AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you for putting this together. It must’ve taken a lot of time,” I tell her. Time that I could’ve been here helping her. Precious time I could’ve been spending with Mom. I feel like the world’s biggest asshole.
“Actually, it’s really helped me process the changes in her,” she says, running a hand through her shoulder-length, pin-straight hair. “I write it all down before I leave each night, and by the time I get home, I feel like I can let the day go and be with Dan and the boys.”
“That’s good,” I tell her. “I imagine there’s a lot you need to shake off at the end of the day here.”
Jackie places her hand over mine. “You’ve got this, Sammy. Don’t worry.” Then she looks at the digital clock on the microwave and sucks in a breath. “I have to get going.” She throws her purse over her shoulder and pulls me in for a half-hug. “There’s a stack of books on the coffee table about Alzheimer’s if you want to read them. And text me if you need anything, okay? I know it’ll take a few days to get used to this, but until you’re comfortable, don’t hesitate to ask questions.”
“Okay, yeah,” I mutter in a distant tone, the responsibility of this new role finally sinking in. “For tonight, should I…” I trail off.
“She’ll need all three medications once she’s done eating. She’s still showering and going to the bathroom on her own, but Marty and I stand outside the door in case she needs help.”
Jackie bends down to kiss Mom on the cheek. “Be nice to Sammy, okay, Ma? She’s going to be here with you all day, five days a week. Then Marty and I will take the other two days, so Sammy can have a break. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mom replies as she peeks around Jackie to continue watchingWheel of Fortune.
“Okay,” Jackie says with a shrug as she heads toward the front door. “Good luck, Sammy.”
“Thanks,” I reply with a wave. Then I take Jackie’s seat on the floral couch. “Need anything, Mom? Water? Tea? More pizza?”
“I’ll have another slice, but no hovering, okay? You’ll drive me insane.”
I toss her uneaten crusts in the trash and put another big slice on her plate. We eat together in silence in the living room. I watch her closely as she watches TV. She laughs whenever a contestant guesses the wrong word. Everything about this moment is familiar, and what Mom would normally be doing, but I wonder how many of these moments I have left. Times when she is completely herself and knows who I am.
I clean up our plates when she’s done eating, and she doesn’t try to fight me on her medicine. Maybe she heard Jackie’s warning and knows I won’t fall for her tricks, or maybe she’s taking it easy on me since it’s the first night of me being home. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m just glad when it doesn’t turn into a whole thing.
“Need anything else, Ma?”
“Dios mío,I don’t need anything. I just want to watch my shows in peace,” she hollers as she waves both hands in a shooing motion. “Go settle yourself, child.”
After dragging my suitcase up the stairs and down the hall to my childhood bedroom, I drop it on the faded beige carpet. The room looks just as it did when I was here last; the light blue shooting-star comforter still covers my decades-old full-size mattress, long statement necklaces that I’ll never wear again hang from colorful thumbtacks above my small white desk, and my lavender walls are still mostly covered in boy band and JLo posters.
It doesn’t take long for me to unpack. I made sure the last time I was here that my dresser was cleaned out and all my old clothes were donated, so there’s plenty of room for my stuff.
Around the base of the lamp on my nightstand, I carefully line up my hand cream, phone charger, phone holder, lip balm, and a free sample of my favorite perfume––Donna Born in Roma by Valentino, in the same order I keep wherever I go.
Without a place to call home, I’ve always found comfort in the way I arrange my nightstand and my beauty products in the bathroom when I’m on the road. The location changes, but where I put my lip gloss in relation to my eyelash curler remains the same.
Sadness pierces my chest as I think about all the trips I won’t take this year, the exotic destinations I won’t get to see, or the aspects of life in those locations I won’t get to capture on film, the birds, the people, the food, the weather. But no matter how difficult this will be, I have a duty to my family, and it’s not one I take lightly.
To combat the growing sense of dread twisting my stomach, I press the cool surface of the perfume rollerball to my wrist and rub a giant circle on it. Several circles, actually. After I apply way too much on my other wrist to match, I swipe it across both sides of my neck. Breathing it in, I let it carry me to happier memories as I stretch out on my bed.
My phone buzzes on my stomach a moment later, making me jump slightly.
Mylo:You are home. At last.
CHAPTER 2
MYLOSSANAI “MYLO”
Samantha is typing her response. That is what the dots tell me, anyway. Although, I am certain I already know what she’s about to say.
Samantha:How’d you know I’m home? Does word really travel that fast around here?
Exactly as I suspected. She assumes that the small population of Sudbury is abuzz about her return. While I am certainly excited about it, I have no idea if that is actually the case.
Me:Not at all. I can smell your intoxicating perfume from here.
My brothers prefer the more subtle scents of human females, be it the shampoo they use or the lotion they rub into their skin, but I have had a fondness for Samantha’s perfume from the moment I breathed it in. It does not reek of harsh chemicals as so many perfumes do. It is soft and warm like she is, with a floral note that conjures an image of Samantha’s lush, naked body covered in daisies.
