AJ lay down on the couch, finally alone. His mother had listened to what happened and then helped him clean up the mess that was his living room. She told him she would be back in a few hours with lunch and suggested that he try to get some more rest. Yeah, he thought, like that’s going to happen!
------------------------------
“Oh my god! Where did you come from?” Brooke screeched, running over to her cousin who was just waking up. “I thought you left last night!”
Alissa, still groggy, tried to explain what happened to her cousin.
“I did leave and go to the airport. As I was checking in, I realized that I had forgotten my license in the cab and I needed it to get through security. I ran back to the cab stand but he had already left. The porter called him back and we spend 25 minutes digging through his backseat before I found my license. By the time I got through security and down to the gate, I realized it was 8 and I missed my plane.” Alissa took a deep breath and then chuckled. “I guess my luggage got to Boston without me!”
Brooke laughed out loud and grabbed her cousin pulling her onto her feet. She started to drag her into the kitchen then stopped halfway and turned to face her cousin.
It just dawned on Brooke. “Why in the hell did you sleep out here last night?”
Alissa smiled and said, “I guess your key got to Boston without me too!”
--------------------
Denise returned a few hours later and found her son sitting in the backyard with his head in his hands.
“AJ, I’m back. Do you want to come in and eat something?” Denise yelled through the back door.
“No” AJ yelled back. “I just want to sit out here for a while.”
Denise walked outside and took a seat next to her son. “You know you have to eat something right?”
“I’m not interested in doing anything!” AJ snapped. “What I really want to do is crawl back into bed and stay there!”
Denise just shook her head. Her son was too stubborn for his own good, but she had learned which battles she could pick with him over the years. This was not one of them.
