Throwing the new MK suitcase on the bed I rapidly throw the neatly folded clothes inside. Grabbing my hairspray, sunglasses, and phone in one hand and clutching onto my plane ticket in the other, I look over to my mom who’s standing in the doorway. She’s been acting a tad bit strange lately. She gives me a smile but, I can tell it isn’t sincere. “Ma, what’s wrong?” I ask, placing the hairspray and sunglasses in the suitcase. She slowly shakes her head and points to the suitcase. I nod and walk over to my closet pulling different pairs of shoes out. I shoot each one a disgusted glance, shooing it aside. Before hearing steps come closer to me. Turning I see my aunt.
“Your flight leaves in about two hours. You should’ve been gone by now, I told you to finish last night,” she remarks. I take in her appearance, white fluffy name brand robe that probably costs more than the house itself, pink curlers in her hair, separators in-between her toes because she just got them painted, and make-up caked on her face. Her eyes scan over the items I’ve packed and I roll my eyes, hoping she doesn’t catch the disrespectful, non-verbal remark.
“Yeah I know but, one thing led to another and it just never got done,” I retort, almost pushing another eye roll in. “Well hurry up, I got a Lyft to pick you up and take you to the airport.” She adds, I nod and watch her swiftly walk out of my bedroom.
A few more minutes of snatching, pouting, and having a temper tantrum over what I should wear, I quickly grab all three of my bags and run out to my ride completely forgetting to tell my mom and my aunt, ‘Goodbye.’
Rushing and swerving and praying that I won’t die, I make it to the airport in one piece. Navigating myself through the ‘oh so familiar’ airport, I make it to security. I turn and see my mom standing behind me, “Ma, what the hell are you doing here? You should be at home.” She tilts her head slightly to the side, letting her long, brown hair flow. “You can’t come with me. How did you even get here?” Asking, I finally make my way towards the front of the line.
I look over at the overweight security woman, watching as she disgustingly pops her gum. “Will you please tell this woman to leave? She doesn’t even have a flight scheduled.” I demand. Watching her thick eyebrows furrow in confusion, she stares at me. “What woman? There’s absolutely no one behind you.” She asks. My mother looks toward me, teary-eyed. I narrow my eyes at the security woman, “My mother, she’s standing right here, right behind me. How can you not see her?” The security woman continues to stare at my mother like she’s not even there. I roll my eyes once more and get through, starting my trek to my flight gate.
Boarding the flight, I’m the very first person on due to my, ‘Row 1, Seat 1, First Class’ Ticket. I give everyone evil smirks as they huff and puff in jealousy and frustration.
Landing in Nassau, Bahamas hours later, I hop of the plane and stroll to baggage claim to retrieve my belongings. Walking outside to have my dad flag me down, I jog over to his freshly washed vintage Mercedes. Giving him a huge hug I tell him about the journey.
He’s absorbed in the conversation until the parts where my mom is brought up. “X.” He states, “Tammie, your mom, died in car crash when you were only a few months old. I’ve told you this numerous times.” I look in the back seat to see if she’s there but she isn’t. “But that can’t possibly be true, she was with me the whole time. She was with me on the flight and everything.” I state.
Waking up from dream, I take in the events, the events that only happened several months ago. Running to the bathroom and splashing water onto my face, those events keep forcing themselves to the front of my mind. I remember that day, that day when I completely forgot about my mom’s death and interacted with her as if she was really alive and with me. I must’ve looked completely insane at the airport. No wonder she never answered me when I spoke to her, no wonder she looked sad when the security said she couldn’t see her. She was silent because she died and I wasn’t able to remember her voice.
Everyone reminds me that she’s dead, but not to me, because I know she’ll always be with me.