Free Ghost Program by Marion Desaulniers Page B

what would I do if I didn’t spend the day at college?  I’d be stuck in my awful house where God knows what would happen to me.  I needed to leave for my own good. 
     
       “Fuck-it-all, I’ll just put a hat on,” I muttered to myself.  I re-wet the washcloth and washed my face with stinging, hot water, wrung the washcloth out, and set it to dry on the towel rack, then returned to my room and hoisted my heavy backpack on my shoulders.  I still couldn’t bring myself to look at the bathtub, to look behind that forbidding shower curtain.  If mom saw the spilt blood....I couldn’t think about that now.
     
       In my room I found a purple baseball cap, placed it on my head, and walked downstairs.
     
       I half expected to find mom laying passed out on the coffee table, surrounded by empty wine bottles and cast aside lingerie, the vacuum man asleep in an armchair, his bleeding eyes staining the blue upholstery scarlet, but the living room was clean and vacant.  A shiny new, stainless steel vacuum cleaner sat in the corner.  The familiar smell of bacon, coffee, and eggs wafted from the kitchen, and eagerly I strolled towards those pleasant and reassuring scents.  Mom was in the kitchen wearing a fluffy white bathrobe and flipping pancakes.
       “Going to class?” she asked.  She seemed in good spirits.  “Sorry I didn’t mention this last night, but your dad had to spend the night in town.  That was some storm!  Glad we still have a roof over our heads.  Our neighbors were nearly killed!  A tree fell straight through their bedroom, missing their heads by only inches.  They called early this morning from their motel.  I just don’t know what I would’ve done if it’d been us.  Really makes you think about how precious life is and how easily it can be lost.  Drive slow out there today, Sam, the roads are murder.”
       “Why were you dancing with that man last night?” I asked.
       “What man?” she asked with a sincere and blank look on her face.  I didn’t think she was acting.
       “Never mind,” I said.  “I’ll take a pancake and some bacon.  I’m starved.”
       “Comin’ right up,” she said and arranged the food on my plate with her spatula.  Grease pooled around the meaty strips, and my mouth began to water.
     
       I sat at the kitchen table, placing my plate in front of me, grabbing the maple syrup and drenching it on my pancake while using a free hand to pour myself a serving of orange juice.
       “How long do you have left till university?” she asked.
       “Two weeks.”
       “That isn’t long.  Did you find out where you were going to be living when you get there?  You’re not actually going to drive every morning, are you?  Dad said he asked you, but you weren’t sure.”
       “Brent’s gonna let me stay at his place.”  I saw the strange look on her face.  “It’s just till I find something better.”
       “I thought most of your friends from high school were in the sororities,” she said, looking a little worried.
       “I know, mom, but the noise.  I’m a light sleeper, and besides that I like some privacy.”
       “Well, I think you should consider it.”
       “They don’t rush till September, it’s just now the end of April.  I’ll have the summer to think it over.”
       “You could take the summer off,” she suggested.
       “I’m not gonna do that.  I told you, I’ll stay with Brent, and maybe go to the Greek houses in the fall.  It’s not that bad, mom.  He’s a nice guy.”
       “You trust him that much?”
       “I do.  Really, I know you think it’s bad, but it’s not.  He’s just trying to help.”
     
       Mom shook her head.  I knew that she thought I should be living with other girls , but I liked the idea of living with Brent.  I’d have a closer friend in Brent than anyone I’d known in high school or any girl I might meet at university.  Although I hadn’t