Page 83 of More Than Chemical
“Oh, come on, you do too. I can’t remember the last time you actually slept in our room.”
“Sunday.” My voice sounded flat.
She glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” I headed to my closet. “I’m fine.”
Why did everyone keep asking me that?
I stared at my hanging clothes. Nothing appealed to me. The colors were too bright. I needed something drab.
“Do you…do you want me to wait for you and we can walk together?” she asked.
“Nah. I still have some time.”
“Okay. See you later.” Priya left.
I picked something out and dressed slowly. I didn’t know what I was going to do now. I didn’t know how I was going to get through the weekend.
Since Dallas wasn’t going to ask me to go to the race with him, I needed some other diversion.
I speed-dialed Mom.
She picked up right away. “Hi, sweetheart. Great to hear from you.”
“I’m scheduled to work tomorrow, but do you think you could pick me up after class today and we could go do something?”
“Of course, dear. Oh, this will be fun. How about a movie?”
“Sure, that sounds great.” I hung up.
I should be happy that I had a plan now, but I wasn’t. My mom might distract me for a little while, but then I’d go back to thinking about my dad…or what Dallas was doing without me.
Thirty
Final Decision
My mom and I stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant near the movie theater. I got my favorite, shrimp chow fun with baby bok choy. My intestines were going to pay for it, but for now I reveled in the chewy texture of the large, flat noodles.
My mom got a bowl of pho and was sitting across from me, mixing more herbs into the broth.
My brain hummed like I’d put a song on repeat. It kept playing and replaying the tune called “Dallas.” So I decided that now was as good a time as any to tell her about him. I was ready.
Before I could think of the best way to start, she said, “Your dad wanted to come with us tonight.”
I paused and placed my elbows on the table.
“But I told him that he needed to give you some space.”
I stared at her. “He took me to see his lawyer yesterday. Did you know that?”
She nodded and poked at her soup. “Probably not the best way to restart your father-daughter relationship.”
“No.” I picked up my chopsticks and gripped them hard enough, they pinched my fingers. “His lawyer sure had a lot of nerve, asking me to go to the trial like that.”
“Dad said you walked out before you even started eating.”
“I was mad. Really mad. But then Dad caught up to me, and now I’m just confused.”
