Earl Sewell - Back to Me

“Don’t let that old woman fool you. She’s not as sickly as she pretends to be. I know that for a fact,” said my mom. “Besides, I’m back for her now.”

“Really? Do you have a place for us to live?” I asked, even though the thought of Martin living with us was creepy.

“Well, not exactly. Martin wants to drive back to his hometown in Louisiana. He said that we can get a mobile home at a really reasonable price. Once he finds work, that’s where we’ll live,” she said.

“Where will you stay until he finds a job?” Aunt Raven asked.

“We’ll stay at a hotel or sleep in the truck.” My mom spoke as if nothing was abnormal about that.

My aunt raised her voice disapprovingly. “How are the three of you going to sleep in a pickup truck?”

“Oh, it’s not so bad. We’ll just treat it like we’re on a camping trip,” said my mom.

“Have you lost your mind?” Aunt Raven shrieked.

“Hey! I’m doing the best that I can, okay!” my mom yelled.

“Maybe it won’t be that bad,” I said, trying to show support for my mom, but in my heart I knew I could not make it sleeping in a pickup truck. I’m a tough Latina, but not that resilient.

“My God, Salena. I swear, sometimes I have a hard time believing you’re my sister,” said Aunt Raven as she combed her fingers through her hair.

“Everyone isn’t perfect like you, Raven. Mom and Dad loved you more. I never got all the things or the attention you got. You could never do wrong in their eyes!”

“Why are you bringing up something that doesn’t even matter in this situation? I’m talking about providing a stable home for your daughter, and you’re bringing up crap from thirty years ago,” Aunt Raven snapped.

“Because it is important, and you know it. Had I gotten just a little bit of the encouragement that you received, I’d be a better woman today.”

“No. You’re the woman you are today because of the choices you’ve made.” Aunt Raven’s words made perfect sense to me, but my mother just didn’t want to hear the naked truth. Instead she twisted it into something she could use.

“Choices,” said my mom and then paused. “You’re right. We all have choices to make. If you think I’m such a horrible mother, what choice are you going to make to fix or help me change my situation?”

Exhaling loudly, Aunt Raven said, “Look, maybe I can talk to Herman, and you and Viviana could stay with us until you’re able to find a job and get on your feet, but I know Herman isn’t going to let Martin live here. I wouldn’t dare ask him to agree to that.”

“Yeah, Mom, I like that idea,” I chimed in, agreeing with the solution Aunt Raven was offering.

“Hell no!” My mother flat out refused the offer. “I wouldn’t go back to living under the same roof with you if I were blind, crippled and crazy.”

“You can’t live out of a damn pickup truck, Salena!” Aunt Raven barked.

“You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do! See, that’s your freaking problem, Raven. You’re too damn bossy.”

Aunt Raven tossed her hands up. “I’m done. Talking common sense to you is pointless.”

“So, you don’t want me living in the pickup truck, right?” my mother asked.

“No,” answered Aunt Raven as she removed a glass from the cupboard. She filled it with crushed ice from the refrigerator, then with water. “Your lifestyle isn’t of concern to me. I am worried about Viviana, though.”

“Okay, then help me out, for Viviana’s sake,” my mom said.

“I’m trying to. Lord knows that I am,” answered Aunt Raven.

“Help me out by giving me a loan,” my mother said.

“You still owe me two thousand dollars, Salena. I’m not giving you any more money,” Aunt Raven said.

“That’s not a lot of money for you.” My mother didn’t give much weight to being in debt to her sister.

Aunt Raven took a drink of water and then just stared into her glass. There was a long moment of silence.

“Get your things, Viviana. We’re not welcome here,” said my mother.

“Viviana isn’t going anywhere. And for the record, I never said that she wasn’t welcome here,” Aunt Raven said.

“No. Viviana is coming with me and Martin to Louisiana,” my mother insisted.

“Viviana needs to go to school,” Aunt Raven said. “And she can’t do that with a registered address being a pickup truck.”

“She can worry about school later,” said my mom.

“Salena, do you even understand what you’re saying?” asked Aunt Raven.

“What? Are you trying to say that I don’t take good care of her?” My mother growled her words like a lion.

“No, you don’t. You’ve moved around so much that Viviana hasn’t earned enough credits to move into her senior year of high school. If you keep moving around like this, she’s going to end up being kicked out of high school because she’ll age out of the system. A seventeen-year-old sophomore isn’t acceptable. She needs stability. She needs a place to call home.”

“If she gets kicked out, she can take the GED test. It’s not a big deal.” My mother pointed her index finger at Aunt Raven.

“Don’t put your finger in my face,” Aunt Raven warned her.

There was another moment of silence. Finally, Aunt Raven spoke. “Viviana, you should go upstairs.”

“Why?” I asked, not wanting to leave. I looked at my mother to see if I should excuse myself or stay put.

“Run along, Viviana,” my mom said. “Raven and I need to work this out.”

“You’re not going to get into a fistfight, are you?” I asked.

“No,” they both said simultaneously.

“Okay, I just wanted to make sure,” I said, getting up from the table. As I made my way back upstairs, I saw Aunt Raven pick up her cell phone. I paused for a moment to see who she was calling. I eavesdropped on the conversation.

“Hello, Mom. It’s me, Raven. Salena has surfaced,” I heard her say.

Two

MAYA

After watching Viviana rush out of the house like a two-year-old having a temper tantrum, I went up to my bedroom. I couldn’t believe she had missed most of her junior year of high school and had to repeat it. I know it wasn’t totally her fault, but it still didn’t stop me from thinking she wasn’t all that bright of a student. I also wasn’t feeling the idea of my mom wanting to let her stay. I wanted Viviana to leave. The longer she stayed around, the more I got a bad feeling something crazy was going to jump off.

I closed my door and grabbed my cell phone from the nightstand, where it was recharging. I saw that I’d received several text messages, and hoped at least one of them was from Misalo. When I checked, I found that there were several photos of shirtless male friends I knew. I shouldn’t really call them friends, since they were just guys from the neighborhood that both Misalo and I hung out with. One shirtless photo had a message that read, Maya, I didn’t know you were so freaky. Heard you broke up with Misalo. Hit me back, Bobby.

There was also a photo of Hector, wearing only his boxer shorts. In the photo he was trying to flex his scrawny biceps muscle, which had a tattoo of a skull. His message read, I can give you all of this and a lot more. Misalo was stupid for letting a super freak like you go. Come see what it feels like to be with a real man, baby. The final one was from a boy named Bailey, who was on the soccer team with Misalo. He forwarded a photo of his pierced tongue. His message read, I have front row tickets to the Lil Wayne concert. What are you willing to do for them? Frustrated and ticked off that they were doing this, I shot them all text messages back that read, Oh, hell to the no! I wouldn’t date you if you were the last idiot on the planet! Now leave me alone!