Lost In Traffic (5/73)

I looked around the room in disappointment I noticed a chair not to far from the door. So right then I decided to put on my pink rubber boots, my jacket over my flannel PJ’s and then I checked to make sure that my $5.00 was still in my pocket and it was. Now I was already to go to the store. I pushed that chair over to the door, turned the dead bolt and stretched up as far as my little arm could reach to the chain and slide it off.

Once I got outside I noticed that the neighborhood looked different then it had the morning before. I was to young to understand that we were in a completely different part of the city. However, I did recall that the store that my mother always took me to was right beside the park and I could see a park right down the road. Once I made my way down to the park I could not see the store anywhere but off to the far left side there was a very busy street, so I decided to head that way in hopes of finding the store.

Meanwhile back at my house, my mother had woken up and realised that I was not in the house. She could see that the chair had been pushed up to the door and that it had been unlocked. My mother frantically called the police as horrible thoughts of where I could be ran through her head. She was scared some stranger would of grab me or that I would get hit by a car. Everyone we knew gathered at the house to look for me.

I did make my way to the busy street and once I did I crossed the street. I was so excited I had found a bakery; I could get some breakfast with my $5.00. With in about 30 seconds of walking in the bakery door 2 police officers followed in behind me. You see they had been waiting at the red light in their squad car as I was crossing the street. Both the offers thought it looked rather odd that such a young child would be outside alone at this time of morning. It was only about 730 am.       

The 2 officers pulled me aside and started to ask me questions. Where are your parents? What is you your name? Where do you live? I replied with saying my mom is sleeping, my name is Dawn Marie and I don’t know where I live. Well at this point the one officer stepped away and called the situation into dispatch. Before I knew it I was out the bakery door, with a donut in hand and in the back of the police car.

After about a 10-minute drive we pulled up in front of want looked like a recreation center and went in the front doors. The officers handed me over to a friendly lady behind the front desk and told me that I would be staying her with her until my mother came to get me. I was taken into a cafeteria style room to have breakfast with all the other children there. I would not find out until later in life that it was a detention home for children that I was taken to.

A couple of hours later my mother arrived to pick me up. She found me playing in the cafeteria like nothing had happened. I was rather disappointed that we had to leave, I was having fun playing with the other children.

Once we got home I was ready for a nap, it had been a busy day for me. As I laid my head down on the couch, my uncle Harry and my Mother came into the living room to speak with me. My Mother, Eileen explained how dangerous it was for me to leave the house with out anybody with me and that I was never to do it again. Once she finished my uncle started in. His response was harsher than my mothers, he yelled at me for scarring everyone and explained how upset he was with me.