Page 81 of Escaping Our Reality

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“No, Mom. He’s not a bad influence. He’s the best person I know.” She sighs in frustration. “Don’t you get tired of it too, Mom? Don’t you just wanna pull the curtain down and show someone the ‘real’ you? What about Carrie? Maybe if she had let more people into her authentic life, she wouldn’t be missing right now. Don’t we owe it to Carrie to be genuine and honest?”

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“How about we talk Sunday night when I get home. We could have dinner, talk, hang out.”

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She bobs her head up and down, tsking her tongue. “Of course, you do. Do you even remember that we have a meeting with Marcum and Leary next Wednesday? They’re supposed to discuss the latest testing methods the state lab got approved for and see if we think sending any more samples from the vehicle evidence would be beneficial.”

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“Of course, I’ll handle it.”

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“No, we’re not staying in some chic cabin with a waitstaff. We’re sleeping in a tent, Mom.”

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“For him, I’d spend the rest of my life sleeping in a cardboard box if I had to.”

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“It’s sad you can’t understand that. Maybe that’s where you and Dad went wrong.”

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She pulls the phone away from her ear and stares at it blankly. She mumbles to herself, “She hung up on me.”

Huffing, she tosses the phone on a side table and stands up. Turning around, she sees me. Knowing I’ve been spying on her, she gets a little nervous; she rubs the back of her neck.

“What did she want?”

“She asked me to go to some distillery in Miami and buy five bottles of some ridiculously priced specialty rum to bring home.”

“You’re underage. How the hell does she expect you to buy liquor?”

Lulu shrugs.

“Why can’t she meet with the detectives? Is she going somewhere?”

“Yep. Girls trip to a wellness spa in Arizona.”

I nod. What can you say about that? Her mom goes on so many trips she probably has her own TSA check-in line. Her own beverage cart. A drop-down oxygen mask plated in gold.

And what the fuck is awellnessspa? Trust me, it will take more than a one-week trip to make Lulu’s mom ‘well’.

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

I watch as Lulu disappears into the tent. I’ll give her a few minutes to clear her mind, and then I’ll go to her. I have no choice. I’ll always go to her. The way she talked about me to her mom? The things she said?

She said everything that I feel. And one of these days, I will grow big enough balls to actually tell her. Tell her that I love her. That I can’t stand the thought of living one second of my life without her.

But what does that mean? Because what kind of life can someone like me give her?

She emerges from the tent with a blanket wrapped around her. I guess she got cold, although, it’s a mild and pleasant night. I love the spring time, the months before the mosquitos of summer come out to feast. Instead of walking to the patio, she walks down to the old wooden dock and stares at the small waves in the pond. Tossing my now empty beer bottle in the trash, I walk down to join her. I don’t say anything. Sometimes, Lulu likes to just think.

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