“Goodness, I hope not. I don’t hear any smoke alarms.” She quickly unlocked her door and sniffed. “Not in here. Let’s check your apartment.”
“Seems okay to me.” Collin turned to her. “Where is my mom staying?”
Willow pointed to apartment number four, then knocked on the door. “I don’t know if there’s a smoke alarm in there,” she told Collin. When no one answered, she pulled out her key, unlocked the door, and opened it to see smoke. “Hello?” she yelled with concern. “Anybody here?” As she and Collin burst into the apartment, she recognized the smell. “Are you smoking pot?” she demanded as she spotted her “guests” in the living room. Josie was in the chair and Garth was lounging on the mattress that was still on the floor.
“Doesn’t anyone knock around here?” Josie asked.
“I did knock,” Willow told her. “But we smelled smoke and got worried.” She glanced around. “And I realized there’s no smoke alarm up here.”
“Good thing.” Garth laughed. “We might’ve set it off.”
“I don’t want you guys smoking,” Willow told them.
“Really?” Josie narrowed her eyes. “For your information, we’re adults.”
“I know. But I don’t want you to smoke in here. For one thing there’s no smoke alarm and this is an old building. Our apartments share walls and a fire would be devastating to everyone. Not to mention the gallery below.” Willow went into the kitchen to turn on the fan above the stove. Then to the bathroom where she turned on another fan. She felt seriously aggravated. Not only had they been smoking pot, the apartment was a mess with their stuff thrown all about andwet towels tossed on the bathroom floor as if they expected “housekeeping” to show up. Still, she knew it would do no good to lose her temper.
“What are you doing?” Josie asked with irritation.
“Just letting some air inside,” Willow told her.
“Why are you so mad?” Josie frowned. “In case you haven’t heard, pot is legal in Oregon. What’s the big deal?”
“Like I said, I don’t want any kind of smoking in here. Not cigarettes or joints or anything that burns. If you need to smoke, you’ll have to go outside. I want you and Garth to make yourselves at home—and it appears you’re doing so—but please respect the rules. No smoking.” She lowered her voice. “And keep in mind that your son is here.”
“No, he’s not.”
“What do you mean?”
“He left without even saying hello. Bad manners, if you ask me.”
Willow had to bite her tongue. “Well, he’s probably worn out. There’s been a lot going on this week. Tomorrow’s senior skip day and he probably wants to get to bed now.”
“Right.” Josie scowled at her. “Maybe we shouldn’t have come.”
“Maybe you should’ve given us more notice,” Willow told her. “Anyway, let’s not worry about that anymore.” She placed a hand on Josie’s shoulder. “I’m actually very glad you’re here, honey. It’s wonderful to see you. But, please, donotsmoke in here. Take it outside. Can you make sure Garth understands that too?”
Josie just shrugged.
“I have some spare smoke alarms.” Willow went into the living room. “I’ll get one and put it up. It’s actually requiredby law, but because no one was using this apartment, I hadn’t installed it yet. I’ll be right back.” Although Willow had extra smoke alarms still in their boxes, she decided to get one from her apartment to save time. While she was there, she put together a bag of groceries that she’d gotten for them before going to baccalaureate. Just some basics and snack foods, but hopefully it would show them that she really did want them here.
To her relief it smelled less smoky when she returned to the apartment. Garth had disappeared and Josie was digging through a backpack. “I have some food for you guys.” Willow set the bag down. “Some things should be refrigerated.” When Josie didn’t respond or come over, Willow used this opportunity to set the smoke alarm on top of a kitchen cabinet—out of sight just in case someone tried to disable it. “I’ll go ahead and put the orange juice and milk and cheese away,” Willow called out as she removed items from the bag. “I figured you guys would want to do some meals on your own.”
“So you just want us to stay in our room like naughty children?” Josie’s tone was sarcastic. “Out of sight, out of mind?”
“Not at all.” Willow smiled. “In fact, you’re welcome to come to my apartment for meals if you’d like. I thought I’d make us a simple dinner before graduation tomorrow night. And then we’ll be having a little party after graduation. Just snacks and dessert. Out on the terrace.”
“There’s a terrace?”
“Yes, but it’s only accessible from my apartment.” Willow made her way to the door. “But you’re welcome to use it, honey. In fact, I’ll put an ashtray out there.”
“If it’s not too much trouble.” Again with the sarcasm.
Willow reached for Josie’s hand. “I know that you and I have had our problems, Josie. But as I’ve said before, I’m sorry that I wasn’t a better mother.”
“You mean by abandoning me to my grandparents for the first thirteen years of my life?”
“I was barely nineteen when you were born, Josie. And not very mature. It took me a while to grow up. Trust me, I would’ve made a terrible mother during your early childhood.” Willow wanted to point out that she’d been raising Josie’s son for most of his life, but she knew that would get them nowhere. “I hope someday you’ll be able to forgive me.”
