As she listened to Linda on the phone, she wondered what her mother was going through. Linda was always good at telling other people how to solve their problems, but she rarely talked about her own. Growing up, Leela protected herself from her mother’s erratic behavior by imagining herself being any place but there with Linda. Leela’s older sister, Leslie, went away to college at the age of seventeen, and stayed away. Over the years, her visits slowed tremendously until they dwindled to a major holiday-only phone call. “How far away are you?” Linda asked. “I’m less than ten minutes away.” “I’m closer. So don’t make a move until I get there,” Leela said. “Okay. Well, hurry. We need to get this taken care of like yesterday.” Leela ended the call and looked over at Riley. “Thank you for helping us with this.” “You ain’t gotta thank me for supporting you. We’re a team, and I’m the captain of the team. That’s what I’m supposed to do.” They pulled into the parking lot of Leela’s grandfather’s assisted-living complex and got out of the car.
