Burning the Map by Laura Caldwell

Author:Laura Caldwell
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Red Dress Ink
Published: 2002-11-05T16:00:00+00:00

I consider calling my dad at the Condom, or maybe Danny, who’s back at school, but there’s a growing line for the phone. I also want to believe that if I don’t talk to any more family members I won’t have to face the reality of the situation. I’m like a child who covers her eyes and thinks you can’t see her, just because she can’t see you.

As I walk back to the picnic table to join everyone, I hold my screwdriver in one hand and pull my sunglasses from my purse, putting them on to hide my eyes. I’m not one of those women who look wistfully beautiful when they’re about to cry. On the contrary, my eyes bulge, my skin splotches and my nose runs. Not pretty.

The ability to hide behind my glasses makes me want to cry even more. I know divorce happens every day, but my parents have been married for twenty-eight years. You don’t just call it quits after nearly three decades.

“How are things at home?” Billy asks as I approach the table.

When I don’t answer immediately, Kat and Lindsey glance up at me. I stand there in the sun, in the protection of my shades, wanting desperately to break down and spill the whole ugly mess. But I feel so distant from them, as if my real family and my family of friends are all falling apart.

“Everything’s okay,” I say, polishing off my screwdriver in a few short swigs. “Everything’s okay,” I repeat to reassure myself.

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