I won’t be going alone.” I paused. “You know Mom, I’ll be ok. I’m almost 19 and I live away from home. I can make good decisions, you shouldn’t worry about me going to a concert.” She just grunted and began on the dishes. It seemed to be the end of that conversation so I presumed we were on the same page for the concert. I had no idea if Greg was going to bail on me or show for the concert. He totally shut down after the kiss, I wish I knew what he was thinking.
“I’m gonna go check my email, be back in a few minutes to help with supper.” I ran off to my room and fired up my computer. There were no emails yet but I decided to send a group email out to my friends.
Hey guys (and girls),
I’m back at home and hoping for some snow this break. I promise I won’t be reckless like my last dinner-tray sledding excursion. I hope each of you have a great Christmas and a fun break. I will miss you all.
Love,
Perry
I sent it and hoped to hear from some of them soon.
*****
Christmas Eve was upon us and my mom was busy trying to prepare all the dishes ahead of time so that tomorrow she could just man the oven and stove. I was put on decorations and table setting duty. I set the fine silverware neatly in the linen napkins and tied them with a ribbon. Once I had enough I moved on to setting up the plates for the meal.
“Perry, stop what you are doing. I ran out of sour cream and I wanted to pick up a poinsettia for tomorrow. I am covered in food and wouldn’t dare step out of the car, so you must come with and run into the store for me.” I grabbed my coat and started lacing up my Chuck Taylors. She drove to the grocery store down the street and it was busy with people running in for last minute menu items. “Here’s $40, I want 2 poinsettias and 1 tub of sour cream. Hurry up and meet right back here. I will be waiting on you.”
“Ok, I’ll hurry.” I ran inside and found the sour cream first. Then I grabbed 2 of the holiday plants and threw them in a cart and headed to check out. When I finished, I headed outside. No snow had fallen over break but the air was cold and crisp. The sun was shining as bright as ever but there was not one snowflake in the sky. I looked around for my mom’s car but it was nowhere to be found. So I sat on the landscape curb and watched for a few minutes but she didn’t appear. Had I misheard her? Was there another entrance to the store that I was supposed to meet her at? I went back in the store and headed to the customer service desk.
“Excuse me. Is this the only customer entrance into the store?” The young clerk was only slightly older than me. She looked at me suspiciously and I realized that it was a strange question to have asked. She did not know my family to know that misunderstandings were quite common. I usually was the one to blame for the misunderstanding so I tried to prevent them when I could.
“Yes,” was all she said with a dismissive tone.
“What the hell, where is she?” I muttered to myself. I went out front to look for her again but her car was still not there. Maybe there was some emergency at home and she drove back. Surely she would come back for me as soon as the emergency was over. How would she let me know though? I hadn’t brought my phone since I thought it would be a quick trip. I went back to customer service and asked if I could use their phone. The clerk looked annoyed but let me use it anyway. Boy, she was Miss Personality. She should have been a bagger not someone in customer service.
After several rings the voicemail kicked in and I had to leave a message. “Mom, where are you?” I was quiet yelling into the phone. “I am still at the store with the items you asked me to buy but you aren’t here. Call the store if you get this message.” I hung up and decided to look
“I’m gonna go check my email, be back in a few minutes to help with supper.” I ran off to my room and fired up my computer. There were no emails yet but I decided to send a group email out to my friends.
Hey guys (and girls),
I’m back at home and hoping for some snow this break. I promise I won’t be reckless like my last dinner-tray sledding excursion. I hope each of you have a great Christmas and a fun break. I will miss you all.
Love,
Perry
I sent it and hoped to hear from some of them soon.
*****
Christmas Eve was upon us and my mom was busy trying to prepare all the dishes ahead of time so that tomorrow she could just man the oven and stove. I was put on decorations and table setting duty. I set the fine silverware neatly in the linen napkins and tied them with a ribbon. Once I had enough I moved on to setting up the plates for the meal.
“Perry, stop what you are doing. I ran out of sour cream and I wanted to pick up a poinsettia for tomorrow. I am covered in food and wouldn’t dare step out of the car, so you must come with and run into the store for me.” I grabbed my coat and started lacing up my Chuck Taylors. She drove to the grocery store down the street and it was busy with people running in for last minute menu items. “Here’s $40, I want 2 poinsettias and 1 tub of sour cream. Hurry up and meet right back here. I will be waiting on you.”
“Ok, I’ll hurry.” I ran inside and found the sour cream first. Then I grabbed 2 of the holiday plants and threw them in a cart and headed to check out. When I finished, I headed outside. No snow had fallen over break but the air was cold and crisp. The sun was shining as bright as ever but there was not one snowflake in the sky. I looked around for my mom’s car but it was nowhere to be found. So I sat on the landscape curb and watched for a few minutes but she didn’t appear. Had I misheard her? Was there another entrance to the store that I was supposed to meet her at? I went back in the store and headed to the customer service desk.
“Excuse me. Is this the only customer entrance into the store?” The young clerk was only slightly older than me. She looked at me suspiciously and I realized that it was a strange question to have asked. She did not know my family to know that misunderstandings were quite common. I usually was the one to blame for the misunderstanding so I tried to prevent them when I could.
“Yes,” was all she said with a dismissive tone.
“What the hell, where is she?” I muttered to myself. I went out front to look for her again but her car was still not there. Maybe there was some emergency at home and she drove back. Surely she would come back for me as soon as the emergency was over. How would she let me know though? I hadn’t brought my phone since I thought it would be a quick trip. I went back to customer service and asked if I could use their phone. The clerk looked annoyed but let me use it anyway. Boy, she was Miss Personality. She should have been a bagger not someone in customer service.
After several rings the voicemail kicked in and I had to leave a message. “Mom, where are you?” I was quiet yelling into the phone. “I am still at the store with the items you asked me to buy but you aren’t here. Call the store if you get this message.” I hung up and decided to look
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