soon it would be apparent that she could not be left alone. That would be problematic. I couldn’t be here 24/7, and she wouldn’t go into assisted living, even as crazy as she was. She was sure about that .
I came back from the bathroom with the floss, and because she was insistent and I was born and raised Southern, I relented and helped her floss, but my fingers went nowhere near her mouth. I more or less guided her hands while she flossed. I helped her clean up the kitchen and discreetly got rid of the toad, gave her an update on Rufus, and told her that he should be home in a couple of days if she promised not to give him any more chocolate milk, which she promised.
As I was about to leave, my phone rang with Tina’s ringtone, some upbeat Latin song asking someone to kiss them that she had programmed into my phone. She never called.
“What’s wrong,” I answered apprehensively, my stomach already dropping.
“Day, my dad got transferred to a bigger hospital,” she said gravely.
“Okay?” I stretched out like I didn’t get it, but I did.
“Day, we are moving,” she practically screamed into the phone.
I knew it. I mean, I knew that people didn’t live in Shaddy Groves forever. I knew that they moved away and got better jobs and better lives and left this small, sleepy town, but why my best friend? “Do you have to go?” I asked stupidly.
“What do you mean?”
“We could get a place together. I could give up my dorm, and we could get an apartment. That way you wouldn’t have to start school all over again and move.” And leave me.
“You would do that?” she asked, surprised.
“Of course. You’re my sandbox. I would do anything for you. Why do you even have to ask?”
“ No me entiendan mal ,” she said, asking me in Spanish not to misunderstand her. “I just thought you and Trevor would be moving in together pretty soon, that’s all.”
It hadn’t dawned on me until just now how it would look to Trevor if I moved in with Tina when he had been hounding me for the past two months for the same thing. Fuck it, she was my sandbox. I couldn’t just let her leave. I would talk to Trevor to make him understand that moving in with your best friend is not the same thing as U-Hauling it with your boyfriend. “I guess, sure, someday, but not until after I finish with school, Trevor understands that,” I said.
“ Yo no se. I don’t think Maria would let me stay in a different city than her. You know how she is,” she muttered.
I did know how her mother was. I had blurted out the idea, but deep down I knew it wouldn’t work. “When?”
“Next week, and I have to withdraw today. We are going to register me at my new school tomorrow,” she said somberly.
“Where?”
“Miami.”
Of course. Latin capital of Florida and two hours away from small-town Shaddy Groves.
“I’ll be there in ten,” I said and hung up.
On my way over, all I could think about was that I was losing my best friend. Sure, Miami wasn’t that far away and I would still text her every day, but it’s not the same when you are used to seeing someone every day for eighteen years. I know how it is when you move out of town. You say that you’ll keep in touch and that things will stay the same, but they never really do. I mean, how can they? There would be no one to help me with Opal: The Untold Story and no one for me to bounce ideas off of. I had other people in my life, true, but no one could take the place of Justina. She was my sandbox.
Her front door was unlocked when I got there, and she was in the kitchen with her mom, but as soon as I walked in, she told her mom we were going upstairs to her room. Her mom didn’t protest, as she knew we needed to talk.
“I actually asked my mom about staying,” she began, “and she shot me down like one of those things people use for target practice.”
“You mean skeets?”
“Whatever,” she said irritably. “The point is she said
I came back from the bathroom with the floss, and because she was insistent and I was born and raised Southern, I relented and helped her floss, but my fingers went nowhere near her mouth. I more or less guided her hands while she flossed. I helped her clean up the kitchen and discreetly got rid of the toad, gave her an update on Rufus, and told her that he should be home in a couple of days if she promised not to give him any more chocolate milk, which she promised.
As I was about to leave, my phone rang with Tina’s ringtone, some upbeat Latin song asking someone to kiss them that she had programmed into my phone. She never called.
“What’s wrong,” I answered apprehensively, my stomach already dropping.
“Day, my dad got transferred to a bigger hospital,” she said gravely.
“Okay?” I stretched out like I didn’t get it, but I did.
“Day, we are moving,” she practically screamed into the phone.
I knew it. I mean, I knew that people didn’t live in Shaddy Groves forever. I knew that they moved away and got better jobs and better lives and left this small, sleepy town, but why my best friend? “Do you have to go?” I asked stupidly.
“What do you mean?”
“We could get a place together. I could give up my dorm, and we could get an apartment. That way you wouldn’t have to start school all over again and move.” And leave me.
“You would do that?” she asked, surprised.
“Of course. You’re my sandbox. I would do anything for you. Why do you even have to ask?”
“ No me entiendan mal ,” she said, asking me in Spanish not to misunderstand her. “I just thought you and Trevor would be moving in together pretty soon, that’s all.”
It hadn’t dawned on me until just now how it would look to Trevor if I moved in with Tina when he had been hounding me for the past two months for the same thing. Fuck it, she was my sandbox. I couldn’t just let her leave. I would talk to Trevor to make him understand that moving in with your best friend is not the same thing as U-Hauling it with your boyfriend. “I guess, sure, someday, but not until after I finish with school, Trevor understands that,” I said.
“ Yo no se. I don’t think Maria would let me stay in a different city than her. You know how she is,” she muttered.
I did know how her mother was. I had blurted out the idea, but deep down I knew it wouldn’t work. “When?”
“Next week, and I have to withdraw today. We are going to register me at my new school tomorrow,” she said somberly.
“Where?”
“Miami.”
Of course. Latin capital of Florida and two hours away from small-town Shaddy Groves.
“I’ll be there in ten,” I said and hung up.
On my way over, all I could think about was that I was losing my best friend. Sure, Miami wasn’t that far away and I would still text her every day, but it’s not the same when you are used to seeing someone every day for eighteen years. I know how it is when you move out of town. You say that you’ll keep in touch and that things will stay the same, but they never really do. I mean, how can they? There would be no one to help me with Opal: The Untold Story and no one for me to bounce ideas off of. I had other people in my life, true, but no one could take the place of Justina. She was my sandbox.
Her front door was unlocked when I got there, and she was in the kitchen with her mom, but as soon as I walked in, she told her mom we were going upstairs to her room. Her mom didn’t protest, as she knew we needed to talk.
“I actually asked my mom about staying,” she began, “and she shot me down like one of those things people use for target practice.”
“You mean skeets?”
“Whatever,” she said irritably. “The point is she said
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