Chapter Fourteen
The plane descended and Reid grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly. I raised my eyebrows at him and he shrugged and gave me a nervous laugh.
"Are you okay, Reid?"
"Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?" He was trying to act all tough, but I could see the knuckles on his other hand turning white from the death grip he had on his seatbelt. I laughed and turned in my seat to look out my window. So, this was it. We were going to get off this plane, get into a cab, and be in Marion in an hour and a half. I was nervous and felt almost sick about it. I was terrified that my mother was going to turn this whole trip into an alcoholic pity-party. I wished more than anything that she'd just be happy to see me and could control her usage of guilt trips. I wasn't holding my breath, though. "Karli?"
"Yeah?" I turned to look at Reid and felt better when he smiled. I had him with me, I was going to be just fine. I knew that, but it still didn't fix the sick feeling I had in the pit of my stomach.
"We've landed, you can take your seatbelt off, now." I looked ahead at the rows in front of us to see people lining up to get off the plane.
"Sorry, I was in la-la land."
"I noticed." He paused to look at me. "Don't worry, Karl, everything's going to be fine. Okay? We'll wine and dine your mom and then get out of here."
"We won't have to do much wining, she'll do most of that herself," I muttered, smiling when Reid glared at me.
"Now, be sweet and pretend that Celeste has only taught you good things, like manners. Your mom will be happy to see you while you're here, but content to see you go back. We'll return to Ipswich where you'll continue living with Celeste, Travis, and one day, the baby. "
"Yeah, Celeste teaching me manners, ha, that'll be the day."
We got off the airplane and into the cab without a hitch. The cab ride was fairly smooth, aside from the fact that Mohammad almost killed us about three times. I never thought I'd be so glad to see my mother's apartment building as I was that day. I thought about kissing the pavement when we arrived, but decided against being so dramatic. Instead, I paid the driver as Reid grabbed our bags and the small dog kennel before we headed up to the 12th floor.
I held my breath the entire way up in the elevator, scared to death of seeing my mom. I think Reid sensed that, but he stayed silent, letting me have my nervous moments before the doors opened. We climbed out of the elevator and I froze, turning around to get back on it, the doors closing before I could get back on.
Reid threw me a strange look and I laid the side of my face against the cool metal of the elevator doors. "Come on, Karli Sue, you've got this," I whispered to myself, taking a deep breath. I returned to Reid's side, walking hand in hand to my mom's apartment. I knocked gently, putting on a fake smile when she opened the door.
"Oh, my Karli, come here." She pulled me into a tight hug and I hugged her back. It's not that I don't love my mom, because really, I do. She's just so difficult and dependent sometimes. I hating having to be the one taking care of her and I resented her a little for it. I was just generally angry with her for putting me through everything that I'd been through at such a young age. No teenager should have to witness their parent's mental stability deteriorate. My dad had died and then my mom had just quit trying to live, so it was more like I'd lost both of them. It just wasn't fair. I knew that all of it wasn't her fault, but I'd tried to get her into therapy, but she wouldn't cooperate. She said the alcohol was all that numbed the pain and that hurt, too. She made me feel like I wasn't enough to survive for. As if without my dad, she had no reason to go on, and that was damaging.
A small yelp behind me brought me back to reality.
"Mom, we—" I began, before she cut me off.
"Reid Garwin, is that you?" She stepped around me to hug him and my eyes widened as he actually hugged her back.
"Hey, Mrs. Os, how's it going?" She smiled at him and I knew that he was just going to be a blessing.
The afternoon went quickly and smoothly, much to my delighted surprise. Reid and Hussy, what she named the dog, kept my mom entertained for hours. Everything was going fine until dinnertime rolled around. My mom pulled out take-out menus and I just stared at her.
"What are those for, Mom?"
"For us to eat, sweetie. You do want to eat, don't you."
"Yeah, but I thought maybe we could go out, you know, together." Her eyes darkened and her mood flipped like a light switch.
"You know that I don't leave the house, Karlissa." She was angry, but I was confused.
"At all?" I knew that she had rarely left before, but she had done the basic things like buying groceries and paying bills.
"At all." She looked between Reid and me before giving a deep sigh. Her mood changed again with the breath. "Actually, I'm tired. I think I will just retire to bed." She pinched the bridge of her nose and I looked at Reid. He gave me a pitiful look and shrugged.
"Okay, Mom, if you're sure." She looked at me and nodded once and gave me a fake smile before grabbing Hussy and going to her room. "I really didn't mean to upset her, Reid."
"Don't sweat the small stuff. She doesn't seem mad and she'll probably be fine in the morning."
"I hope so. But did you see the way her mood just changes like that," I asked, snapping my fingers for emphasis. He nodded and I shook my head. "She's crazy, I'm telling you."
"Aw, come on now," he began, coming around the side of the counter and hooking my neck in bend of his arm. He pulled me towards him and kissed my temple. "Don't let it worry you." I smiled up at him and let him kiss me.
"Let's go eat."
: x : x : x :
I didn't sleep well at all that night. I tossed and turned in my old room, in my old bed. It felt funny saying that but in truth, I had no attachment to the place at all. The posters on the walls were just how I'd left them, the blinds still closed, the curtains still drawn. It looked as if she'd never even come in here since I'd left. She'd barely entered the room when I iwas/i living there.
I finally got out of bed and wandered into the den to watch TV. I flipped channels for a bit but decided I'd rather take a walk. I grabbed my iPod, apartment key, and hoodie from my room and set out. I walked for at least three miles before I realized how far I'd gone. I didn't feel like turning back, so instead I hooked a right and walked, listening to Danger Radio playing inside my head. I was just wandering down the street when a little occult shop popped up out of nowhere. I was surprised to see it there since it certainly wasn't there when I'd lived here just a few months ago. I was even more intrigued to see that it was still open in the middle of the night. I decided that I had nothing better to do, so I stepped inside. The bones on the door clanked against each other, summoning who I figured was the shop owner out of a back room.
"Hello there, dear, can I help you find something?" she asked, looking at me strangely.
"No, thank you, I'm just browsing."
"Okay, then, let me know if you need anything."
"Sure, thanks," I replied, moving slowly down one of the aisles. It was obviously an herb aisle and I turned my nose up at the smell. I turned the corner and went down an aisle of spell books and journals. When I got to the end to go to the next aisle, the shop owner was standing in my way.
"Are you a witch, honey?"
"Oh, no ma'am, just curious." What the hell kind of question was that, anyway.
"Really?" I asked, acting if she didn't believe me. Certainly she couldn't just tell.
"Yes, ma'am." I turned the corner around her and walked down the candle aisle.
"Are you a medium?"
"No," I replied, still trying to be polite. She was getting on my nerves.
"Then what are you?" I turned around in the middle of the aisle to stare at her.
"I told you, I'm just curious."
"You're lying. I can feel your aura, child." I continued to stare. "And it is a very powerful one."
"I don't know what you're talking about." I went to move past her to leave the store but she blocked my exit. "Excuse me."
"Let me see your palm."
"No way, lady." She didn't budge and I was too small to push her out of the way.
"Let me see your palm and I'll let you leave." I thought about it for a second before laying my hand face up in her own. She traced the lines of my hand with her fingers and I shivered. "I see depression and death your life."
"Yeah, my dad died a couple of years ago and my mom's really depressed about it. Big whoop, everybody deals with those things."
"That's not what I mean, child. I mean that I see your own death."