Chapter 41

After the final bell, I walked outside to feel the warmth of the late-spring sun on my face. There was a gentle breeze and several passing puffy white clouds cast a brief shadow across the sidewalk ... spring fever had me tightly in its grip. As I walked unhurriedly down the sidewalk I looked up. A wide smile came to my face when I saw my mother waiting at the curb for me. She was driving my old door-less and topless Jeep that she had helped me purchase for my eighteenth birthday. I had eyed that vehicle at old Mr. Jenkins used car lot for quite some time. It had sat there for months as I tried to save the two thousand dollars to buy it before someone else did. However, the present to my mom for her birthday had totally depleted my funds. When she said she would help me purchase it, I was so incredibly excited. I put in a lot of extra hours at the pizza joint, but without her help I could never have afforded it. Now I am the envy of all my friends. When I don't take the Jeep to school—due to a shortage of gas money, Mom will drive it and thankfully fill the tank. She says driving the Jeep makes her feel young. Her car is a ten-year-old minivan she got before my dad left. Some days, like today, she comes to pick me up from school when she has a day off or can get off early from work. I never mind my mom showing up at school like some kids do. Most of them would be horrified if their parents came to school for any reason. Not me. I love for my friends to see my mom. I am so proud of her. Not only is she gorgeous, but she's smart too. When I was young she earned her teaching credentials and taught school for almost ten years. But Dad wanted her to be a "stay at home mom", so she quit. I think she misses teaching a lot. Then when Dad left, she applied for a teaching job, but due to budget cuts at the state level, none were available. To make ends meet, she took a job at a large marketing firm as a low level administrative assistant. After only a couple years she became a senior marketing executive. She says that she was just in the right place at the right time, but I know better. She earned everything she has gotten.