That June

Photographs and Memories

I know the first chapter started off a tad bit slow, but hey, You gotta lay out some sort of plot before just diving right into the action, right?

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I was freaking out.

The drive had seemed impossibly long, even though I knew it was no more than an hour, and I was practically heaving for some air. So many possible scenarios ran through my head that I thought I would burst at any second. Would they forgive me? Would they let me stay? What if they didn’t? There was only one other option and I highly doubt that he would hear me out. Besides, my probation officer wasn’t to pleased to get a call from me yesterday about what had happened with my mother, but she agreed that a placing me with her wasn’t the best idea. So there I was, in an overly priced taxi, on my way to what was honestly my last chance at normalcy.

        The turn into the familiar gated community is what really shot my nerves. In just a few minutes, I would be face to face with the people that quite frankly held my future in their hands, and that couldn’t have been more terrifying.

Under different circumstances, being in front of the house would not have been so traumatizing. The place was gorgeous. The grey stonework was just as beautiful as ever with bay windows covering much of the front of the house. The wrap around porch looked freshly painted and the swing drifted back and forth in the soft breeze. The rhythmic motion took me back in time to a warm June afternoon and a small girl with a head full of mocha corkscrew curls and green eyes, laughing with glee as she swayed on the swing. Though I still had my wild curls and green eyes, gleeful laughter was far and in between. I pulled myself back into the present and raised my hand to ring the doorbell, stopping only to grimace at the ugly cast around my hand. Punching the wall was not my finest idea.
        Time moved in slow motion as the unnecessarily long tone of the doorbell rang throughout the house. I was about to ring it again when the door finally opened up to a little Asian woman.

               “Um, hi, Kim. It's me. Blair?" She looked at me with confusion written all over her face and for a split second I honestly think she has forgotten all about me. That is until she hits me.

       “Oh! Did I hurt you?" She asked sarcastically. “Well, that how it feel when you don’t write or call. Four years! Four years and Miss Blair not even think of me!” I was expecting her to continue her rant, but she pulled me into a hug and held me tight. “I missed you so much.”
        “I missed you too.” I inhaled her familiar scent of laundry detergent and apples and right away the nervousness I was feeling lessened. Something about being around her made me feel. . . right. It made me feel at home.

       We stood there holding each other for a moment longer. By the time I pulled away, there were tear stains running down her cheeks. I immediately felt a paing of guilt. I never would have thought she would miss me this much. She ushers me in and quickly starts up another rant, all while grabbing my forgotten bag on the porch. I do my best to keep up with what she is saying but the sound of high heels on the mahogany floors derails my attention from the little lady in from of me.

“Kim, who’s at the door…” Her question gets answered the second we made eye contact. Too say the least, it was awkward.

“Blair.” Her voice was cool and emotionless just as I had remembered it.

“Lorraine.” I tried not to let my disdain for her seep into my voice, but by the way Kim flinched beside me, I knew I had failed.

Lorraine straightens her back and crosses her arms in front of her, obviously picking up on my tone. “I heard you were released. I was informed that you would be staying with your mother.”