I got home from Tiffani's and informed my mother that we had to go out to dinner. I pulled out every guilt card I had from birth until the present and she finally agreed.

There was no way I could find an old lady to go. I didn't have a grandma nearby and I knew she wouldn't be hopping on a plane to have a family meal so it would have to be me and mom. My dad said he'd try to come later, I already knew that meant he wouldn't.

I could always tell the girls my mom tricked me into an intervention about missing classes and not being home. Maybe it would be a ticket out. If my mom knew I was being influenced, maybe she could switch my school, or move me to Belize.

The truth was I was obsessed that the robot girls were checking up on me. I probably could have stayed in my room all night and gotten some actual sleep, but I was too wired. That picture of Ronald and I, Marta's creepy gypsy spit on my forehead and Tiffani's insanity had me wound tighter than a rubber band ball.

My mom protested, but finally gave in and drove me all the way across the city to Marco's. It's the place we had all our big time vent meals. Graduations, promotions, anything that happened we turned to Italian food and music and the place that had the best cannoli in the state.

I left my phone in the car so I wouldn't be lured into staring at it wondering what was happening. All I could do was hope that they pulled it off without me being involved. Maybe it would go wrong and they would all get caught while I was clear across town with the perfect alibi. It was more than I could hope for.

My mom ordered chicken picatta. Which she always ordered and never ate. She stuck to salad and refills of red wine which were always her two main course choices. I was convinced she only ordered an entree to keep the waitress coming to the table to order more wine.

"So what was so urgent that we had to go out? Are you hormonal? Having boy trouble? Failing a class?"

She cocked her h ad to the side and waited for me to spill some deep secret. If she only knew what was buried beneath my Victoria's Secret bra! She'd be drinking wine by the Big Gulp glass!

"Can't I just want a little family time? It's been a long time. I feel like I love alone sometimes. You and dad are always breezing off to work and meetings. I barely know what's going on anymore."

She pursed her lips together and unwrapped her silverware from the red linen napkin.

"Your dad and I work hard. Don't forget that! Someone has to pay for college and cars and all the nice things you take for granted."

The words sounded vicious and spiteful. The only thing I could do was backpedal.

"I'm not complaining mom. I'm just saying I miss you. And I know you work hard. I just wanted to spend a night, a single night with my family. Is that too much to ask? Remember when we used to come here on Fridays? You and dad would dance and I would lick all the filling out the cannoli'?"

She looked puzzled, and smiled. She did remember. Her eyes scanned the crowd and I wondered if she could see it, and if it would bring her any remembrance of when we were close. Before money became more important than family. 

She guzzled down the rest of the wine and put her hands flat on the table. My heart pounded. She was about to say something meaningful at last.

"Are you in trouble?  Is it drugs?"

My heart went back to normal. No such luck. This wasn't going to happen no matter how hard I tried. I was on my own. There would be no out from mom. Her lips, darker since the wine thinned into a pursed line and it reminded me of Cruella D'Ville.  What happened to her in the last few years? 

Had my tearing away to get independence driven her so far away we didn't know each other at all anymore. Or does it just happen to adults when kids grow up?  Either way it broke me a little knowing there was no going back.

"I'm not on drugs mom. Forget it. Let's go home."

With that, her face lit up and she waved for the check.

It had been an hour and fifteen minutes. All the time I could squeeze from her and. It nearly enough to be out of the danger zone.

We drive home at breakneck speed, obviously mom wanted to get back to the life where I was quiet and didn't ask for meetings.  When we pulled in the driveway there was a car parked st the curb. Inside were four heads all following the path of our car as it pulled in.

"Wonder what that's about?" My mom asked looking into the review mirror trying to get a better look.

"They're here for me mom."

She smiled, her fake white veneers shining in the dashboard light.

"Oh! Friends. That's exactly what you needed tonight.  Have fun."

She got out of the car and her heels clicked across the sidewalk. 

I thought about staying in the car. About looking up hot wiring on YouTube and making a run for it, and about bolting into the house and staying there claiming a new phobia of leaving. But none of that would get me anywhere. It was time to face the music.

My feet carried me down the drive to the waiting car where the door was already open.

"We knew you'd get out of it. You wouldn't ditch us. You're a lifer."

Just like that I knew it was true. I may be buried in deeper than the people of Pompeii, but at least these girls were with me. Dumb as rocks and the emotion of bots, but we were, at least for tonight, sliding down the ash filled mud together. 

Mindi was at the wheel and handed me black ninja clothes to match the rest of them and a heavy bowling bag. There's was no reason to open the bag up. I knew what was in there, supplies to kill and clean. Just like a business man's briefcase, well, without the pencils.

"We're already behind schedule Aria. Let's get this show on the road."

I buckled my seatbelt and pulled on the pants. This was going to be my last job. Except for Tiffani. But she wasn't a job, she was definitely self defense.

Tomorrow night my own plans would be in action and I'd finally be free. Tiffani would be dead, Mindi would be in charge of the robot girl's and I'd once again be a book nerd with a possible NYT best seller in the works. Yeah, I could survive this.

##############
So much for finding help with a parent. Although sometimes you set your bed on fire, you're gonna get singed. Or burst into a ball of flames so hot your bones melt. That's where I was right then. Little did I know explosions aren't containable.

Yeah, it's been a while. I'm aware. Spend a month in solitary and then had no privileges for a while. Totally worth it though. Don't take someone's roll without asking. If you do, you're bound to get a spork in the throat. Just saying. Btw- those things are way tougher than they appear.