Page 64 of Property of Bob

Nothing matched perfectly. I’d replaced things over the years as they broke.

The curtains were mine. The blankets were mine. The stupid magnets I’d collected covered part of the refrigerator.

Shay smiled. “Oh, I love this.”

Relief loosened something in my chest. “Really?”

“Yes.” Pearl walked farther inside. “This is cute.”

“Cute?” I asked.

“In a good way,” she reassured me.

I leaned against the counter. “It’s not fancy.”

“So?” Shay opened one of the curtains and looked outside. “You can literally go anywhere.”

“As long as I have gas,” I pointed out.

“And apparently an engine that runs,” Pearl added.

I pointed at her. “Too soon.”

She laughed.

Shay looked toward the bed. “You’ve lived in this for years?”

“Yeah.”

“By yourself?” Pearl asked.

“Yup.”

“That would be kind of amazing,” Shay sighed. “Can you imagine just waking up and doing whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted?”

“It has its moments.”

Pearl looked at the top three magnets. “Colorado. Texas. Arizona.”

“I’ve been around,” I shrugged.

“No kidding.” She looked at the next haphazard row. “California, New York, and North Carolina.”

Shay turned toward me. “Do you just decide you want to go somewhere and go?”

“Pretty much.” I tended to stay somewhere for a couple of months and then get the itch to see a new place.

“That sounds awesome.” Pearl sat on the couch and looked around slowly.

“It is until you break down in a haunted island parking lot.” I leaned against the back of the driver’s seat.

The thing was that I was proud of my RV. It wasn’t new. It wasn’t expensive.

The cabinets had scratches. The table had a dent from a jar I’d dropped two years ago. One drawer stuck if the weather got too humid. But it was mine.

After growing up in a house where everything belonged to my father and anything could become a weapon if he was angry enough, having a space that belonged only to me had mattered more than I’d expected.

Pearl ran her hand over the edge of the counter. “I get why you wanted to come out here yesterday.”