Living with the Devils

Dog Tags

"But Mom", I whine. "I want to go to Mexico, not go to live with someone random old lady." 

"Gabrielle Lynch. I did not raise you to be a disrespectful teen." My mother chides. I flinch as she uses my full name. Catching my flinch, her eyes start to soften. "Ri, I know this isn't exactly ideal, but please work with me here."

I mentally curse at the soft spot I have for my mother. 

"Mom, please. Just take me with you and what's his name." I say, trying to remember her boyfriend's name. She gives me a stern look. 

"It's John. It's not like we've been together almost three months now." Mom replies sarcastically. 

"Well it's not like you both did much around here, now did you?" I retort. 

"I'm sorry Ri, but you have to go to the Harksvard's house in order to finish high school." My mother says softly. 

"Mom-", I start, but she gives me a look. 

"I'll help you pack, and then we can go get some lunch." She replies, ending the conversation.

Walking out of the living room, I walked down the narrow hallway lined with framed photos. Mom and I are in most of them. Me smiling when I lost my first tooth, me smiling on my first day of school, me smiling with Eli, me smiling on my 13th birthday. As I get to the end of the hallway, one picture makes me stop. The one of Mom, Dad and Me, posing for a christmas card photo. We were all smiles back then, just the three of us, together. I close my eyes and lean against the wall next to the picture. I can still hear the scream of my mother, and the gunshot. Pushing myself away from the wall, I touch two fingers to my lips and, press them against the image of my father. Seeing my mother coming out of the living room, I quickly move away from the photo and go up the stairs leading to my room. 

Just as I am almost done packing, I hear a knock at my door. 

"Ri, can I come in?" My mother asks. 

"Yeah." I say, and busy myself in my closet. I hear my mother walk in, and sit on the bed. I can feel her gaze burning into my back, but I don't turn around quite yet. 

"Ri honey, I have something for you." My mother says breaking the silence. "It's from, It's from Dad." Her voice breaking on the word Dad. 

I freeze. My mother has never ever wanted to talk about my father, let alone give me anything of his. I slowly turn around, careful to keep my face blank. 

"What is it Mom?" I ask quietly. She beckons me over, and tells me to turn around. I do as I am told, and something cold encompasses my neck. I look down to see a silver dog tag. I tear came to my eyes as I read the engraved words. Ri, whatever happens to me, know I will always be right there with you wherever, and whenever you need me. Love, Dad. 

"Your father had this made right before he left for the war just incase anything happened to him. When he came home, he put it away until the time came." My mother said sorrowfully. "I've kept it ever since, and decided now was a good time to give it too you." 

"Did... Did he know he was going to die, Mom?" I asked in a small voice. She looked taken aback, and looked strangely at me for a second. 

"Of course not Ri." She answered. "Why would you think that?" 

"I just thought that maybe he had this made, because he knew something was going to happen to him." I replied. 

"No, he had it made because he wasn't sure he was going to make it back home from the war." She responded. Changing the subject she said, "Are you all packed?" 

"Yeah, I just have to grab my toiletries and then I am ready." I said with disdain. 

"Alright, well your plane leaves in 3 hours, so we better leave in about 45 minutes." Mom calls over her shoulder as she leaves the room. 

As we drive to the airport, I look out of the window trying to get one last look of the city that I grew up in. New York City is such a lively place. All the people hustling and bustling to get to their work, all the tourist taking selfies of themselves, all the lights flashing on the megatrons. My eyes start to water at all the memories resurfacing. The time when Eli and I got lost in the city, and had to call Mom to come and get us. When Dad took me to the baseball field to watch the Mets play, and we spilled a whole tub of popcorn all over the people in front of us. When I tried to steal a hot dog from a hot dog stand, but the guy caught me. When I-. Mom interrupts my thoughts when she tells me that we are at the airport. 

I get out of the car and grab all my stuff from the trunk. Mom helps me roll my suitcases into the check in line, and helps me print my boarding pass. As we wait in line to drop my bags off, my phone goes off. Pulling it out, I see that Eli and Hannah have texted me. I open Eli's text first, and it says, 

"Have a good flight, Belle! I hope to see you soon. Love you. -Eli"  I smile slightly, trying not to let myself be hurt that he's not coming to see me off. I respond to him and say, 

"Bye Eli Bear. I'll talk to you later. Love you too! -Ri". I send the message, and then open the one from Hannah. 

"Bye Ri. I miss you already. I hope you come back and visit, because it's not the same without you. Love you! -H" I smile at Hannah's message and type a response. 

"Love you too, Anna. I'll definitely come back to visit. I'm only going to be gone a year. I miss you more! Love you. -Ri". I hit send, and then look up to see that we are at the front of the line. After weighing my bags, I hand my boarding pass to the attendant, and she looks at me and then the boarding pass. She prints the tags and puts them on my bag. 

"Long trip you've got here." She says. "All the way across the country."

"Yeah." I reply. "It will be nice to experience the west coast area." 

"Well. Have a nice flight." She says. I nod, and then leave the check in desk. My mom looks at me and then sighs. 

"I have to leave now, Ri. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you with me, but I'm sure you will have a great time in Cali." Mom says. "I love you honey. Please be nice to the Harksvard's." 

"Of course I will be, Mom." I respond. "I love you too."

She hugs me and I hug her back just as hard. Tears threatening spill out of my eyes, I turn away and walk briskly to where my gate is supposed to be. My phone sounds, alerting me of a new message. I open it and see that it's from Eli. There are only two words. 

"Turn Around." 

I spin around and look back the way I came. I don't see him. Just then two hands come from behind and cover my eyes. I let out a yelp. 

"Guess who." Someone says in a singsongy voice. 

I relax. "Eli." 

"You really didn't think that you could leave without saying goodbye, did you?" He asked playfully. 

"Of course not Eli." I say rolling my eyes. "Why on earth would I think that?" 

"Now boarding Flight 37 to LAX airport. Anyone in Zone 1 please report down to Gate 12 B."

"Eli, I have to go." I say regretfully. 

"I know. I love you Belle, see you when you return!" Eli says sadly. I give him a big hug, tears spilling over my face. He lets me go, and then wipes them from my face. 

"Be strong, Belle." He whispers. 

As I walk away, a message pops up on my phone. I already miss you Belle. Love, Eli. I smile and look back, but he's already gone. I walk up to my gate and had the attendant my boarding pass, and he scans it. The machine flashes green, and he waves me toward the gate. I take one last glance at New York, and then I walk into the ramp. I find my seat, and settle in, looking out the window. Putting my earbuds in, I lean my head against the side of the plane, and close my eyes reveling in the music. As the flight attendants speak, the plane starts to take off. Once we are in the air, I smile to myself. 

Maybe this won't be so hard after all.