Memories

My name is Michael Zimmermann. At least that’s what the man standing over my hospital bed called me. It didn’t sound quite right but since I didn’t remember what my name was, I accepted it. Michael Zimmermann. It sounded kind of strange to me. But I had no idea who I was. I had no Idea who the man standing over me was. I don’t know why I was in the hospital. I had a vague memory of, nope. It was gone. The only memory I had was Gregory Zimmerman standing over me. He said that he was my father. Without anything else to go on, I went home with him.

My injuries were bad but not so severe that they would prevent me from leaving the hospital. I had a broken leg and a few broken ribs. I had 2nd degree burns on my right hand. It had been treated while I was out. I asked what happened while we were headed home. He told me that I had been in a plane crash.

“That would explain the flash backs.”, I said.

“Are you getting your memory back?”, he asked.

“No. Not really. Just a few flashes of light and screams. Nothing else. After that I only remember waking up with you standing over me. Nothing before that.”

“I think I can fill in some of the blanks.”

We made it to the house. More like, we made it to the mansion. It was huge. Large marble slabs on the floor and walls in the entry way. Duel spiral staircase leading up to another level. As I looked up, I could see at least 3 more levels, all surrounding the grand foyer.

Vladimir came and took my coat and bags.

“Welcome back, Sir.”, he said with a very strong Russian accent. “I’m glad to see that your health has improved.”

A Russian butler. I was impressed. I would have expected British.

Mr. Zimmermann, or should I say Father, sat me down in his office and pulled out a photo album. He started to show me pictures of me growing up with the family. In every photo, I always look happy. I was always having a good time. He showed me videos in the same light. Although I had no memory, I was convinced that I was part of this family.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I decided to walk around to see if I could jog my memory. Vladimir was watching TV. He asked me to sit down and talk. From what he told me, I learned that I was the youngest of 8 children. I have 3 older brothers and 4 sisters. Each have made something with their lives. Jonathan and Becky are world renowned surgeons. Melvin, Monica, Greg Jr are the lawyers of Triple Z Law Firm. The same law firm that the big movie stars use. Laura and Lana are the top engineers at Black Tec.

I, on the other hand, have not yet made my mark on the world. Apparently, Michael Zimmermann spends most of his time partying and spending his daddy’s money. I did graduate high school, but with a “D” average. I never went to college. Never made anything of myself. Vladimir told me that while everyone else wanted to get out on their own, I was content with what I could get from others. Well, I want to put an end to that. It was time for me to get my plaque on the wall.

The next day, Ronnie White came to visit me. He brought Henry and James with him. These were the people that I would hang out with. I couldn’t really call them friends. They were there to talk about themselves, not to see how I was doing. They were not aware of my memory loss. I didn’t know what to say to them.

“Wow, man.”, Ronnie said. “They really banged you up good.”

Ronnie seemed to be more concerned about what was going on in his own life. He really didn’t let me get a word in before telling me about the women he was with, the things he purchased, and the places he’s been while I was in the hospital.

Henry was laying on the couch, filing his fingernails, not saying anything. James was talking on his cell phone and not to me. If these were my friends, they sure didn’t seem to care too much about me.

“Excuse me. Excuse me”, I said. “I’m sorry. Who are you?”

They all looked at me like I was crazy.

“Please forgive me.”, I said. “My accident left me with complete memory lost.”

“I’ll have to call you back.”, James said to the person on the phone. “You have ab-knees-a! Cool. Well, I’m your father. These are your uncles. And you work for us.”

“Don’t listen to him.”, Henry said, still filing his nails, “You’re our father. We came here to get our allowance. You said you’ll raise us to $50,000 a week now.”

“I have amnesia.”, I said. “I’m not stupid. I already know my father.”

“So, what about the $50 G?”, Henry asked.

“Get out. I need my rest.”

If I was going to make something of my life, I needed to start with new friends.

I asked my father what my accomplishments were. Looking at who my friends were, I could say that I was not living up to the family name. He said that I was great at putting parties together.

“Father.”, I said. “I would like to put my mark on the family name. What can I do?”

I should say that he was somewhat shocked.

“You’ve never took interest in the family business before.”

“Maybe I just needed to step away from myself to see what I was doing. Or wasn’t doing.”

“Maybe we should have hit you in the head to give you amnesia years ago.”

Within a few days, I started business school. Father was proud. I seemed to excel in the class. My math skills were top notch. Father said that I was never good at math. Communication and leadership skills were great. This also shocked father. Of all the skills that I seemed to be so great in, teamwork was the best. My father said that it used to be all about me. I guess that a life-changing accident really does change your life.

My brothers and sisters said that I was replaced by an alien. They saw that I stopped hanging out with my so-called friends that only cared about themselves. They were confused when they saw that I was nice to people that I meet outside of the family.

“So, what exactly happened to you?” Monica asked. “You take a vacation to a beautiful tropical island. You spend days completely absorbed in yourself. You survive an airplane crash. And now you care more about others than yourself.”

“I wish I could remember what happened. Maybe one day it will all come back to me.”

With all of the changes that I’ve made, my father wanted to make an announcement.

“Showing such growth in such a small amount of time, I am declaring Michael as my successor. He will take over when I am gone. Once you finish school, you have a corporate position in the Zimmermann Corp.”

I was shocked this time. I was expecting him to tell me how to go out on my own, not to take over for him. I was happy to do it.

That night, before going to bed, I watched the news. They were talking about the plane crash. That was when I had the first memory trigger. I remembered being on the plane. I remembered the moment the first engine exploded. I saw the goose that flew into it. But not much more.

The following day, I told my doctor about the flash back. He said that I was healing and that more would come. He couldn’t have been more right.

It was a dream I had that night that really set things straight. I dreamed that my mother was looking for me. She was calling out my name. At first, she was walking through a fog. Then, the image became clear, and she was at the wreckage of the plane crash. I could also see her face. It was not the late Mrs. Zimmermann that was calling my name. It was Mrs. Kelly Zachary. She wasn’t calling me Michael. She was calling me Mark. I woke up and almost screamed. I’m not Michael Zimmermann. I’m Mark Zachary. How was I’m going to tell dad. I mean Mr. Zimmermann.

The next day, I called my doctor and explained everything. I asked him to come by the house to be here when I called the family together.

“Dad”, I started. “I really appreciate your offer to give me he company. But I don’t think that I can accept it.”

“I know you don’t think you”, he cut in. But I had to stop him.

“Please, let me finish. Monica. It was you that asked what happened to me. You said that I was replaced by an alien.”

“Don’t worry”, she said. “I didn’t mean any harm. We like”. I had to cut her off also.

“Please, I’m not done. The other day, while watching the news, they were taking about the crash. I started to have flash backs. Last night.”

“Did you get your memory back?”, Jonathan asked. “I hope you don’t revert.”

“Jonathan!”, I screamed. “Last night, I had a dream. It was my mother calling my name. I awoke with my full memory.”

“That’s great”, said Mr. Zimmermann.

“Wait. There’s more.”, said Dr. Green.

“Yes”, I continued. “There’s more. My name is not Michael Zimmermann. It’s Mark Zachary. I’m not your son. I am the son of Kelly Zachary, a wonderful widow with only a few thousand dollars in the bank. Yet she’s content. I have to get back to her.”

That was not easy to say. The only man I knew as “Father”, I was forced to break his heart.

“Well, Mark”, Mr. Zimmerman said. “You have proved to be better for this family than my son ever was. The corporate position is still yours if you want it.”

“I’ll let you know. But for now, I have to go find my family.”

2301 S. Grinder. That was the address at the back of my head. I found the house easily. Of course, I did. I lived there for 20 years. I didn’t know if I should walk in or knock. Dr. Green said that knocking was the best way to go. I waited for what seemed like an eternity before someone came to the door. As soon as the door opened, the young man standing there screamed and collapsed to the floor. It was like I was standing in front of a mirror and watching my reflection faint. Kelly Zachary came running to check on the man who she thought was her son.

With the help of smelling salt, Dr. Green was able to revive him. Everybody went inside to talk.

“Until I saw you”, said the real Michael, “I couldn’t remember a thing. I remember everything, now. I’m not Mark. My name is Michael.”

Both Michael and I had a dramatic life change. It seemed to be for the better for both of us. We both had a chance to spend some time in another person’s life. We became best friends.

The funny thing is that Michael and I did meet on the plane. We sat across from each other. It took Mom a moment to get this right in her head, but she came through. The 2 families became very close. From the way it looks to me, there may be wedding bells in the future.