So We Can Glow - Stories - Leesa Cross-Smith Page 0,47
I’m so hungry! Gonna go find fries!
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To: Birdie Taylor-Boone
From: Faye Taylor
Date: September 14, 2020, 10:05 p.m.
Subject: Re: MENARETRASH
Ha! Yeah…I never made those same mistakes with any men (assholes) after Jack. Sacrificing my heart, soul, and body. That’s why I never got married, why I never brought any other men into your life besides Uncle Coot. He’s one of the good ones.
I wasted too much time…women waste so much time on men who aren’t worth it! It’s infuriating and I still get angry with myself. :\ If somebody would’ve told me when I was younger that I would be single and happy in my forties, I would’ve about laughed myself to death. And ta-da! Here I am! Whew.
I know you and Alayna aren’t me and Jack. Far from it. Please do give her my love. ?
Study hard! Be safe! Crank ABBA! Just because you’re a vegetarian doesn’t mean you can eat fries for every meal! Eat some vegetables, please. For me?
Thank you so much for telling me I’ve been a good mama, because that’s certainly what I set out to do. You’re my only baby and I never wanted to mess this up. See? Sentimental! And yes, I’m crying.
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To: Faye Taylor
From: Birdie Taylor-Boone
Date: September 15, 2020, 12:04 a.m.
Subject: Re: MENARETRASH
I know how much you regret the dumb stuff you did when you were younger. All I see when I look at you is a strong, true, woman, artist, and mother who turned her life around. I’m strong and honest because you taught me how to be. Do you know how much I admire you for telling me everything yourself and not trying to hide it? Not many people would do that. Told you that you were special. I meant it. ? Aw, YAY. I love Uncle Coot foreverrrr. I’ll text him about the bookcase soon! Stoked to see it in person.
The fries were delicious by the way. Fries before guys, fries before girls, fries before emails! :P
And I mean, don’t get me wrong. I live in this world. Duh. Granddaddy and Uncle Coot aside, obviously I know MENARETRASH. :p
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To: Birdie Taylor-Boone
From: Faye Taylor
Date: September 15, 2020, 8:33 a.m.
Subject: Re: MENARETRASH
LOL! That’s my girl! :D Have I told you that you’re my favorite daughter?
Counting down the days until I see your pretty face!
The Darl Inn
My mom was having sex with her new boyfriend and I was so used to it, it didn’t even gross me out anymore. She said she’d let us share a beer if Bri and I promised not to come back to the room for at least two hours. We went and sat in the chairs outside by the pool, passed the bottle back and forth, made the mouth of it taste like our pineapple lipgloss. Once we’d finished drinking, I set the bottle down and it rolled on its side; the hollow-emptiness rattled as it slipped into the wet grass.
No one was at the pool even though it was Friday night. I figured there would at least be some dumb guys to flirt with. Maybe even some smart ones. The guys we went to high school with were pretty smart, but they acted dumb. Maybe that’s how everyone was. I hypnotized myself thinking about it—watched the blue-green water lick up the pool steps, shiver in the motel light.
Bri’s mom and my mom had been best friends since high school and Bri’s mom traveled a lot for work. We’d been best friends since we were in utero, like Jesus and John the Baptist. Bri’s dad was rarely around, so she stayed with my mom and me most weekends. We only lived like an hour away, but this weekend my mom said she wanted to get out of town, see something different. “Don’t take being alive for granted, girls,” she said.
We drove to this little town in the country called Darling and got a cheap room at the Darling Inn. I thought it’d be better if they called it the Darl Inn and it was kind of driving me crazy. I wanted to say something to the receptionist lady about it, but she was grumpy and wearing all brown, so I passed.
“Whitney, listen to this,” Bri said, reading aloud from an old Cosmo magazine we’d found in the room. I watched the orange sunset glowing in her rhinestone-rimmed sunglasses. My sunglasses. I’d gotten them last summer from a grocery store in Vegas when I was out there visiting my dad. “Top Ten Things Guys