be late, and I want to stop by the counselor’s office to see if Mrs. Vickers has any news about my scholarships.”
“My little baby is going off to college. I’m so proud.” Mom walked over and kissed Sophie and Janie on the heads. “Keep an eye on Janie for a few minutes, Sophie. And play quietly. Your dad is still sleeping.”
“She should be going to school, Mom. You’re going to get in trouble again.”
She waved the hand with the joint stuck between the fingers. “The school district can kiss my ass. I’m not sending my little girl to school to be pushed around by some bully.”
We headed to the lone family car, an ancient rusted van with tires that were worn as smooth as glass and an engine with a permanent rattling sound. We climbed inside and immediately Mom started searching around on the floor for something.
“Did you drop the keys?”
“No.” She continued her search.
“You dropped the joint, didn’t you?”
“Yes, dammit.” She sighed and started the car. “And that was the last of it.”
“I’ll try not to stress out about it today. By the way, we need cereal and Janie was sticking a fork in the toaster this morning.”
Mom faced me. Eye puffiness diminished, she looked beautiful as always. “Why would she do that? I’ve told her it was dangerous.”
“Yes, but you can’t tell her something is dangerous and then do the exact thing you warned her about. She thought a bagel would appear if she stuck in a fork.”
A dimple creased her cheek. “That is so cute.” When we’d managed to stick in one place long enough that I could make friends, they were always jealous that I had the prettiest, youngest, and coolest Mom. And even though it was true, there had been many times when I’d wished she’d been more like a mom and less like an older sister. Things weren’t much different with Dad. He still wore earrings and long hair from his days as a drummer in a band that was always on the “edge of making it big”. For twelve years, I was their only child, unplanned of course. Not many sixteen year olds plan for a baby. But even though they were well into their twenties when they had Sophie six years ago, they had never matured. It was like they were stuck in the glory of their teen years forever.
Mom sighed and reached forward to turn up the music. “Darn, I wish I had that joint.”
“How did Dad lose his job?”
“They were just a bunch of jerks. He was only late a couple of times.”
“A couple of times is a big deal when you’re on the clock, Mom.”
“He’ll find something else. And you’ll be getting those scholarships soon, so I guess there’ll be one less mouth to feed.” Her voice broke slightly.
I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I won’t be that far away. I can come home on the train. I’m hoping to get a job on campus. Then I can help out some.” College would be a whole new world, and I’d worked hard to get accepted to several universities. But as much as I looked forward to breaking free of our rather dismal existence, I would definitely miss my wild and often absurd family.
A long line of cars waited to pull into the drop off zone in front of the school. It was a high school right out of an eighties teen movie where two-thirds of the student body consisted of wealthy snobs and the rest of us had come not just from the other side of the tracks but up, over, and way past them.
In a week’s time, I would be donning my cap and gown and an impressive array of academic metals. I looked forward to graduation, but I looked even more forward to being done with high school. Halfway through my senior year, I’d turned eighteen and I’d begun feeling the itch of getting on with my adult life.
The van sputtered loudly, attracting everyone’s attention as Mom pulled up to the passenger drop-off. She rolled down the window. “That’s right. She’s a beauty and she’s paid for.”
I looked over at her. “Paid for?”
She shrugged. “Well, she will be in two years.”
“You don’t actually think your rusted beauty is going to last that long, do you?”
“Oh shut up.” She leaned over and kissed me. A horn blast sounded behind us. “Hurry and hop out before the lady in the Mercedes behind us has a stroke.”
CHAPTER 2
I wasn’t