Mrs. Helen P. McGookin is worried.

Those of you who know Mrs. Helen P. McGookin know that she is not a warm, kind-hearted, maternal woman. Her interests include sports, spackling drywall, and mixed drinks. Preferably together. She is a rather voracious reader of all things historical. She kicks ass with a cordless drill. But she is not a "mom" type woman. She is crass, loud and of all things, notoriously late to any function.

But she is worried. Worried about her favorite niece. Alright, it's her only niece, but she's her favorite nonetheless. Her niece is 15 years old. Several years ago, her niece, whom we shall call, Bernice, was in Mrs. McGookin's wedding to Mr. McGookin. This was when she was 9, still cute and rather innocent. She wore a blue ribbon in her hair and posed like a princess in the wedding pictures. She would giggle at silly things. She played with Barbies and liked to do Mrs. McGookin's hair.

Her parents were married at the time, but experiencing problems. Typical problems most marriages face when the wife suffers from low self-esteem resulting in a drinking problem and the husband is emotionally abusive and generally lazy. You know, typical stuff. (Mrs. McGookin married into this family, by the by. Her own family has completely different issues.) A year later the parents divorced. Bernice was 10. Since then her alcoholic mother has gained custody. Why on earth would a court do that? Because her emotionally abusive father was homeless. He really did live in a van down by the river.

It would be worth mentioning that Bernice's parents subscribed to the "let-the-children-do-whatever-makes-them-happy" parenting style when she was growing up. (Mrs. McGookin was not raised in this fashion, and as such, took umbrage with the practice.) In other words, Bernice never received any restrictions on her behavior. One time, Mrs. McGookin tried to discipline Bernice when she was 8, but was told in no uncertain terms by the father that children should be allowed to do what makes them happy. Mrs. McGookin never tried again. It wasn't her problem.

Fast forward five years.

Bernice runs away. She has a 19 year old boyfriend. She is missing so often that her parents don't even bother to look for her anymore. She uses drugs. She presumably has unprotected sex in efforts to get preggers and find someone to love her. She is messed up. The worst part, as if it could be any worse, is that the dutiful Deputy Fife in the sheriff's office won't do anything to help either. The lawman told her parents that since she is 15, they can't help them anymore. When she was 14 and ran away, the law would track her down and bring her home. At 15, they do nothing.

Mrs. McGookin remembers when she, herself, was 15. She was slightly overweight, horribly shy and looking to fit in. It was a awkward period in her life. She could not have imagined living on the street, dating older creeps, or doing drugs. But Mrs. McGookin was raised by what would be considered in today's terms, strict parents. She had everything to lose by messing up. Bernice thinks she has nothing to lose.

Here's the rub. Mrs. McGookin, with no maternal instincts other than yelling at opposing players to stop cross-checking her boys, is genuinely worried about Bernice. Yet she has no way to contact her, since she is living on the street. Mrs. McGookin sent Bernice an email, but has received no response. Bernice doesn't have a cell phone. She doesn't listen or talk to her parents. She doesn't go to school.

She is lost.

Mrs. McGookin doesn't even know what she would do if she could get in touch with Bernice. Beat some sense into her? How? The sweet, but horribly misbehaved, 9 year old is long gone. Would a reckless 15 year old even listen to Mrs. McGookin? What would she say? Would it make a difference?

As I said, Mrs. Helen P. McGookin is worried.