“Yes. Where is she? Haven’t seen her in so long, and we always stay in touch at our Wailing Wall. Where is she?”

Billy took both her impish hands into one of his, “Are you her mother?”

“Of course I am. Where is she?”

“Listen, we don’t know each other, but I need you to come with me to the cop station. I need you to talk with them. The one on 103A Ave. Will you do that? Or I can call one of them over here to talk with you.”

The police came and talked to the woman at The Hope. Billy knew he would never forget the day he watched her scream. Saw the rawest of emotion fall out of her. Saw her slump onto the sidewalk and bang her head on the concrete. The day he saw her mother’s blood splash up against the cop car and the young cop grabbing her by her waist and lifting her high into the air. Her heels digging into his shins. Her body finally stopping and her shoulders slumping onto the cops’ chest. This was anguish.

He went with her to the station to identify the body. Afterwards they sat together, and she told him the story of the baby. The woman talked about how her girl only needed to be able to see her son. If only they had let her visit with him. Even for just a few hours a week, but no. No. No. That’s what had broken her. That’s what had stopped her from breathing.

Billy told her that he had found her daughter surrounded by geese. The woman smiled. Told him that it was a good sign. A sign that said she was okay. Off in one of the lands. The geese had protected her body. They wanted her to be found by him. Billy had not one clue what the mom meant.

In time, Bunny became a cold case. No clues. No drugs. No booze. Just another Inuit woman lost inside of too many statistics. No one cared. But Billy had one thing left to do.

It was midsummer and Billy was twirling his machine again on the golf course. Little Adam burst into the best of giggles. The kind of sound that only a child can make. The sound that brought a smile to Billy’s face. Adam’s dark, slanted eyes held tight onto Billy’s as the two of them spun around laughing. They were disrupting the morning stillness with their laughter. They were disrupting the morning stillness with their love.

Billy looked down at Adam and reminded him that after their mowing they were going to go visit his anaanatsiaq at The Hope.

“And if we’re lucky, maybe your auntie Polly will be there too.” Adam smiled up at Billy.

Billy stopped. He held Adam up toward the sky and said, “Look, Adam! Your mama’s birds. Nirliq! Geese!”