Hopetown Road

The morning dawns cold, especially by Sarasota standards. The house I share with my mom, Carolyn, has a shoddy heat pump, and I wake up freezing. Sometime during the night, I must have kicked off my covers as they are in a rumpled heap on the floor at the foot of my bed. As I begin to wake up, realization starts to set in that I forgot to set my alarm the night before. I know immediately that I am fired from my breakfast job. Oh, well. Really, we are leaving for California soon, and the shift only brings in less than a hundred dollars each week anyway.

I yawn loudly and stretch out my tired body, reaching my arms up over my head. I keep my eyes closed. The lovely, cozy smell of someone else’s bacon comes sailing through my cracked-open window, and my belly growls in protest. But the bed is so warm and cozy; I decide to just wallow here. What in the world am I doing, getting all caught up with Landon? My departure date is less than a month away, not to mention he has a girlfriend; there is no time for this nonsense. I have my career and sights set squarely on San Francisco, and I am determined to succeed there.

Looking at the clock, I decide to call my other best friend, my mom. I hate to bother my mother at the gallery, but this is important. She will know what to do. “Sweetie, I just don’t know what to say here. You think you’re in love with this guy. Are you kidding me? For months all we’ve talked about has been this move; your move, Lexie. This is your baby and you’ve worked so hard…”

I cut her off, “I know, Mom, I know. I didn’t call for a lecture this morning, I just called because I’m…I’m…” The neighbor’s car is running idly in the driveway next door and I can smell the fumes emitting from the tailpipe masking the yummy bacon. Birds in the hibiscus tree outside my window sound like they are engaged in a family spat.

I hear my mom sigh through the phone lines, exhaling a plume of cigarette smoke. I had long ago given up nagging my mom to quit.