TWENTY-ONE YEARS EARLIER
It’s time to go, sweetie.”
Jaime shook her head. Words collided in her throat, releasing in a squeak of protest.
Her mother frowned, eyes shadowed by another sleepless night. She didn’t know that Jaime could hear her tossing and turning and crying through the small apartment’s thin walls. It was why Jaime had learned to sob into her own pillow, blanket pulled over her head.
Her mother rolled her eyes, irritation tightening her mouth. “Jaime, I do not have time for this.” She glanced at her watch, then held out her hand. “Come on. We have to go now, or we’ll get caught in traffic.”
Mommy hated traffic. She talked all the time about how the moment Jaime’s father’s tour of duty ended, they would move to a small town in Indiana and not fight traffic anymore. But for now she had to work at the hospital on these weekend overnight shifts.
Jaime didn’t want to move to Indiana. It wasn’t home. But she did want to be as far from Uncle Dane as possible. Just thinking about him made dark spots swim in front of her eyes and her hands slick with sweat.
She stomped her foot. “I’m not going.”
“Jaime, you don’t have a choice.” Her mother’s voice carried the do-not-mess-with-me tone. The one that meant Jaime would lose something important unless she corrected her ways. Her lower lip trembled, and she bit down hard.
“Can’t I stay with you this time? Please, Mommy.”
Her mother met her gaze with sad eyes. “Honey, while your daddy is gone, I have to take these shifts. We need the money. We’re very fortunate your Uncle Dane is here to help. I don’t know how I could do this without him.” She sighed and brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen in Jaime’s eyes. “I need you to be my strong soldier until Daddy gets home. It’ll be better then.”
Jaime saw tears welling in Mommy’s eyes. In her head Jaime was screaming, but she didn’t say anything aloud. She didn’t want to make her mother cry. So she picked up her pink, heart-covered backpack from the couch and slowly followed her mother to the door as a ball of heaviness settled in her stomach.