the back seat of Danny’s two door Corolla upon our departure. Lauri and Danny both had their front seats pushed back as far as they could go, making it impossible for me to get comfortable in the tight confines of the back seat. Danny had his seat pushed back for comfort, as he was a fairly big guy driving a small car. Lauri, however, did it to spite me and to make sure that I was uncomfortable. Next to me sat all of our bags, as the trunk was filled with Danny’s crap. You couldn’t even squeeze a penny in there.
The tension in the car was greater than that in the motel room and I’ve never felt more uncomfortable in my life, especially around Lauri. We drove in silence for almost 40 minutes before she asked, “So, did you sleep with him, Karen?”
“What? No,” I said. “I don’t know what you think, Lauri, but nothing happened. I mean something happened, but not in the way you’re thinking.”
She turned her body in her seat so she could look at me, all scrunched up in the back. “What is that supposed to mean, Karen?”
“It means that we like each other. I had such an amazing time with him last night. We talked about so much, I feel like I’ve known him forever.” I could feel myself smiling. “We only got the room because we needed somewhere to sleep. He wasn’t disrespectful in any way, Lau. He’s amazing. And I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like I’m falling for him,” I gushed, hoping my confession would cut some of the tension.
“You’ll get over it, you know, when you never see him because you guys live so far away from each other, you’ll get over it. You don’t really like him, Karen. You don’t know him well enough to like him. You like the idea of him because you just got dumped.”
“Lauri,” Danny snapped. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you say that?”
Her hurtful words caused tears to well up in my eyes.
“Because it’s true, Danny. When was the last time you met someone and were in love instantly? It doesn’t happen and she’s just using Ramsey as a rebound,” Lauri said, spoken like a true bitch. She looked at me and said, “Are you seriously going to cry now?”
I blinked and the tears streamed down my face. Usually, coherently speaking wasn’t an option when I cried, but I composed myself enough to say, “I don’t know what I did to you in order for you to be so hurtful to me. Whatever it is, I’m sorry, ok. I honestly thought you’d be happy about this, since you’re the one who set it up. But you’re not for some reason and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous.”
“Now why would I be jealous over you liking a junkie?”
“Lauri,” Danny shouted again. “Shut the hell up, because you know what, it does sound like you’re jealous.”
She did as he said and she turned around and shut her mouth. We sat in silence the rest of the ride back to Montrose and my wheels were turning. All I could think of was the word junkie.
10
When we arrived back to Woodbury Road, Danny pulled into the driveway and helped us get our bags out of the car. He didn’t bother walking us in, nor did he say goodbye to either of us before he got back in his car and sped away.
As soon as we opened the door to Lauri’s house, we were ambushed by her darling parents. “How was your trip, girls? Did you have fun and relax?” her mom, Joanne, asked going on and on. Joanne and Steve Ryan were like second parents to me. Joanne grew up with my mother and Steve grew up with my father. They were my parents best friends and treated me like one of their own. The Ryan’s house was the only place, beside my parents’ house, that I felt totally comfortable and at home.
“Yeah, it was great, Mom,” Lauri answered. “Karen wants Ramsey to drive her home instead of dad,” she said abruptly as she glared at me.
Joanne turned to me and said, “Oh Karen, you’ll have to let your parents know about this first. I can’t just let him take you home.” I nodded my head to let her know that I understood her point. Joanne continued to speak and said, “Ramsey, huh. He’s such a nice boy!” as she put her arms around me and hugged me. I’m sure she was happy for me that I had met someone nice, unlike her bitchy daughter who actually seemed mad about the whole situation.
I walked over to the white phone that hung on their kitchen wall and began to dial my phone number. As I pressed the illuminated buttons, Lauri made a bee line for her room. The slamming of her door indicated that she made it inside.
“Hello,” my mother said sweetly as she answered the phone.
“Hey Mom,” I answered.
“Karen, it’s so good to hear your voice. How are you? How was your weekend? Are you back at Joanne and Steves’? What time is Steve bringing you back?” she went on. I don’t even think she stopped for a breath.
“I’ll tell you all about it when I get home. One of Lauri’s friends offered to drive me back down. I’d really like him to. What do you think?” I nervously asked.
She paused for a minute, soaking in what I had just asked her. My mom was very protective of me and always tried to treat me like a child. I was her baby after all. But, we often fought about her not giving me enough freedom and I knew in her silence, she must have been screaming “NO” in her mind. When she finally spoke she said, “Let me talk to Joanne for a minute.”
I handed Joanne the phone and heard her saying, “Oh Adele, he’s such a nice boy. He’s smart, handsome, athletic.” And after a pause she went on, “Oh yes, I would definitely trust him with Lauri. He’s really a great kid, Adele.” Then after another pause she said, “Ok, here she is,” and Joanne handed me the phone with a smile on her face.
I put the phone to my ear and apprehensively said, “Hello”.
“Ok, so he can drive you home, but you have to call me right before you leave Joanne’s house ok. It should not take you more than an hour and a half, and if you’re in traffic, try to pull over and find a pay phone and call me collect to tell me that you’re in traffic or else I’ll sit here and go crazy waiting for you. Do you understand, Karen?” I knew this was a huge step for my mother and that she was probably holding back tears as she gave me her speech, so I simply said, “Thank you, Mom. I’ll call you when we are about to leave. I love you.”
I couldn’t contain my excitement and let out a squeal. Now all I had to do was get in touch with Ramsey. Shit, I didn’t even have his number, and I hated that I had to ask Lauri for it. She did tell him to call us when he got home, so I guess I’d just wait.
About 20 minutes and a cup of coffee later, Lauri emerged from her room and joined us in the kitchen. There was still a lot of tension between her and I, and it was too uncomfortable for me to sit there like that. I needed to get out of there. “Hey, where’s Jenn?” I asked, hoping that she would be home any minute and could give me Ramsey’s phone number so I could call him and get out of the hell I was in. Jenn was Lauri’s sister, who was my senior by a few months. We were really close as well, but she was either always working or on a date, so we didn’t hang out as much as Lauri and I did.
“Work until seven,” Steve said, lighting a cigarette. That was another reason that I loved coming upstate to stay with the Ryans’. Joanne and Steve would sit at the kitchen table all day and drink coffee, smoke butts and watch television. They were so laid back and relaxed, and so different from my parents in that way.
“Oh, ok,” I said, hiding my disappointment. I excused myself and said I was going to go for a walk, as I often did when I went up there. I loved walking around admiring the big, beautiful houses in their neighborhood. I asked that if Ramsey happened to call, to tell him come get me whenever he was ready. I also asked that if he did call, to beep me so I could start heading back to the house.
Lauri ignored me as Joanne said, “Of course, sweetie.” I then headed out the door.
I didn’t walk for long, but my mind was racing the whole time I was out. At first I thought about my mothers