The living dead

"Still alive! From the doorway of the intensive care unit I can see my father in his bed swaddled in white like a comatose infant, and he is still alive (135)."

Memory plays a important role in "The Beating" as Maddie, continues to lives by her traumatic experience. Maddie, perhaps unwillingly, keeps her memory of Mr. Carmichael and lives with it due to its ties to her father. Maddie keeps the memory of her father being in the hospital and ties it to her attack. It can be said, Maddie could not forget the experience of that day in July even if she wanted to. Not only did her father get a beating of sorts but so did she. The beatings are defining moments in which fourteen year old Maddie must live off. It is often the case in which we, the readers experience a loss of innocence and can better connect with the story and what it means to say about memory.  

Why didn't Maddie notify someone she would be leaving home with Mr. Carmichael?