Color Blind

Chapter 18

After the trip, Scott and I became closer than we ever were before. We talked to each other every day on the phone, and between he and I and Lafayette and Tia, our phone bills were outrageous. We all decided that instead of calling so much, we should just visit each other more often. Everyone agreed to that, but unfortunately, neither Tia nor I were willing to go back to Louisiana until it came time for the boys to graduate. It was a time that I had been dreading since our first trip to "the bayou," but I knew that it would have to happen sooner or later. A couple of weeks before they graduated, though, it was Tia's turn to walk across the stage. The plan was for the boys to come down and see her, then for us to all fly back together and watch them.

"Daaang!" Lafayette whistled as he slid into the sleek leather backseat of my new Sebring convertible. "Where'd this come from? Rica, you been strippin' or somethin'? I know your little part time job din't pay for this bad boy."

He and Scott looked at me expectantly, like they really thought my stripping was a possibility.

"Naw, man. My mama gave me this."

"You're kiddin'!" Scott exclaimed and looked back at Tia for confirmation. She returned his perplexed look and nodded. "So...she just bought it for you just to be giving you somethin'?"

"Yep." I kept my eyes on the road. "I think she's trying to get me to come home after I graduate."

"Is...that what you're thinkin' about doin'?" Scott looked over at me curiously.

"Hell no! Why would I do that? I tried to stay away from that place as much as possible when I lived there the first and second time. Why would I want to move back in?"

Scott shrugged and Lafayette leaned forward from the backseat. "Pull over, darlin'. Let me drive."

Tia and I both burst into laughter. "Man, you must be crazy. I barely like to ride when you're driving your own car."

"What? Shorty, I can drive. They tried to recruit me into the Indi500, but I was like naw man. I got things to do..."

"Exactly. That's exactly why you won't be driving this baby any time soon, Lafayette. Because you think you're Go Go Speed Racer."

Lafayette stuck his tongue out at me in the rearview mirror, and then resumed his conversation with Tia.

Scott turned to me. "So...you see your mom a lot more now?"

"No, not really. It's the same old thing. I go over there when I come back in town and try to stay the first day, but then she starts exaggerating about all these pains and problems and gets me all worried so I'll call my grandma. Then they both turn around and get mad at me because by the time Grandma gets there, it's like nothing's even wrong with my mom. Then I get pissed off and stay the rest of the time at Aunt Rachael's. Then everyone jumps on my case for not spending more time with my mom and I feel guilty, so the next time I come into town, I try to stay with her and the same thing happens all over again."

Scott looked at me sympathetically. "Has she been getting any help? You know, like a psychiatrist or something?"

I shook my head sadly. "No. I keep trying to get her to go, but she won't. I've never seen anyone so stubborn in all my life." Scott shot me a sideways glance and chuckled. "What?" I demanded. "I am not as bad as her. I actually went to my shrink."

"That is true," Scott said slowly in his now more southern than northern accent. "Is she comin' to Tia's graduation?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she's supposed to be riding down here with Aunt Rachael." After a long pause, I looked quickly at Scott. "We'll see, though. I bet she comes up with some excuse why she can't make it. That woman really gets on my nerves sometimes. It would shock the hell out of me if she even showed up for my graduation, much less Tia's. Just watch. I bet she won't even be there."