We loved going to Fucking Florida. Couldn’t get enough. Sometimes we went to Florida twice a year. Picked up friends along the way. We always went with Mama because she was fun, so long as she wasn’t super drunk. Plus, she had a van. We usually stayed with our cousin Mary Jane and her daughter Sabrina in Panama City.
We’d already been to Florida in the spring for Sabrina’s wedding. Had a blast and decided to go back in September with the same plan of using Mama’s van and picking up friends along the way.
The day of departure, as Wayne and I loaded her van, Mama said, “We’re coming back on Sunday.”
Then I said “No, we’re coming back Monday.”
Then she said I didn’t tell her that and insisted we come back Sunday.
Then Wayne said “No. We’re coming back Monday.”
Then Mama said, “Y’all did this on purpose so you could use my van and leave me here.”
I stood in the driveway looking at Wayne loading her van and looking at Mama standing on the stoop. She said she wasn’t going. I was torn two ways. Split right down the middle.
I had to decide - him or her.
Excerpt from Care & Feeding by Chela Gutierrez
Comments