After the Boys of Summer

Chapter 13- Where is My Mind

I woke up suddenly in a cold sweat. I checked my alarm clock. 9 am. I rubbed my eyes to adjust them and checked again. Still 9 am. I had slept in. I looked around my room frantically but nothing was changed. I rushed to Desi's room but it was empty. I surveyed the other rooms, hallways and living area and noticed nothing out of the ordinary but I still couldn't shake the feeling of dread. Finally, I walked in to the kitchen and my eyes widened with surprise. My mother who was usually surrounded by a cloud of smoke, was dancing around in an apron whisking and humming away. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't still dreaming.

She stopped when she noticed me standing near her. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"What's wrong hon? You look worried."

"I guess I'm not use to all of this yet." I admitted. "Everything is always so chaotic in the morning but nothing is broken, the house is clean, there's food in the fridge, you're singing in the kitchen. It's all very surreal."

"Well, I told you that things were going to change."

"I know-"

"But you didn't believe it."

I looked away. "Can you blame me?"

"No. no I can't." Her expression dropped which made my eyes sting a little. It would need to take more than breakfast to prove that she was determined to change.

"Would you like some breakfast? I'm making pancakes. Desi practically ate the whole batch so I'm whipping up a new one."

"I can't. I have a shift to day."

She nodded, her face still sad, and went back to cooking. Filled with guilt I asked if I could take some to go. Her face brightened and she reached for the Tupperware and shooed me off to get ready.

I grabbed my food in a hurry but before I left, I took another glance at my mom who was noticeably brighter and more relaxed. Her skin color was coming back after being almost gray and transparent from the cancer treatments and the wrap she wore to cover her head was finally off. I had almost forgotten what color her hair was. Auburn just like mine.

"Hey mom." She turned to me. "You look nice."

She smiled. "Thank you Layla." It was a small gesture but it meant a great deal to both of us,

After the busy rush in the banquet hall, our committee met up to finalize the last of the Gala details. Only five more days until D-day which meant everything had to be perfect.

I separated the committee in to several groups, one group finalized the decorations, another group made up the seating place cards, one was in charge of creating the menus and I was on the phone for hours trying to finalize the arrangements with the entertainment. When the band was confirmed I moved on to the tedious task of balancing the budget. That's when Ruby approached me.

"Hey working girl." She greeted as she took a seat in front of me and placed her feet on the table.

"Can you please remove your doc martens from the table?" I asked not so nicely.

She moved, reluctantly, and stared at me with her head in her hands.

"What?" I asked, irritated with her staring.

"Oh nothing. What are you working on?"

"The budget for the gala."

"This gala is so lame. Who wants to waste their Saturday wearing uncomfortable shit, talking to arrogant people all while sipping champagne and stuffing their entitled faces with snails or whatever it is that rich people eat?"