The Beginning Read Free

in part to her help I was able to get an apartment on-line in Florida, thanks also to my stellar credit rating and a large down payment. But I still didn’t have a job. I had chosen to move to Orlando, the theme park capital of the world. With so many theme parks, malls, and other tourist attractions there had to be somebody who would want to hire me. The pay might not have been great, but it didn’t have to be. Frank was giving me plenty of money and I had saved well over the years.
    When I told the kids that I was going to move to Florida the stuff really hit the fan. How could I move so far away? Didn’t I want to be near my family? Why don’t I just come stay with Angela in New Mexico? All I could say was that I didn’t know why I wanted to go to Florida, I just did. I wanted to tell them to stop questioning me. I am their mother and I have made a decision, if they didn’t like it that was too bad.
    Then when Frankie found out that I was planning to drive the moving truck on my own, he insisted on coming.
    “Mom, are you crazy?” he said.
    “No, dear, but thank you.”
    “You can’t move by yourself. Who’s going to load and unload your stuff for you?”
    “I’ve already hired someone at both locations.”
    “OK, but you can’t do all the driving by yourself.”
    “Yes, I can. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.” I wasn’t. I hated driving, but I didn’t want him tagging along bugging me about the divorce either.
    “No. no, no, no. You are not going by yourself.”
    “Really? Why not?”
    “Because there are psychos out there just waiting for single women who are traveling alone. You need someone there to protect you.”
    “And that would be you?” I laughed.
    “I could do it.”
    “Frankie, I could do it. Your father taught me self defense. In fact if I wanted to I could take you.”
    “I’m still going. I can’t let you travel alone. Not on the highway.”
    I realized there was no arguing with him. He was as stubborn as his father. So, I gave in.
    “Ok, fine you can go. But, I’m still in charge.”
    “Yes, Mommy, you’re in charge.” That didn’t sound patronizing, did it?
    We made arrangements as to when to meet so we could leave when I planned. I hung up the phone wondering what I had agreed to. I loved my son, but we really don’t spend time together anymore. I wasn’t even sure we’d have anything to talk about.
    I was sure that this trip was either going to be a good bonding experience or it was going to be a migraine waiting to happen. Well, at least if it turned out to be a migraine I had someone else to drive.

Chapter 2: Trapped in a Moving truck with a Stranger: My Son
     
    So far the road trip was leaning more toward migraine than it was bonding time. Frankie and I had been on the road for the better part of a day. We’d left Pennsylvania around six in the morning. We watched as the landscape changed from mountainous to flat. We talked about his work, not that I really understood anything about the finance world. I told him about my bonding with Minerva. He found it strange, but said it was nice that I had made a friend. And that was about it, the conversation had ended.
    There were other issues. Frankie’s taste in music was not even remotely similar to mine. And since we had he family rule that the driver picks the music and Frankie insisted on doing most of the driving, I hated the music most of the time. Then there was the driving itself. We drove at different speeds. I chose sensible, he chose manic. I used turn signals; he seemed to think they were optional. In fact, I got so nervous when he drove that I tended to close my eyes when it was his turn. I got a lot of sleep that way. Of course, I’d had years of experience sleeping in a moving vehicle.
    “Mom. Mom.”
    Someone was calling me. It was Frankie. I could hear his voice, but it took me a moment to realize where I was. I must have nodded off again.  I turned my head and looked at him.
    “Yes,