Moving day has finally arrived!!
“Mom! MapQuest says fifteen hours and eight minutes from Jupiter, Florida, to Athens, Ohio! Woot! Woot!”
“Alright, Katie. Let’s just check everything one more time.”
“Fine. I’ll check the back!” Up goes the U-Haul door. My eyes rove over the boxes upon boxes stacked to the ceiling. Joy fills me from head to toe. “Ohio, here we come!” Selfie time amongst the cardboard boxes must be done. “JuneBug, we’re on our way.” Who knew happiness is my voice echoing off the tinny walls of a U-haul trailer? My mouth aches from smiling.
I scramble into the front seat. Shock fills me when I spy my mom waiting on me. “That was quick,” I exclaim.
“Yep. New leaf. No looking back, Katie. We’re starting a new chapter; just me and you.”
Words and ideas tumble out. “Ohio’s got some great colleges, I’ve already started looking.” I raise a finger. “And if we live there a year, in-state tuition is an option.”
Mom looks all worried. “Katie. This is your senior year. Are you sure you want to move? We can always rent a place.”
My toes dig into my shoes in protest. “No, mom. Between Rico Tomas and his stupid weekly gossip column about my life, and dad and his skank and her dumb little sister I almost punched out; let’s just say I’m ready to leave town like yesterday.”
Her laughter catches me off guard. “You do know how to make quite an exit, Katie.”
The heat of the dash beneath my hand spurs me on. “Let’s get this show on the road!” I holler as I try to help see while she backs out slowly.
She controls the big U-Haul trailer like a pro. “Dang, mom. You could be an over-the-road truck driver.”
An honest-to-goodness smile pops out at me. Mom’s letting go of her worries. This is definitely the right move. “I can’t believe dad let you take his brand-new truck all the way to Ohio.” I muse.
She smiles. “Katie, you’re not the only one who knows how to get what they want from your father.”
Her face and tone make me decide to leave her comment alone. I turn on the radio and plug in my aux cord so we can jam.
A few hours later, by my estimation, we’re ¼ of the way there. She pulls off the road. “Bathroom break?” I ask.
“No. Antique mall and a flea market.” Her tone is so bright, I can’t refuse. Mom meanders up and down the aisles while I skirt the outsides, stretching my legs. After half an hour, I’m done.
“Mom, it’s time to go. The clock is ticking.”
“Katie, we just got here.”
“Mom, I want to get there today.” My good mood threatens to escape.
“Fine. I’ll take this rooster clock and that lamp lady with the sparkly long dress.”
As soon as we walk outside, my hand flies out, palm up. “Mom, gimme the keys.”
“Are you sure, Katie?”
“What better time than the present to start learning more independence? I think I can handle Dad’s Ford 150 with a U-Haul trailer.”
We start down the road. She jams to George Strait which is not my favorite. It reminds me of happier days when my dad and mom were in love and spent every weekend driving me all over the state of Florida to basketball tournaments. I will the memories away with every mile marker we pass while the speedometer hovers a hair under 75.
I’m feeling pretty good and making good time. “Exit 75!” Mom hollers in my ear, and I almost clip a yellow Slug Bug in the other lane.
The steering wheel digs into my white knuckles. “Mom. You can’t do that! I’m going 70, and I’m not braking for another antique mall. There will be plenty of time for that once we get to Ohio.”
She crosses her arms on her chest and glares at me. “Funsucker.”
My eyebrow raises. “Whatever, lassie. Maybe if you had let me spend a little extra to upload a GPS system with a sexy British accent, I might have been a little more accommodating to your shopping whims.”
“Katie. I’m not paying two-hundred dollars just so you can hear a more pleasant voice coming out of the GPS.” Her exasperation eggs me on.
I channel the delicious Christian Bale/Ken Miles from my new favorite movie, Ford VS. Ferrari. “Bloody bullocks, woman. Have you no sense of adventure? You know I like a bit o’ milk in my tea, just like I like a bit of jam on me crackers. Anythin’ would be better than this monotonous unisex GPS voice that grates on me’ eardrums like a bad toothache.”
She gives me a strange look, one I’m very familiar with. “I swear, Katydid. I love you, you know that. But where do you come from? I didn’t raise you to spend money on frivolous things such as entertainment and wantonness.”
My heart thrills at the word wantonness. “Me lovely mum. I didn’t know you knew that word! And here I thought I was the only one who loves to expand my vocabulary unnecessarily. Besides, talk about frivolous things, why do you want a weird-o rooster clock? We’re not country folk.”
“Katie, it’s not weird. For your information, I’ve been doing serious thinking about running an Airbnb. It won’t be long, and you’ll be off to college.” Melancholy sneaks into her tone, and she turns her head to look out her window.
My hand reaches for hers. “We still have this year, Mom.”