Chapter 6: The Clock is Ticking

The rest of the week mom and I went on with our lives as usual. I went to school, and she went to work. I thought about telling my best friend, Holly, about what happened on the way to the dentist and about the big reveal Saturday night but decided not to. There was a slight problem with withholding though. I shared my plan with Holly on how I was going to confront my mom and thought for sure she would ask me how it went. I was surprised she didn't text me wanting to know the details, but relieved that she hadn't.

Sure enough, Holly was waiting for me in the common's area where we usually met before the first period bell.

"So? How did it go yesterday?" Holly asked eagerly.

I pretended not to know what she was talking about and replied, "Fine. No cavities. And I am clearly not flossing enough."

She cocked her head to one side and shook her head.

"Seriously? Not that. You know what I mean."

Obviously I wasn't going to get away with playing dumb. So, I decided to lie.

"Oh. That? Yah. Well, she blew me off again as usual." I shrugged my shoulders in sync with the sound of the first bell.

I knew I was safe until lunch time. I would not see Holly again until 11:45. I am not sure why I decided to lie. Maybe I thought lying would make it easier later. Once I knew the truth about mom's past, I could always make up a story about how it finally came out. If I told her the truth now, and I didn't want to tell her, I would have to invent an even bigger lie. The little voice inside my head reminded me of my mom's advice about lying.

"Be careful when you choose to lie. The truth is much easier to tell and retell, since it actually happened. Whereas a lie requires remembering things that never took place. Thus, making it difficult to provide a consistent story each time you are asked."

Apparently this is the same strategy used when someone is questioned by the police. I have seen this tactic conducted on Law and Order many times. The cops always ask the person they are holding to repeat their story over and over. Obviously they are looking to see if they're consistent. I rationalized that going with a small lie now was definitely the way to go.

Today, in last period English, Holly and I had a test scheduled. During lunch, we talked about the vocabulary on the test and quizzed each. Thankfully, she didn't ask again about the talk with my mother. In between classes, we chatted about every day school stuff. The rest of the school day went by pretty quickly.

That night I couldn't sleep thinking about what I would learn in less than 24 hours. I tossed and turned for hours, finally giving up. I reached for the tv remote and turned it on. Sometimes talking from an infomercial would do the trick in boring me to sleep. Unfortunately, thirty-five minutes later, I was still wide awake. I scanned the room thinking about what I could do to settle down and decided to get the novel I was reading out of my backpack. Maybe Edward and Bella could distract me or at least keep me interested enough to get through the next few hours. Fifteen minutes later, I was on the same page reading and re-reading the same paragraph.

My last attempt to get through the night was to pull a notepad out of my end table and write down my thoughts. Maybe I could ease my mind by coming up with a list. Last year my dad gave me the idea of putting together a pro and con list when I was trying to decide which laptop I wanted. Should I go with a Mac or a PC? I wrote down the positives and the negatives for both. In the end I chose the Mac. It works best with my phone and texting. A similar list could work in this situation.

I drew a line down the middle of the paper. On the left side I wrote, What I know and then on the right side, What I don't know. I began with the left side.

What I know:

1. Mom grew up in New York in a small town.

2. Left NY during 10th grade.

3. Moved to Florida because her father wanted better weather.

4. Her parents divorced when she was in her 20's.

What I don't know:

1. Who were her friends before moving to Florida?

2. What was the name of her high school?

3. What did she and her friends do for fun?

4. Did she have a best friend in New York?

5. Was she upset about moving thousands of miles away?

I paused and read back both sides of the list. I read the list again and went back to number three on the "know" side. I shook my head and read number three a third time. Better weather? Really? Who moves their entire family thousands of miles away from everything and everyone they know because of weather? My mother would have been about sixteen when they moved. Which means going to a new high school, making all new friends, basically restarting a whole new life. And what about my grandparents jobs? They would have had to leave those too. And of course, their friends and their lives.

Then, for some unexplained reason it occurred to me. Had I been focused on the wrong question? I was so interested in who mom's friends were that I never stopped to question the reason she gave for the move to Florida. I've heard a lot of people complain about the difficulty of living in cold weather, so it made sense to me that some would want to leave it. But the winters are only a few months, Florida is ridiculously hot and humid most of the year. And what about the hurricanes? People who lived their whole lives in the north would have no clue what they could be facing. Weren't they trading one set of weather problems for another? I went back to my list and added a number five to the don't know column.

5.What was the real reason mom's family moved to Florida?

I underlined real several times before I realized I was making a hole in the paper.

I sat with this thought for a while.

The smell of brewing coffee and the sound of my dad's scratchy voice signaled that the morning was here. I decided to get up and get the day going. I stuffed my feet into my slippers, pulled on my robe, and made my way towards the kitchen.

I was greeted with a surprised, "Good morning Pumkin," from my dad.

"You're up early," mom said. "I am making cinnamon buns. Want to help ice them when they are done?"

I shook my head up and down agreeing.

"Good," she smiled and went back to preparing the tray.

"So, dad," I began. "What time are you guys leaving for the hockey game tonight?"

Dad looked up from his phone and said, "Bout 6:00. Sorry I couldn't get more than two tickets. You are not mad that you're not going are you?"

Normally I would have pouted about being left out, but not today.

"Nah. It's fine," I responded casually. I made sure not to sound sarcastic. He gave me a wink, picked up his coffee, and headed back to his bedroom.

Mom and I were alone in the kitchen. This was the first time we had been by ourselves since the car ride home from the dentist on Thursday. I was hoping she would say something about our plans tonight. But she just went right on stacking the cinnamon buns and sipping her coffee. The tv was on a low volume and two overly eager news casters where discussing something about the governor.

"Okay," she announced and placed the tray into the oven.

She pressed a few buttons and said, " I set a timer for eighteen minutes. I am going to hop into the shower. Can you keep an eye on the buns please? As soon as you hear the beeping, take out the tray. I should be back in time but if for some reason I am not, go ahead and ice them yourself." She left without waiting for a reply.

I sat down at the kitchen table and looked at the clock on the stove. The timer was counting down the minutes and seconds. Seventeen minutes and forty-five seconds, forty-four seconds, forty-three seconds...

I pulled my cell phone out of the pocket of my rob and scrolled through the apps until I came to the clock. I opened the app and set an alarm for 6:00 pm. The digital clock on the stove glowed, 7:15 am. Ten hours, forty-five minutes, and fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven...seconds to go.