Lauren
“I know, Mom. I can hear him just fine behind you.” I flapped open the paper bag that would hold my delicious lunch made up of celery sticks, peanut butter, and a ham sandwich. Lunch of every adult headed to their first day of their last semester of grad school. Or just me. Mostly just me.
Unlike the majority of my classmates, I didn’t make it into the elite program, nor was I on the list for the most sought-after internship in the architectural program at UCI because Daddy made an extra donation to the school’s architecture wing. No, I worked my butt of for every grade and every opportunity they gave me. Getting the assignment at Perkins & Will didn’t come to me on silver platter. I earned it. Just like I did everything in my life.
I learned early on things didn’t just come to you because you wanted them. Praying didn’t make things happen. It didn’t make my mom divorce her second husband, or her third, and it sure as hell didn’t help bring back the person I needed most in my life.
“Well, he’s excited for you is all.” My mother held the phone too close to her mouth when she talked, I could hear her breathing like she was Darth Vader. Cody, the son of her newest boyfriend, squealed loudly behind her.
“Lah-ren! Lah-ren! Go Lah-ren!”
“You know, you should have him see the speech lady again.” I picked at my lunch while listening to her shoo the six-year-old away. I met the new boyfriend a year before, at Christmas. Among the long list of losers my mom dated and married over the years, Frank was a shining star. Even if he did come with a six-year-old. He treated mom with respect, and she began to think the world rose and set with him.
“Yeah, Frank’s got a meeting with the counselor today about it. He was doing so well for a while, not sure why he’s slipping.” The concern I heard in her voice was real. Over the previous six months that Frank and his son had moved into my childhood home, she’d fallen back into her mom mode. Cody’s mom died in a car crash when he was only a year old, so he’d never had a mom before.
“Well, let me know how it goes. I gotta run, Ma. Traffic is gonna suck enough as it is.”
“Go get ‘em kiddo!” The upbeat cheer did little to elevate my nerves, but did plenty to bring a smile to my lips. It was good seeing my mom happy. She deserved it after all the horrible men she fell for; having someone care about her, and seeing her blossom beneath it, almost made the bad memories go away. Almost.
It would be easy to blame my mom for the crap we went through while I was growing up. After all, she picked the jerks she married. There were plenty of fish in the sea, because most of them were jerks and had been thrown back. My dad, my real dad, ran off a week after I was born. Mom never told me exactly why, but I knew it had more to do with my unplanned arrival than any excuse she might have cooked up if she hadn’t avoided the subject all together.
Working odd jobs, she did the best she could to put a roof over our heads. Apparently, not finishing high school because you got knocked up wasn’t exactly a life skill. Even when the deadbeats she dated moved in and out of our lives, I knew I could still count on her. For the big stuff anyway. Working all the time and trying to find the love of her life left not so much time to hang out with the scrawny kid who ate up most of the income she brought in. I was okay with it, though. I had a thick skin and friends. Well, friend.
Remembering every day of my childhood, watching my mom struggle to make ends meet, that was what drove me to get through school with high marks. Getting as far away from that place as I could manage gave me the fuel to work the extra hours, study longer, and get my butt to college on a scholarship and grants. I was no stranger to hard work, even outside of school. Those odd jobs I watched my mom slave away at, those were the sort I looked out for. Waiting tables, delivering newspapers, dog walking between classes. All of it was worth it when I saw my name on this list for the fall internship.
I just needed to get through the summer session, and I was done with my class work. The internship would hopefully blossom into a sweet job offer, and I could finally afford to move out of the two-bedroom closet I shared with Asya.
After hanging up with my mom I ran down to my car. At eight in the morning, already the heat index had climbed to ninety. Chicago summers sucked; having no air conditioning in my beat up ten-year-old Honda sucked even worse. Hopefully traffic wouldn’t be terrible, and I wouldn’t be in a stand still. What little breeze moving in would be welcomed and help keep me from smelling like a locker room by the time I made it to class.
The sun blared into the car, bouncing off the light dashboard and right into my face. I hated sun; my fair skin wouldn’t tolerate too much of it before it turned to a soft pink, then straight to lobster red. Once settled, I turned the ignition. Nothing. Taking a deep breath, I tried again. Nothing.
Growling, I sat back in the seat and closed my eyes. When was the last time I took it in for an oil change? Was the battery dead? Moments like that made me want to rethink my decision to stay away from men until after graduation. Having a boyfriend at that moment would have been much easier. I didn’t know the last thing about cars.
Even after having spent countless hours watching the neighborhood boys fixing up their engines in their back yards and garages, I couldn’t tell the difference between a spark plug and an oil cap. Back then I didn’t need to—Michael took me where I needed to go in his car. Mom couldn’t afford two cars, and what little money I made at my part time jobs went to help keep the heat on in the winters.
Michael. Just remembering him brought a dull ache to my chest. Still, after seven years, when I thought of him I worried and missed him. He’d just disappeared on me. Of all the people in my life who let me down, Michael was the first to blindside me with it.
The beeping of my phone reminded me how short on time I was for class. Not knowing anyone in my or the neighboring buildings building who could help me, I caved and called for a tow. The AAA membership my ex had given me seemed like a crappy birthday gift at the time, but was proving to be a decent present. Although, I was pretty sure Tommy had planned on using it more for himself than me, but he gave up that privilege when he dipped his stick into my friend.
The tow truck arrived faster than expected, which gave me hope of actually making it to class on time if he could get my car to start.
“Sorry, this thing is dead. It’s not the battery, though you need a new one. It will need to be looked at.” The driver unhooked the battery from his charging unit. “I can take it in for you now, if you want. There’s a place over on Albany and Lexington. Brought a few people in there last month, they all seemed happy enough with the place.”
“Can you tow it there, and I’ll pick it up later?” I already had my phone out, calling an Uber to take me to school. I’d miss the first ten minutes or so, but I needed to get there. I gave him my information and took down the address and number for that garage.
His eyes wandered over my body as I pulled out my bags from the front seat of the Honda. I pretended not to notice him glancing over at me every few seconds as he started hooking up my car to his truck. Thankfully the Uber showed before he had a chance to pass me a line, or ask me out. The last thing I needed was to get involved with another guy.