A few days later, Dave came home from work
early. Simone knew instantly that
something was wrong. He only came home
early unless there was an emergency, such as when Bry had fallen off the
monkey bars and broken his arm, or when they found
cigarettes in Simone’s locker. But it
was the summer now. The look her father wore more puzzled her than frightened
her. But just to be safe... “I haven’t done anything, I swear,” she said
as he rushed past her into the kitchen. He looked at her for one long minute.
Then, without saying a word, he picked up the phone and paged Cara.
After much screaming and arguing coming from the master bedroom, it finally quieted down, and the couple emerged. Cara had tears streaked down her face, Dave pretending not to notice. Simone and Bry looked at each other. This couldn’t be good. Simone let go of her little brother and let him climb out of her lap onto the couch. They prepared themselves for the worst.
“Moving?!” gasped
Simone. “Why?! Of all the times in the world, why now?!” Dave
gave his daughter the same expressionless
look he had given her an hour earlier. “Because, the firm made me an offer
I couldn’t refuse. And if I had refused the transfer, it would have cost
me my job. But it won’t be so bad, except that I’ll be gone more often,
since I’ll be handling everything at the office.” Bry spoke up, “But Dad,
we hardly ever see you now.” Dave couldn’t bear to look at his son; it
ran the risk of his eyes watering. “I know, Bry, but this is what I do
for a living. It’s the whole reason why you have that Nintendo 64 and the
Playstation. It’s why you go to the best private school in the city. You
have everything you want, don’t tell me you’re not happy.” Bry inched closer
to his big sister for comfort. “Not everything,” he whispered to her.
“Dad, think of
the rest of us instead of yourself and your precious job. Our lives are
here, not in wherever the hell we’re going,
and don’t tell me, I don’t wanna know. I’m in
the middle of high school, I have two
best friends, a great boyfriend, a decent job that I
like. I grew up here, I love Atlanta.
It has one of the best music scenes...” “Oh just stop it,
Sai. I’m not just doing this for me. I
don’t care how great a town Atlanta is, it’s not gonna
change the fact I’ve been transferred
and we’re moving. End of discussion.” Simone
looked vainly at her mother for help.
She was in the
kitchen with a glass of scotch muttering about how her business would
be shot because of her fabulous husband’s
career moves. Dave took the cordless phone and the phone book into the
bedroom, and began searching for a moving company. Bry curled up into a
little ball on the couch. Bachus came over and licked his hand sympathetically.
Simone got up from the couch, running into her bathroom for a tissue and
the lighter she hid in the medicine cabinet.
“Oh, Sai, you
can’t leave! What am I gonna do without you here? I can barely stand
Caroline when you’re around.” Elise was
nearly in tears when Simone told her the news
that night.
“Well thanks for being so selfless!”
“Oh shutup. I’m losing a best friend here!”
“So am I, and a hell of a lot more!”
The uncomfortable silence that followed was broken a few times by sniffs and stifled sobs.
“I’m sorry, Sai.”
“I’m sorry, too. My temper’s been kinda short the last few hours. I even started screaming at Bry.”
“Wow, you are on the edge.” Simone, unlike
most people, had a good relationship with
her little brother.
“So when do you leave?”
“Two weeks. And Dad says we have to spend one week packing. Wanna come over and help?”
“Sure, I’ll be over in 10 minutes.”
Simone gazed out
of the window of the minivan, chin in hand, at the scenery flying by
in a blur of intertwining shades of green
and blue. “So what is there to do in Oklahoma
City? Bomb a building or something...”
Cara gave her daughter a reproachful look. “You
know, a friend of mine’s niece died in
that unfortunate incident. Show a little respect.”
Simone mumbled something that sounded
like an apology. “And anyway, who told you
were going to Oklahoma City? We’re headed
back to good ol’ Tulsa,” added her father.
The name sparked in Simone. “Tulsa? Bry
said..” She paused in thought for a brief
moment.
“Back to good ol’ Tulsa? What d’you mean, back to Tulsa? No one ever told me about Tulsa.” Her mother laughed half-heartedly at Simone’s anxious commentary. “Well where do you think the University of Tulsa is, hon?” Dave brightened a bit. “Hey, I can go to the alumni meetings now! If I can just get off work for a few hours...” He continued muttering to himself about his those damn workaholics at the office that thought he should be just like him instead of at the home game, catching up with some old college buddies, drinking beer, and actually enjoying the money they made busting people’s asses in court.
“Plus,” Cara added,
“where do you think you spent the first four years of your life?”
“The adoption center?” she asked hopefully.
“Ha ha, very funny. You may have been born
in Canada, but you are as American as
they come,” her mother answered. Simone sighed deeply and continued stare
blankly out the window. Nothing could make her feel any worse, not even
her mother’s criticism. At least for the moment.
Within hours,
the Williams family had entered the city limits of their original
hometown. Simone’s mind was a complete
blank. She couldn’t remember ever seeing the gorgeous park, the quaint
little shopping centres. Nothing from the picturesque little town registered
in her memory. “Why doesn’t anything look familiar?” she wondered. A
thought crossed her mind, but she quickly
dismissed it. She wasn’t going to blame it on, or try to solve anything
with that again.
Dave swung the white
mini-van in front of the split-level house and put it in park.
“Don’t say it, Dad,” Simone warned. He
grinned at her. “All ashore that’s going ashore!!”
he called in a strong voice. Three years
in the Navy will do that to a person. Cara mocked the enthusiasm her husband
had. “Oh, the old house looks great! Exactly the same as we left it, except
for that new coating of paint, and the new plants in front, and the fact
that there’s actual grass instead of just weeds and ... but it looks great.”
She stepped gingerly onto the concrete driveway, as if she were expecting,
or rather hoping the ground would swallow her up. Dave knew his wife was
still upset about turning over her business to her partner, but he told
himself it was for the best.
