I told myself this often, especially on the way home from St. Paul. The dog, which continuously sniffed things up into her nose and then sneezed them out, was dubbed Hoover during the ride. I didn’t have much to say to anyone but her. Luis tried to draw me out a couple of times, but it wasn’t until we were closer to home and most of my anger had cooled that I would talk to him normally. He told me he could see I was upset at Gabriel, but he couldn’t understand why. That ended the conversation right there. I wasn’t getting Luis on my side that was for sure. It was eleven PM when I walked in the door, trying to be quiet in case everyone was sleeping. Meri jumped up immediately and came to hug me. “We missed you!” she said. She stepped back and looked at Luis. “Oh, hi Luis.” She gave me a quizzical look. “He’s cool,” I said. “And I don’t have to worry about someone accidentally touching me or anyone giving me hugs.” I tried to sound positive about this, but Phil and Meri had known me for too long not to see that I’d been very upset.
