Two Nights

I. Tuesday Night

Wombs and Wheels

Emily Neral came to visit me at my parents' house. I was sitting in the driveway when she walked up.

"I'm pregnant," I told her, "and I have to get out of here."

She seemed to know that my car was in the shop and that I didn't have any way out. She looked at my parents' old blue mini-van (that has long since been sold off) and said, "Come on."

Before I could understand what was going on, we were driving down the road. I knew that the van was unsafe and that it could break down or worse blow up, but I let Emily drive anyway. I hung my head out of the window and shouted, "woooooo hoooo."

Emily honked the horn, and we drove past my mom who was standing on the side of the road with her hands on her hips. I knew we were in trouble, but I told Emily not to turn around.

II. Last Night

Little Scenes:

I.

My parents had just moved into a new house. The house was huge and contemporary. I was wandering around the rooms, and could have sworn we were in Doylestown.

II.

I was in a high school gym locker room. There was a door that separated the girls locker room from the boys and some of the girls were peaking in at the boys getting dressed. I knew that I needed to hide (I was older than most of the girls and I wasn't supposed to be there). I went to the back of the locker room and tried to get inside a locker. Rachel Scarpelli gave me a piece of gum just before I got in the locker.

III.

I was travelling with a group of women in a large van. We stopped to get something to eat at Arbys, but the Arby's was an elegant restaurant with dimmed lighting. I thought that I saw Katie Forrest working and I went to talk to her at the counter. I said, "hello," and Katie said, "I am not Katie Forrest, everyone says I look like her, but I'm really Katie Murberry." I felt embarassed about the mix up and I went out to the parking lot.

In the parking lot, a woman was loading suitcases into the back of the van. My suitcase wouldn't fit-- it was huge and there wasn't any room left. The woman took all of the other suitcases out to rearrange them in order to make room. I knew that I should have packed a smaller suitcase.

I stood next to the van and watched the woman, and I drank a soda-- it was lime flavored and the sweet sugary taste slid down my throat. I looked in the van window at a group of girls that were sitting inside. One girl handed me a bottle through the window-- the bottle was filled with soda that had been shaken up so that the whole thing appeared to be filled with foam. The girl wanted me to throw it away, but I was thirsty. As I walked to the trashcan, I opened the bottle and took a sip. It tasted of spit and I threw it away, disgusted.