Chelsea

“Tomorrow’s the big day, huh?” I hadn’t made the phone call to Carp the night of my mom’s funeral. I couldn’t bring myself to dial because I couldn’t bear for him to ask how things had gone.

“Yeah, I leave in less than eight hours. I’ve got to be at JFK at oh-dark-thirty.”

“I should let you go so you can get some sleep.”

“I can talk for a bit. I doubt I’ll sleep anyhow.”

I went through the checklist of things he needed to remember…like I was his mother instead of some strange cell phone pen pal he’d picked up at his father’s birthday party. “The ring. If you don’t remember anything other than the ring and your passport, you’ll be fine.”

“Got them both.”

“Don’t put the ring in your suitcase. I’ve heard the airlines search them, and you could lose it to someone who gets grabby in security.”

“Jesus, that would send me into a tailspin. Can you imagine?”