Chapter Three
Thedrivetomy mom’s house seems like a slow-motion movie. Every mile marker I pass sends zips of unease through my body. By the time I’m in her neighborhood, I feel like I’m going to vomit, and when I pull into the driveway and see her sitting on the deck with her morning cup of coffee, it takes everything in me not to start crying.
She stands as I get out of my car.
“Hi, sweetheart. I didn’t expect you to stop by this morning.”
I swallow down the lump in my throat.
“I needed to see you.”
My shoulders slump as I get closer to her. The tears that were pricking the backs of my eyes are now falling down my cheeks.
“Oh sweetie, come here.” She sets her coffee down, then wraps me in a hug. “Shhh, whatever it is, you can tell me.”
“I know I can. It’s just hard.”
I pull away from her, wipe the tears away with the sleeve of my hoodie, then follow her back to the chairs. I stare at the black coffee inside of her mug. A mug that she has used every day since I gave it to her in the tenth grade. I took a pottery class, and that mug was the only decent thing I made. She hand-washes it and tries to never lets anyone else touch it.
She grabs her ugly mug and takes a sip from it. One thing I did add that I thought she might like is the groove around the edge, making it more comfortable for her bottom lip. Why that’s important? It’s not at all. But my mom swears by it now. She told me that every time she has to use a different mug, she refuses to drink coffee. That doesn’t happen often, but when it does, dad and I know mom didn’t get her coffee. She used to get super mad about the simplest thing, and we knew that the hunt was on for the mug. Luckily, it never made its way through a dish cycle and broke.
I take a deep breath.
“Rick and I are getting a divorce.”
Her eyes grow wide as she gasps. “What happened?”
“He got fired from his job, and now he wants to leave.”
“Leave? The state?”
“Yeah. He said he doesn’t feel like he’s living his life.” I put my face in my hands, trying not to cry again.
My mom huffs out a breath. “Well, that doesn’t make any sense. So, he just wants to what? Travel?”
I look up at her and shrug. “I guess so.”
“What did you say to him?”
“I told him I want him to be happy. If that’s what he thinks is going to make him happy, then he should do it.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetie.” She stands, walks over to me, then bends to hug me.
I wrap my arms around her, and my sobs return.
“Come here, Piper.” She holds onto me as I stand. “Shhh, it will be okay.” she says as she rubs my back in small circles.
“It hurts mom.”
“I know. I know. Let it hurt, it’s supposed to.”
AfterItellmy mom I am staying with Kelly, she feels better about letting me leave. But now I am on my way to the house to get the last couple of boxes of my books and plants. We had to make the hard decision to find the cats a new home, but it was honestly for the best. When I pull up, I see that he isn’t here. Part of me is glad, but part of me wanted to see him one more time.
I unlock the door and when I walk in, I’m shocked. Everything is gone. I go to each room. Nothing. All that’s left are two boxes in the middle of the living room with my name on them. I sit next to them and stare out the window. The view of our front yard that we worked tirelessly on. Planting bushes and trees. Making sure our grass was always pristine. All for what?
Nothing.
I painted the walls in our home in colors we picked out together. Hours of taping and painting for nothing. To up and leave. To make it a family home for someone else. My heart rate picks up and heat starts rising up my neck.