Wonderwall

Out on Her Own

I didn't know what else to do so I decided to take inventory of my things. I had one pair of jeans, seven tops, the yellow sundress, a swimsuit, a pair of sneakers, and the yellow and white wedge heels. I had exactly seven pairs of underwear. Not bad but at the moment nothing I owned was clean. I figured I'd do some laundry but I remembered Pete probably didn't have any laundry detergent. I looked at the car key on the floor next to me, I hadn't planned on using but I couldn't depend of Pete or Alex to baby-sit me either. I grabbed my purse and my sneakers and headed for the door.

Pete's Range Rover looked pretty intimidating sitting in the driveway. I'd never driven any car other than my mother's beat up, small Corolla; I'd certainly never driven an SUV. I climbed inn. I don't know why I expected it to still be pristine with that new car smell. It seemed to be more like Pete's room than anything. There were papers everywhere, empty fast food bags, and dog toys. I pushed everything in the passenger seat aside and plopped down my bag. I drove toward the community entrance. On my way, I realized that once I got out I had no idea where I was going. I pulled up to the guards booth and knocked on the window. A different guard than had been there the night before came out. "Hi, um I'm new here and I need to get to the bank and the supermarket. Do you think you could help me out?" He graciously gave me directions. After a couple of false turns I finally found the bank ATM. The card I carried had access to both my account and my mother's. I knew there wasn't a lot in either but my mom's had a little more. I hesitated to withdraw money from her account, what if she need it? What if it was her last chance to get to me? I withdrew a small amount from my own account not knowing how long I would need to stretch it. I continued on to the buying detergent, dryer sheets, spot remover, and fabric softener. I rationalized that buying these things to keep what few clothes I had in good condition would work out best in the long run since I definitely did not have the money to by new clothes especially in L.A. I did buy an economy pack of underwear. No they weren't cute, I wasn't even sure if they would fit right; but they would have to do.

I somehow found my way back to the house, pulling up to the guard's booth I suddenly remembered that Pete had never told me how to get through. I pulled up and the same guard from last night stepped out. "Oh man! I'm sorry I still don't know he's not home right now." I really needed to get the house number tattooed on my hand.

"Don't worry ma'am, Mr. Wentz added you to the 'Permitted In' list. I just need to see your id." I pulled out my driver's license gingerly and he disappeared back into the booth. After a minute, he handed me back the license. "You're all set ma'am. Thank you and have a nice day," he said tipping his hat and letting me through the gate. I pulled into the driveway happy that I had made it back without crashing.