“You know your mother.”
That was true. “I’m sure she was in one of her moods. Probably would have made it look easy.”
“What do you want to do? Do you wanna smash the door with the crowbar or take a running start?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
Jed considered the door. Without responding, he took a running start and barreled into the door. I heard a loud crack, and Jed stumbled backward but managed to remain on his feet.
“Are you okay?”
He rubbed his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” He went over to the door and rattled the knob. The door went back and forth about an inch this time. “I think one more time will get it.”
“You sure you wanna do that again?”
“I’ll be fine.” He grinned at me. “Quit worrying so much, Mom.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Shut up. Break down the door, tough guy.”
Sure enough, after one more sprint, the door crashed open, swung on its hinges, hit the wall, and swung back.
Jed pushed open the door again, and I followed him through. Now that the door was open, it was easy to see hundreds of nails sticking out the back of the door and on the doorframe. Jed shook his head, muttering to himself. “She never does anything halfway, does she?”
I looked around the room. It was dark, but there was enough light coming from the few cracks in the boards on the window to see.
I looked at Jed in astonishment. “There’s nothing in here. Nothing!” There wasn’t a speck of furniture. My bed, my dresser, everything, gone. The only thing inside was a thick layer of dust on the floor and walls. “What do you think she was doing?”
Jed looked as confused as I was. “I don’t know, babe. You think she was upset that you were gone and boarded it up so she wouldn’t miss you?”
“Or she was thankful I was gone and made it like I never existed.”
Jed put his arm around my shoulders. “I doubt that. You know your mom loves you, in her way.”
I looked around the room again; surely I was missing something. I don’t know what I had expected to find; all my stuff burnt to a crisp? Everything painted black? But not this.
Jed pulled me closer. “What’d ya say we get out of here and get some burgers from Simone’s? Let’s get someone else to do all this.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “A cheeseburger would be great.”
He pulled me out of the house and into the sultry July heat. “We can go see our new godson again after that.” He pulled me into a hug and kissed me.
“That sounds good. Plus, Zephyra’s boyfriend is supposed to get here this evening. We need to clean up before we meet him.”
“Why bother? You’ll just start sweating again as soon as you step outside.”
“Shut up! That’s not nice! It’s not like you’re not sweating your ass off too!” I started to say something else to him, but he stopped me with another kiss.
“Will you kiss me on top of the Ferris wheel tonight, Mr. Morrison?”
I feigned shock at his suggestion. “I don’t know. What would the town think?”
“Shut up,” he muttered and kissed me again.
