“Why eighty miles?”
Silence.
Then: “This one had good reviews.”
“There are places twenty minutes away with good reviews.”
“Mom.”
“Why eighty miles?”
“Why eighty miles?”
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Tom was watching me now.
Apparently he’d never asked either.
Melissa said, “Because I knew what you’d do.”
“What would I do?”
“You’d keep trying to go home.”
“Because I knew what you’d do.”
I looked at the brass hinge in my palm.
“So you didn’t choose eighty miles because I couldn’t go home.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“You chose it because you knew I’d want to.”
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“That’s not what I said.”
Larry stopped swinging his feet.
Melissa’s voice sharpened.
“You fell, Mom.”
“Yes.”
“You were lying outside by yourself.”
“For ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes is enough!”
“You fell, Mom.”
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Her voice cracked.
“A neighbor called me about my mother. I live two blocks away… do you have any idea what that felt like?”
