INDIGO: Thank you for an incredible few weeks! You all have been lifesavers. I’ll be back soon!
I don’ttext Joe. We said goodbye last night. I frown and power down my phone, slamming it into the glove box to stay while I wait for my mother. I know leaving like this is horrible, but I can’t handle reading their responses until I’m far enough away that I can’t come back. I just have to drop my mother at the tiny local airport and I can leave. And I have a long drive ahead of me, so I want to get a move on. The longer this drags out, the more it hurts.
The passenger door handle creaks and when the door flies open a few empty styrofoam cups fall out. My mother looks like she stepped in dog mess. “Seriously, Indigo?” Her nose is pinched like she smells something foul. She probably does.
“Do you want to call a rideshare?”Because I can’t do this.
“No, no. It’s fine.” She pulls a packet of sanitizing wipes out of her purse and begins wiping down the door, the seat, and the dashboard. I lean against my door before she gets to me. She moves my half bag of Cheetos to the back seat with an arched eyebrow. “Would you mind getting my bags while I do this?”
A few minutes later we pull out of the parking lot of Nizhóní, with my mother talking loudly on her phone, and me trying to cry only out of my left eye so she can’t see my tears while we drive away. It doesn’t work.
INDIE: Hi Bonnie! I came back a little early. Want your van?
I drop my phone on my kitchen counter while I search for something to eat. I hadn’t even stopped for food on the drive home. I pulled over for gas, and ate whatever I had in the van while I drove. I rolled into San Diego late last night, collapsed face down on my bed, and went straight to sleep. Now I’ve slept in my own bed, showeredin my own bathroom, and I’m hungry for real food. Unfortunately, there’s nothing in my fridge but kombucha and some wilted baby spinach. My phone buzzes on the white marble countertop.
BONNIE: No thanks. [winking emoji]
INDIE: I don’t blame you. This thing has been fun. I am loath to part with The Hulk. Shared custody?
BONNIE: LOL! We can work that out, but I should give back your Range Rover for now. My teen boys need the humility of van life.
INDIE: Tell your boys I’m happy to trade any time.
We text back and forth for a while and I find out that she’s working at the Skinnybee launch party, so we make plans to exchange vehicles there. The little devil on my shoulder is looking forward to the look on my mother’s face when I arrive in The Hulk. There should be plenty of cameras, so there will be documentation. The thought puts a little spring in my step.
I grab a box of cereal from my cupboard and start eating it dry, straight from the box. I sit at my breakfast table and reread the texts I had gotten from Mercer, Sarah, and Sunny. I hadn’t responded to them when I finally powered up my phone this morning because I didn’t know what to say. I hate drawn out goodbyes, but I can’t put it off. I start with Mercer because she is the easiest.
MERCER: Whaaaaaat?! No! Girl, come back!
INDIGO: I will! Soon! I’ll miss you. You’ve been a good friend.
Next is Sunny.
SUNNY: I’m sad to see you go, but I’m grateful to have such a sweet new friend. Please come back soon!
And six hours later two more texts came in from Sunny.
SUNNY: What did Joe do?!
SUNNY: My brother is acting like a bear. I repeat, come back soon.
I don’t know what to say about Joe. I’m sure he’s hurt, or maybe disappointed. Well, so am I. We can start a club for people who are hurt and disappointed and I’ll be the president. I think I made the right choice and I’ve got my own angry bear to manage, so I dance around the topic of Joe.
INDIGO: Joe didn’t do anything. I had to leave for work. I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can get away. I miss you all already. And the cookies, the desert, and the fresh air. All of it.
I sigh and open the next text.
SARAH: My door is always open! I’m just a phone call away if you want to talk. We’ll miss you. Let me know when you make it home. I hope you had a restful stay here.
Pffffft.What do you call it when your boss invites herself on your vacation? Restful isn’t the word I’d use.
INDIGO: You took such good care of me. I made it homelate last night feeling recharged and ready to go!
Lies, lies, lies.
INDIGO: Thank you for taking me in. I hope to visit again soon. I promise I won’t sleep in your backyard next time.
That thought makes the light around me dim. I should’ve enjoyed every minute I had camping on the Pratt’s property with Joe in walking distance. When will I ever have a reason to do that again? I try to picture the future of my friendship with Joe. I see us exchanging a few texts. Maybe I’ll see him when I go back to visit, but that thought catches like a stick in my spokes. Eventually he’ll find someone he wants to date. He’ll drive her around in his Bronco, Sarah will have her over for dinner, and she’ll be friends with his sisters. The angry bear inside me roars.That imaginary tramp is stealing my life!
