And then I opened my eyes and saw some heavy, dingy green curtains. The same crummy curtains my old lady had bought at Peacock for my room, so at first I was sure I was back in my house. It was the first time I’d slept in a bed in days and I’d slept so soundly my memory had flown away. I totally forgot that I’d beaten my mother to death; to me, at that moment, the old lady was just an annoying woman I had to put up with. I was positive she’d slipped into my room while I was asleep and was whispering something. Shut the hell up! Get outta here! The old lady, after all, was the only woman I was close to, so I figured it had to be her.“No, I’m fine. Believe me.”But it wasn’t my mother talking. It was the girl I’d just met, this high school girl who went by this kind of embarrassing nickname. Finally the memory came back to me—my mother was dead. Thank God, I thought, she’s no longer in this world. She’s vanished forever. I was so relieved I started to laugh, silently.
