“Why would you have a problem with that?I’m not eighteen anymore, Mom!”
“We both know what you were busy doing at the age of eighteen, Aila, so don’t get sassy with me.Why am I always having to pull you out of the shit storm you create for yourself?Shit storm isn’t the word for it.How about shit skyquake?Yes.Everywhere we go, your shitty skyquake problems always manage to catch up to us.”
Tears of rage are trickling down my face.
“At least I’m not a faded grifter like you, Mom!Where has all your domesticated mantrap bullshit gotten you anyway?”I gesture around the cozy little bedroom.“Working on a fucking mudslide in the middle of bumfuck and nowhere.”
We are both shaking with emotions, ready to slap one another into tomorrow.Shoving my feet through a pair of yoga pants and shrugging into a t-shirt, I slip on a pair of flip-flops.
“I’m out of here.”
Before I can slam the door, my mom yells, “You stay out of the bar, you tramp!I don’t want your bad rep fucking up my chances with Ben!”
That’s all I’ve ever been to you, Mom.A fly in the ointment.A stain on your nice lady reputation.A thorn in your side.
Damn this fucking economy!It forces us to live together and pool our resources in between Mom’s boyfriend gigs.If only I could get a job that paid enough for me to live on my own.Somewhere safe and secure, where I don’t have to worry about opening the door or leaving the window open.
This place is a dump!No streetlamps and no lights shining out of friendly backyards.Spending so much time with Theron instead of finding my bearings has left me lost.
Hello, Moon.You’re quite the bright spark tonight.Too bad you can’t give me directions about how to get out of here.
If I can find the marina, there might be someone who can give me a lift back to the mainland tomorrow.I have enough money on my bank card to get back to Winnipeg.I can stay at Laura’s until I find another job.
This dysfunctional little Lilo and Stitch act I have going with my mom has got to end.Looks like she’s getting ready to bring down her next target.I have no plans on being the third wheel in whatever relationship Mom decides to create with Ben.
She will have fucked off back to the bar to continue her flirtation with him.I can go back and pack.
Luna is standing outside our bedroom door.The woman is fantastically beautiful.Red hair falling in waves down her back, and one of those faces that designers use to sell their brand.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.If Amelia hasn’t locked the damn door behind her.”I’m in a foul mood and I don’t care who knows.
The doorknob turns.Begrudgingly, I invite Luna to enter before me.
“About that job, Luna.”Pulling my case out from under the bed, I haul it onto the mattress and flip the lid open.“Thank you for the offer, but I’m not going to take it.I need to go back to Winnipeg and do something else.”
I begin throwing my stuff into the case just like I have done a thousand times before.
Luna gets up.“Okay.Thanks for the heads up.It’s going to get real busy here next week when the high season starts.This gives me time to find a replacement.”
Huffing, I grumble and vent.“Better make that job posting fortwohelpers, Luna.Because I guarantee that my mom will duck out of her responsibilities the second Ben asks her to move in with him.And if you think that no one can make an important, life-altering decision that fast, then you don’t know my mom!”
Pausing at the door, Luna seems unfazed by my bitter assessment.“That’s okay.Ben can pay your mom’s bill.Will he also be paying yours?”
Whirling around, I forget about packing.“Bill?”
Leaning against the door frame, Luna half-closes her eyes as she begins to calculate a list of figures in her head.
“Five hundred dollars for two nights.That’s your share of the bill.I mean, you’re obviously not going to be able to leave tonight, so that’s two nights all told.You had the breakfast, right?”
In a daze, I automatically nod, so Luna continues adding and subtracting.
“That’s forty.And then there’s the tax.”Looking up at the ceiling, she counts.“I make that six hundred dollars and seventy cents, all told.We only take cash.Do you know where you’ll be staying while you wait for the ferry to return?”
“I was thinking about asking someone at the marina to take me back to the mainland…”
Luna frowns.“That’s not very neighborly of you, Aila, asking for a free ride.Gas is not cheap.”
