Genres: Romance, Young Adult
“Hey,
baby?” My mom shook my shoulder, and I jumped and her iPad thumped to the
carpeted floor. I rubbed my eyes. “Jacie, I told you not to worry about getting
a job. We’re fine. You’re exhausted, and you only just got home. We can make it
on my paycheck. I appreciate it, but you don’t have to do this.”
“I’m
not exhausted, I’m a little tired because I got up to talk to Mare this
morning. I made her breakfast too–crap, I left dishes everywhere. Sorry mom.” I
facepalm. Here I was trying to make her life easier, and I made chores for her.
She
laughed. “This is your first summer since you left and aren’t doing homework.
You should enjoy it. You are done taking care of your dad, you don’t have to
take care of us. Your job is to go out and screw up, make me worry, come home
late from partying and make questionable choices,” she joked.
“You
want two Marises?” I smiled.
“I
worry. I don’t want you to feel you have to work in an Italian Restaurant, feed
your family, and take care of your older sister. I’m the mom. It’s okay to be
irresponsible. You deserve it. You’ve been very disciplined since you left.” I
sighed and nodded. Oddly, I responded to that by getting up and going and
making my mom a coffee. She liked the instant type, with so much sugar it would
give an elephant cavities, and enough milk to turn it white.
“What
are you doing, hon?” she asked, watching me.
“We’re
having a grown up conversation, and you sound a little unbalanced, I’m getting
you coffee,” I teased. I stirred the creamer and brought it to the table and
sat it down so she’d get the idea that she should relax. “I want to work. It’s
boring doing nothing. Plus, I have plenty of time to get up to trouble that
will give you graying hair. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to get pregnant,
and I can always get someone to buy me alcohol to start an early drinking
problem. If something like that would make you happy, I can try either option
for you,” I say facetiously.
“I
would prefer irresponsible drinking without the long term habit. I’m not ready
to be a grandmother. Although, I have no doubt, if it happened, you’d step up
and handle it better than I did when it happened, and I was an adult when I had
Maris. You’re just so put together. I wish you were selfish like your father
and Mare. At least I can count on her being useless to me all summer. And I
have no use for your dad at all. You’re my golden child, Jacelyn.”
“I’ll
find a bad crowd and start making friends with questionable characters
immediately just for you, mom,” I teased. “Maybe find a guy with a one word
name… Rancid? He will ride a motorcycle and not wash.” I moved to the fridge
and pulled out the sweet tea I made and poured a tall glass and took a long
drink before pouring more and continued. “I’ll shave my head into a mohawk, dye
it green and put a hole through my cheek.”
My
mother smiled broadly, liking this game. “See? Now we're talking. You’ll have
your thing, and Mare will have avoiding reality and things at home, and driving
badly. I’m sad now that I didn’t have a son to sneak around with a girl from
the wrong side of the tracks, but you and Rancid should have that covered.”
I
moved to the table and sat on one leg folded beneath me and pointed at her.
“You have Peter, and he is dating a boy who is on the wrong side of the closet
door.”
She
waved her head and lifted her cup for a sip, “He’s just one of my girls. I
guess I can consider him the daughter sneaking around though.”
I
loved my mom. She was just one of those people who tried to find the humor in
everything. We often had conversations that were ridiculous like this. She told
me that her favorite thing was to hear us laugh, and her second favorite thing
was to have something to laugh about. The way her mind worked always made me
feel better, lighter. My mom put me at ease about serious things.
I
know Maris took her for granted, but having spent two years with my dad, I
appreciated her in a way I never would have had I stayed here. The time apart
gave us both a different view of one another.
She
wasn’t just my mom, she was one of my best friends.
“I’ve
heard everything you said. I want you to know I like working. I don’t like
having all this spare time to sit and kill. It’s boring. I also like the people
I work with. It’s healthy, and next week when I get paid, I’d like to take over
buying some of the groceries, at least my own.” I held up my hand when she
looked like she was going to argue. “I know you can afford it, but I’m going to
have to start affording my own things this fall. I’m going to put the rest away
for college.”
“Jesus,
Jacelyn, you’re killing me!” my mom moaned. “Very well. So independent. What
are your hours?”
“I’m
part-time until I get my car, and then I’ll be full-time,” I replied.
She
nodded. “How are you getting to work in the time being? I feel awful that I
never got a second car now.”
I
saw the lines on her face and reached across the table and tapped the surface.
“We are fine. A guy from work is getting me to and from work. Ricky put us on
the same shifts so there wouldn't be any conflicts. I–” I sighed. “Peter stranded
me for a date the other night.”
She
made a face and nodded in a way that said it’s to be expected. “It’s good you
have a reliable ride then. Do I need to worry that he’s some thirty-year old
pedofile? Or worse a twenty something hottie who sells sex to uptight,
responsible types?”
I
laugh. “Closer on number two, but no cigar. It’s Ky Linley. Maris has already
had a fit, so you can relax. He’s a teenage heartbreaker, who I remember well
enough, makes fools of young girls. I know his flirting doesn’t mean he likes
me.”
“Jacelyn,”
my mom’s tone is one of understanding. “Just so you know, boys grow up. It’s
not all G.I. Joe’s and girls’ panties forever. Don’t discount him just because
of something he did when he was a kid. He could surprise you.”
- $10 Amazon gift card + ebook copy of It Feels Like Home
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