I knocked and got the same response.
I turned the doorknob and it opened, so I stepped in.
And right back to my childhood.
There were at least six empty vodka bottles scattered around the coffee table. The stale smell of booze clung to the air and seemed almost tangible. Paper plates and glasses, several days old, were strewn across the carpeting.
Peeking into the kitchen, I saw the sink and counter were full of dishes that hadn’t seen cleaning in a while.
I took a deep breath and walked back to the bedroom.
Carolina was passed out on the bed, snarled among the sheets and blankets. Her blouse was wrinkled and unbuttoned. Her makeup was smudged, the mascara having run down past her eyes, giving her face a macabre appearance.
I walked closer to the bed.
Her chest rose and fell evenly, as she breathed out through her mouth.
I’d stood in the exact same spot and seen the exact same thing so many times before.
The relationships that had been destroyed in the last week flashed through my mind.
I had hoped that Carolina and I were repairing ours. But she’d made a promise that she couldn’t keep. It wasn’t so much about anger as it was disappointment. A week earlier, maybe I would have stormed out of the house and made some sort of declaration about a future without her.
Instead, I pulled the blankets over her as best I could and locked the front door to the house behind me when I left.
I looked at Liz sitting in my car. Her head was back-she was probably dozing. There was nothing I could do about Carolina at the moment. But another chance with Liz was in front of me and that was more than enough to satisfy me for the time being.
I got in the car, stuck the key in the ignition, did a U-turn, and pointed us back toward the freeway.
Her eyes on me for a few minutes before she spoke.
As we glided down the on-ramp, she asked, “Everything okay?”
I moved the Jeep into the fast lane, thinking again of Linc, Peter, Malia, Deacon, Lonnie, and my mother. Chances missed and chances taken.
I reached over and covered Liz’s hand with mine, determined to find that sunshine up the coast.
