Page 1 of Clean Sweep
1
LESLIE
Something fuzzy lived in the dish at the bottom of my fridge and it had been there for over a week now.
The old ceramic dish had a glass top so I could peer inside. At best, the contents appeared mushy and gray, with a slight green tint around the edges. Mold, for certain.
Never mind that my divorce had been final for over a year now, Mrs. Cortez still brought dinners for me and my son like we actively mourned my first marriage.
No, that thingneededto die. In fact, that marriage had died long before the divorce drove a wooden stake in its soul-sucking, vampiric heart.
Not for the first time, I regarded the moldy dish, shuddered, and closed the door.
“Not right now,” I whispered, then crept away, like it would grow across the floor after me.
Coffee almost sloshed out of my mug as I set it on the table and called out, “Blake! You have five minutes before you have to leave. If you’re tardy, you’ll get detention and I am not saving you again.”
An unintelligible, teenage grunt followed. I fought not to roll my eyes, but at least the thudding music quieted a little. I passed by a load of clothes that Blake still hadn’t taken upstairs even though I’d graciously folded them in piles on the table. Most of the time these days, he dressed himself from the dining room.
Beneath the table lay carpet that needed a good vacuum a few weeks ago. Various parts of my kitchen and entryway boasted floorboards that weren’t gray, butappearedto be from gathered dust. One wall collected cobwebs at the seam like an old lady would cats. Behind me, the dishwasher let out a groan as it attempted to clean an overly-full load I’d forgotten to start last night.
“Hello, Monday in the middle of November,” I muttered, then sighed.
My phone chimed with a text from my oldest of four sons, Landon. At twenty-three andalmostaccepted into medical school, he currently finished up his last semester of his undergrad in Jackson City. It was a bigger—but still not big—mountain city forty-five minutes up the canyon from here in Pineville. He’d saved up all his online classes for his final semesters so he could move to Jackson City, work, get a hold of debt, and still graduate on time.
Sensible, this kid.
Landon soothed my Mama nerves every time I saw his name. Easy going. Hard working, but wasn’t obnoxious about it. His latest girlfriend of four weeks showed real promise this time.
Not like all the others, anyway.
Landon:Can I come home Saturday for food?
Leslie:Sure. Your favorites?
Landon:You’re the best. We’ll be there at noon.
I paused.
Although he’d been idly mentioning a woman named Starla every now and then, there had never been aweattached to anything.
In fact, he’d almost disappeared since they started to officially date. Not only had I not met Starla yet, but I knew nothing else about her except her name and a vague mention of asuper awesome first date, Mom. Tell you about it later.
Leslie:We?
Landon:Yeah, I’m bringing Starla. I proposed to her last night, thought you’d want to meet her. This seemed like a good time.
I blinked.
Wait, what?
Leslie:I’m sorry, you did what?
Landon:It’s a conversation better to have in person, but didn’t want to spring too much on you at once.
Leslie:Is this a joke?
Landon:No. It’s a long story. Could we have BBQ instead of pasta?
