Three Sides – Gabi – 3 (1)

1

My mother only saw Brad.  At first I cheered because it got her off my back.  

It was fantastic that Mom  wasn’t checking my bag for cigarettes or drugs,  she wasn’t telling me to wash the makeup off my face, or that my skirt was too short or my pants too tight.

She wasn’t watching the clock and timing my return from school.

Usually if I was past 3:30 it was a cross-examination. Now I was coming home from school after five.

For the first time I felt free and grown up.