Chapter 10

It was mid-morning on November twenty-sixth before I set out. I checked messages again like a fool.

Because it ended up being only me, I decided to save the expense of an inn, and beg my folks to find room for me at their house. I’d sleep on the floor. Didn’t matter. My mother found a spot for me in one of the spare rooms.

Normally it wouldn’t have been an issue, but their house was in the middle of revisions to one of the bedrooms. My sister and her family would be in another. The room I was staying in was their exercise room. They’d bring in a cot for me.

And so I left Los Angeles behind, temporarily, though I knew the family unit would attempt to convince me to stay, and headed up north for their San Jose home.

On the way, I got a little Dionne Warwick in me and belted out “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” Fortunately there were no dogs around to torture with my terrible singing. But it did improve my mood. 2