on you but, man; Old Mikey might need a place to stay. I will pay support - whatever to get him in a safe stable place. And it might be sooner than later. Again I hope I am not over-reacting but I am very worried about what I saw and heard.  We talked about Easter again – and he is more than ready for that trip. He even talked about coming to Hermiston. He said do I have to wait for the next rodeo and I said, “Hail, no”.