Free Condemn Me Not by Dianne Venetta, Jaxadora Design Page A

beside them.  “I’m starting this
business with Logan whether you approve of it or not.”
    “Okay,”
Simone said.  “Fine.  You’re set on it.  How about you delay it for a year? 
Take some courses at Amherst in business and learn how to run your recycling
company, the finances, the contracts, etc.  Then, if you still want to start it
after a year, I’ll help you with the money.”
    Distrust
clawed at Mariah’s eyes.  “You know I can’t take any business classes the first
year.  They require freshmen to take a basic repeat of high school—which is a
waste of time.”
    “No,
it’s not,” Simone countered.  “You have electives you can take.  Make them
business, accounting.”
    “You’re
just trying to put me off in hopes I’ll change my mind.”
    “And
what if you do?  Is that so bad?”  You’re so young, Simone hammered silently.  You
have no idea.  You’ll change your mind about so many things over the next ten
years.  But if she spoke her thoughts out loud, Mariah would consider them an
insult.  “Maybe it would mean you found something better,” she offered.
    “You’re
only saying that because you think Logan would break up with me.”
    “No,
I’m not.”  But now that she mentioned it, the idea was definitely appealing. 
“Why would he break up with you?”
    “Because
Amherst isn’t in Boston.  It’s two hours away.”
    And
the boy couldn’t hack a little separation ?  Sadness poured into Simone,
soaking her heart in despair.  Was his relationship with Mariah that tenuous? 
The bond that professed to be strong enough to start a business together wasn’t
tough enough to hack a two-hour drive?  Simone didn’t know what Logan would do
if Mariah went to college and he stayed in Boston.  Maybe they’d grow apart,
meet new people, maybe they wouldn’t.  All she did know was that she was
failing her daughter, failing to protect her from herself and her youthful
idealism.  There was so much Mariah didn’t know, didn’t understand—but how to
get her to listen?  How to get her to grasp the hard reality she was going to
be living?
    Boston
wasn’t cheap.  It was expensive to live here and if you lived outside the city,
the commute would cost you.  Simone sharpened her gaze.  Maybe a stronger dose
of realism would succeed.  As much as it pained her to force her daughter’s
hand, it was for her own good.  Mariah needed to consider the consequences of
what she was doing.  “Have you picked out your apartment yet?”
    “What?”
    “You
heard me.”  Simone wrestled with the angst seizing at her breast, tearing
through her heart as she continued, “You’re going to need somewhere to live. 
Have you checked into rent?”
    “You’re
kicking me out?” Mariah asked, gripped by sudden and total shock.
    “Well,
if you’re going to be making adult decisions, you need to live like one which
means paying the bills on your own.”
    Mariah
shook her head, the movement slow and stunned.  “I can’t believe you...”
    “What’s
not to believe?” Simone asked, the mild elevation in tone the only hint as to
the fear splintering through her chest.  She didn’t want to push Mariah away,
but she wanted her to see the whole picture.  Needed her to see it so
she would quit this fantasy play.
    Mariah
appeared to stumble, and placed a hand to the cream-colored wingchair.  She
rolled her weight backward and cupped its wooden frame, leaning her body against
it.  The fight went out of her.  “I thought you’d be supportive of my venture. 
I mean, once you got past the shock of my not going to college and all.  But
then...”  She paused and peered at her mother, a stabbing disappointment in her
eyes.  “I thought you’d be proud of me.”
    The
cut was so quick and deep, Simone struggled to maintain her composure.  She
clutched hold of the nearby sofa table, the glossy edge hard within her palm. 
“I am proud of you, but not like this, not throwing away