"It's what your mother would've wanted, Charity." He pushed the bills across the kitchen table.
"No, she would've wanted me to stay with you and make things right!" I hollered and wiped the tears from my eyes.
"Living with your uncle is a terrific idea, Charity. I know you haven't seen him since your mother's funeral four years ago, but he's looking forward to seeing you, I know he is." Dad replied, taking my hand into his.
"And how do you know? At ma's funeral, he wore a tore up dress shirt with slacks and combat boots!" I threw my arms in the air furiously.
He sighed, obviously speechless because the fact was true. I stomped away and slammed my bedroom door.
The next day, dad made me pack everything I owned into boxes. I knew he was serious about moving out and staying with my Uncle Sam for a while; until he got his taxes straight, but boxes? I thought I was just staying there, not living...right?
6:00 the next the morning, I took a train to Tennessee. I slept most the way, but I got lost in my thoughts until the train hoisted to a stop and the train engineer motioned to me that it was my stop.
I sighed and took a deep breath as I walked off the train. The air smelled nice as I sniffed and smiled. A tear trickled down my cheek and I thought of ma. This was her home country. She owned five beautiful horses that she said would be mine someday. She told me I would live in Tennessee when I grew up, and that those five horses would be waiting for me. Stories of her young life flooded my mind as I walked on the yellow grass.
I snapped into reality when a boy honked the horn of a white pickup truck in front of me. The boy jumped out of the truck and threw my boxes into the pan. Things crashed inside of them as I glared at him.
"Ya know, did you ever think that there could be breakable stuff in those boxes?" I slammed the passenger side door. He shrugged and started the engine.
It roared and cackled as he pulled the truck in reverse. He stared down at ma's cowboy boots on my feet.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer" I rolled my eyes.
"They're beautiful." He replied, his brown eyes sparkling in the sun.
"Thanks, they're my ma's." I stared out the window at the trees by the highway.
"Oh, well why don't she wear them?" He smirked.
I cleared my throat so my voice wouldn't squeak, "She died 4 years ago"
His face went blank as the truck fell silent. "I'm so sorry." "It's okay. She loved these boots, and I love them too." I twitched at the thought of her.
We were silent the rest of the way. When we pulled into the driveway of my uncles house as we hopped out of the truck. My dress got caught in the door as I tried to pull it out. The dress wouldn't budge as the boy made his way over, taking hold of the end of my dress. He carefully pulled the door open and smiled.
He helped me take the boxes inside and into the room he guided me to. The room was messy and old.
"Old Sam told me to tell you not to mind the mess. He said he's been too busy to clean. But I'll help you settle in if you'd like." He said, laying a small box onto the covered bed.
"I'll be fine." I said, pushing old clothes out of the doorway as I made my way in. I tripped up and fell into a pile of boxes as the boy rushed over. I got up as he took my arm. I pulled away as his face flushed. We fell silent until a shadow fell across the doorway. We both turned to find my Uncle Sam standing in old clothes and the same combat boots he wore at ma's funeral.
"Thank you, Jayden. You can leave now." He said, making his way into the living room.
Jayden smiled at me and handed me my hat that fell from my box on the floor as he walked toward Uncle Sam.
I slumped onto the messy bed and fell into deep thoughts of what to do next.
