Forbidden Literature

2| Upperlevel Student

On Sunday afternoon, Sara threw her luggage in the back of the car next to my neatly placed bags. Interestingly enough after our little fiasco they also announced her name to join the writing convention much to Kenji's dismay. Now they would be apart for seven whole days. How was he going to breathe?

I sat in the front seat of the car talking to Mom about the checklist, the only problem was she wasn't listening very well.

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you even hear what I said?" I questioned.

"Yes, of course," she cleared her throat. "You were talking about how you and Sara will be sharing room together."

Well she wasn't completely wrong. I did mention that . . . ten minutes ago.

I sighed into the receiver. "Are you at work?"

A pause. "No."

But the sound of a phone going off in the background told me otherwise. As always she was at the office which means I have maybe five minutes top left to talk to her. It was even a miracle she lasted this long to be honest.

"I thought you said you would cut back your hours?" I asked.

"I did say that, but then . . . something came up."

I didn't really have to guess what that something was but still I asked, "And by that you mean Ben?"

Another phone went off in the background right when Mom let out a long sigh. "He was traveling across the world this time, Allison. Of course I was going to help him out."

I refrained from groaning. I loved my brother, I really did. He was the kindest person in the entire world. I have no doubt that one day he will win the Nobel Peace Prize from all the times he spent helping villages and people from all over the world. But I would be lying if I said that I didn't get upset when Mom paid for his expenses.

The problem isn't that she can't afford it, it's just that she invests so much into my brother and his dreams that she tends to overlook me. If he were to say he wanted to paint a replica of the Mona Lisa she would work overtime to help with any expenses. However, when I say that, I don't know, I'm going to a writing convention for a week she only half listens and maybe wishes me a safe trip.

I don't hate Ben even in the slightest and half the time he doesn't ask her for the money, she does it all willingly. But it seriously sucks to beg your Mom to notice you're following your dreams too.

On the other end the phones were officially going crazy and someone kept asking Mom a question about some case. When I heard the phrase, "possible liability" I knew that our time was up.

"Allison, I am so sorry honey but there's this—"

"Case," I finished for her. "Yeah, I got it."

Another pause.

"Well, I hope you have fun with Sara on your girls trip," I didn't even bother to correct her. "I read somewhere that quick vacations are good for stress. And I know it's your senior year so—" someone interrupted her for another question. "What, again? I thought we talked to her the other day about not talking to any possible suspects?" They said something else. "But she signed the document, the one that clearly said—oh, goodness where did I put that paper?"

I pulled the phone from my ear and just rested my head against the window while she went on and on not realizing I was still there. To anyone else this would be bothersome, but to me it's normal. Admittedly pretty bothersome, but I learned over the years there's nothing I could really do about it.