Far Beyond Broken

August 4, 1984. Saturday

“Honey, I'm going to work. Call me when you're actually awake.”
I nodded towards my mom as she closed the door.
Mad was still asleep.
I had a slight headache, and we both smelled like weed. I jumped up to take a shower and wash my clothes. I prayed that my mom smelled her strong perfume more than the
dope.
When I went back to my room Mad was looking at my bass.
“Can I use your phone to call my dad and tell him I'm not dead?”
“Yeah, it's in the kitchen.”
“Thanks.”
As she was on the phone, I took all the bedding from my room and washed it. Anything that smelled like pot had to be cleaned or thrown away.
“Katie can I take a shower?”
“Sure I'll get you some clothes.”
I took some sweatpants and an old red tee from my dresser.
When she got done with her shower, we listened to music together.
“How come you didn't tell me you play bass?”
“I'm not that good. I just do it for fun.”
“I play guitar.”
“Now how come you've never told me that?”
“Same reason that you have. You ever played in a band?”
“Nope, you?”
“I tried to start one but I couldn't find a drummer or singer.”
What if we started a band, I thought to myself? No way. I don't think I could write music.
“So you had a bassist?”
“Yeah, his name was Burton. He moved two years ago. We were really close.”
“Where'd he go?”
“I think Oregon. I'm not sure.”
We were silent for a few minutes.
“Did you hear my mom come in this morning? I hope she didn't smell the weed. I'll be screwed if she found out what we were doing last night.”
“I was sleeping hard, I heard nothing.”
“She rarely works weekends. It's weird that she is today.”
Mad stayed over for a few more hours. She left a bit before my mom got home.
I made Hamburger Helper. If my mom smelled the pot, at least she wouldn't be mad that she would have to cook.
“Oh sweetie, you cooked dinner?”
“Yeah, you usually don't work weekends, so I thought something might be up. I just wanted to help.”
“Just needed a little extra money, everything is fine.”
We got a plate of food and carried on with our conversation. She said nothing about the smell of pot or how late I came in.
All seemed to be fine.