Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
I hear the long-suffering sigh on the other end. Maybe that’s not fair. Maybe it’s half-fair. But I’m too angry to care. And I really need to pee. “Wherever you are. We’ll send a tow truck for your car if you’re in trouble. And a cab to get you. Just please come home. We can talk about this.”
“We’re not going to talk about this because Granny isn’t willing to unbetroth me, and no one wants to lose their inheritance. You’re all completely unreasonable and, honestly, pretty farging crazy!”
“Young lady, I’ve taught you better language than that!”
“Really?” I rub my hands over my face. “We’re going there right now? I said farging! Farging, Mom! I think what I found out entitles me to say a whole lot worse! And I’m not even in the state anymore. I’m not telling you where I’m going until I get there. I have enough cash to do it. I’ll call you in a week. Or two.” That should give me enough time to take care of business. “That’s my promise. If you want to have any chance of working this out, then you need to promise me that you’ll leave me alone. A week, Mom. Or two if I need it. I mean it.”
“If you think we’re going to let our daughter remain god-knows-where for a week or more, you had better think again.”
“I’m going to be turning off my phone now, Mom. And it’s going to stay off. I won’t be answering calls, texts, or emails. I need some time and space to think. In under two weeks, I’ll be back home, and if there’s any way to fix this or repair our relationship, we can work at it then. Please respect that I need this time. This is my life, and I want to live it my way.”
“Is that a threat?” My mom gasps. I’ve never spoken to her like this before. I’ve never been this angry, flabbergasted, or shocked before. I’ve never had a reason to despise my parents, but it’s different now after finding out they lied to me my entire life.
Well, no, that’s not true. I don’t despise them, but I also have this feeling in my gut that says they traded my life away, signed it off to someone else, and also signed away my freedom in order to keep their inheritance. Yes, I’ve benefited from that money. And yes, I had a great childhood. I was fairly spoiled, and I had every opportunity. I went to a private school, and I have a year left to go for my degree, which was all paid for. Also, the car I’m driving, the clothes I’m wearing…all of it was paid for by them.
I just wish they could have been honest a lot sooner. I wish I had known it was really me funding everything because I had no future other than to give my life to a man I didn’t choose because, yeah, somehow, that’s going to unite our two families.
What the actual hot and spicy sandwich pickles is that nonsense?
“I have to go, Mom. I really need to pee.”
“You’re not going to use the facilities in some dicey area, are you? It’s not safe!” my Mom exclaims.
“Worse. I’m going to pee on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.”
“Nina! No! Have you lost your mind? I don’t even recognize you right now! You’re being reckless. You’re out of control, you’re—”
That makes two of us. “Bye, Mom. I’ll call you this time next week. I’m mad as heck, and I don’t understand any of this, but I still love you. All of you. I’ll be safe, and I’ll take care of myself. You don’t need to worry.”
I end the call, knowing there is nothing I can say that won’t create a shitstorm of worry, but it is what it is. I didn’t start this. I’m just going to do what everyone says to do and finish it.
If I can meet my objective, then she’ll know where I am, whether I turn my phone back on and take her calls or not.
I power down my phone before I get out of the car and walk around to the passenger side.
At least it’s freaking June. There are worse times for a road trip in the Northern US. Like, say, January. Winter isn’t always kind to the north.
It’s currently just after five-thirty in the morning and balmy out here. The sun is working its golden way up in the fiery sky. Trusting that my family made good on their threats to freeze my bank account, I slept in my car last night rather than risk humiliation when my credit card got declined at some motel on the side of the road. I had just over a thousand dollars cash kicking around the house, which I was able to grab and stuff in my purse. The whole under-the-mattress savings thing really would have come in handy. I don’t know why I ever thought those people were crazy.