Shifted #Wattys2016

XXXVI

Maxine

We stopped at the Kansas border for a bathroom break. The gas station we were in was tiny, probably family owned, and smelled like gasoline. The bathroom itself was sketchy, I was scared to sit, but it made the trip all the more wonderful.

Bloom made Felix and I stand under the Now leaving Kansas! Come again! sign to have our picture taken.

I then kissed Felix.

We loaded back into the car and started to drive.

Felix was in the passenger seat with Bloom driving. I was sitting in the back, watching Felix sing. The visor was down and I could see his whole face, eyes covered in sunglasses, lips singing along to a crappy 90's pop song.

I loved it. He was happy, without a care in the world.

We stopped in Macon, Missouri and ate at a 24-hour highway McDonald's. I ordered a coffee and a burger. I was next to drive.

Back in the car, Bloom took the back seat, Felix still in the passenger, and I sat behind the wheel.

We talked as I drove.

By seven we were in Springfield, Illinois. It was again Bloom's turn to drive after Felix and I switched off and on through the night.

I was starting to get nervous as we got closer to Chicago. What would I say?

"You want to drive, Max?"

"Sure."

Bloom pulled over and we switched off. I adjusted the seat and started to drive.

"Where first? The hospital?"

"It's up to you," Felix said.

I nodded and turned off the highway towards my neighborhood.

At my house, I pulled out my keys from my backpack and unlocked the front door.

The home was dark, and dirty. The living room was littered with trash and bottles. I flipped on a lamp and sat my backpack down. Dishes were stacked in the sink, and the trash was overflowing. I sighed, looked at Felix and Bloom who were perplexed.

"It's not normally this messy," I explained.

I pulled the blankets off of the couch, clearing off most the mess. "I'm going to clean a little, you can sleep if you want."

Bloom sat down, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep. Just like that.

"I'll help," Felix said, heading to the take out the trash.

"Out back," I said and watched Felix go out the back door.

I sighed and started to load up the dishwasher. Felix picked up trash around the living room and I wiped down the counter. I wanted to vacuum, but didn't want to wake Bloom.

In the bathroom I cleaned the toilet and swept and dumped the trash and wiped down the counter and mirror.

I went into my room. Everything was the same. My bed made, few clothes on the floor, same CD in the stereo.

"You can sleep here. I'm going to clean my mom's room."

Felix nodded and laid down, asleep almost faster than Bloom.

I washed Mom's sheets and threw away all the trash. I folded her clean clothes and put the dirty in a hamper.

I went back to my room and laid down beside Felix, shutting my eyes and falling asleep.

I could hear my mother's raspy, two packs a day voice from down the hall, raising hell and complaining to anyone who would listen.

"Has she been eating well?"

The intern rolled her eyes. "Not as well as we want, but she's been eating."

The intern—Dr. Joyce—knocked on the door jam. "Mrs. Clarke? Your daughter is here to see you."

" 'bout damn time!"

I walked through, my hand falling out of Felix's. "Mom?"

"Maxine! Oh my God, these people are trying to kill me. I swear. Fifty tries just to get this goddamn needle through my arm. And it still ain't right!"

"Mom, please,"

"Any questions for me?" Dr. Joyce asked.

"No, please just go. I'll find you if I have anything to ask."

Joyce left and I sighed, sitting down in the chair beside my mother's bed. "Mom, how'd you burn your arm?"

Mom smiled at me, a drunken smile. But she couldn't be drunk. She's at a hospital. "Maxine, I fell asleep."

"On what?"

"The stove."

I blinked at few times, looking at Felix. He was just as confused and stunned as I was. "Mom, how did you fall asleep on the stove?"

"I wanted pasta. Oh man! I was craving angel noodles. You remember? I used to always make you angel noodles and I'd put a noodle on your nose and call you an angel? Remember? I do... What was I saying?"

"You wanted pasta."

"Oh! Right. Okay, so I put a pot on the stove and I started to boil water—and I know they say a watched pot never boils, but what else was I supposed to do? So I was watching it and it was to the point where it had little tiny bubbles forming on the bottom so I put my elbow and leaned on the counter—like this!" My mother demonstrated on her table. "See, just like that."

"Yes, Mom, and then what?"

"Then, I shut my eyes, and fell asleep. I had this dream where I was roastin' marshmallows and then I let one fall in the fire and the smell was really gross. Then I woke up and my arm was burnin'! I grabbed my keys and drove to the hospital."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Mom!"

"What? How was I supposed to know that makin' pasta would land me here?"

I stood up. "Fe, could you wait here a sec? I need to ask the doctor some questions." I walked out of the room. Dr. Joyce was standing at the nurse's station, almost as if she knew I'd come asking her questions. "Do you think my mother has dementia? I don't know a lot about the disease but I'm just wondering. Because it seemed that she wasn't of sound mind when she burned her arm and she's forgetting what she's talking about and I'm worried because she's my mother and I don't have a father and I'm going to move out pretty soon and once I do she'll be all alone so I need to know if she's dementated or whatever."

Dr. Joyce took a breath. "Ms. Clarke, we think your mother was drunk when the accident happened. We think that she's just a little out of it right now. If these actions continue, call the hospital and we can look into it further. She's a little young to start showing signs of true dementia."

"Okay. You're right. Where are the papers she needs to sign? I've got to get back to Kansas."

Dr. Joyce nodded and handed me a clipboard of papers with a pen. "Read it over and have her sign. Bring this back to me before she leaves her room and let me check it."

I nodded. "Thank you. For taking care of her."