Saved By Her Guitar

“You need to start setting your alarm,” Melanie shouted in Morgan’s ear.
“Huh?” Morgan jumped up.
“It’s ten o’clock.”
“Aw, c’mon,” Morgan groaned irritated.
She ran to the bathroom and came out thirty minutes later.
“Ready!”
She headed down the stairs with Melanie right behind her. She grabbed the keys from the side table and headed into the garage.
Morgan stopped beside the car, “Mornin’, Saab.”
“Mo?”
“I’m about to rock your world.”
They got in and Melanie pulled her seatbelt as tight as it would go. Morgan whipped out of the garage and sped toward the hospital. Once they got there, Melanie started talking.
“I can’t wait to see Momma! I’ll be she’s pink again and her dark brown hair is shiny. What if she’s wearing make-up? Do you think she’s wearing make-up? I know that sounds crazy but…” she rambled on.
It took everything in Morgan not to hit her but she understood her little sister’s nervousness.
They came to the door.
“Ready?” Morgan asked.
Melanie took a deep breath the nodded.
She opened the door and let Melanie in first.
“Mommy?”
Morgan glanced at the name on the door again: Madison McCall. As if the plague on the door with it’s engraved name meant that she had been here for a while and would be here for a while. Like a job. Morgan shivered.
Madison was sitting up with a blue and black scarf on her head. Morgan laughed lightly.
“Girls,” she said smiling.
She hugged Melanie and kissed her. Morgan knew people who were getting treated were fragile. She was scared to hug her.
Madison looked at Morgan.
It seems she subconsciously put on a power pink fitted t-shirt. Her hair hung over her shoulders unnoticeably getting longer. Dillan’s necklace hung out in the open.
She held her arms open, “C’mere, baby.”
She held Morgan tightly and Morgan almost cried.
“You didn’t crash my car, did you?”
Morgan laughed.
“Oh, god, Mo. I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
They came out of the hug.
“I didn’t send you to New York to punish you. I honestly thought I was failing you.”
“No, Momma. I was failing you. It took being sent to New York to realize that I should’ve been doing right. But we have time to make up. I can’t wait.”
Madison smiled weakly, “Yes. Time.”
“I can’t wait to be home permanently either,” Melanie agreed.
“So, what’ve you been up to, Mo? Anything new?”
“Only that she has a boyfriend.”
Morgan stared at Melanie wide-eyed.
“Maybe you’ll let me sit next to the window on the way back.”
“Maybe I’ll kill you and you won’t make it back.”
Their mother laughed.
“Mom liked it.”
“She’s laughing because it’s pathetic, unbeknownst to you; instead of cute like you think it is.”
“Unbeknownst, big word. You are your father’s daughter,” she jeered.
“Take that back!” Morgan shouted.
“I missed you girls so much.”
They settled down after that.
“Now, tell me about this boyfriend.”
Morgan handed her phone to her mother.
“His name’s Dillan.”
“Dillan is very handsome, much like that Irish boy in that movie with the boy who’s musically gifted.”
“Jonathan Rhys Meyer from August Rush.”
“Exactly.”
“Dillan’s Irish. He plays soccer and he’s into cars but,” she said quickly, stopping her mother’s worry, “he is not a speed demon.”
“You’re in love.”
Morgan’s blue eyes snapped up to meet their originator.
“Don’t worry. I think it’s good for you. I can see it all over you. Have you, ahem, learned any new tricks?”
“No. Dad found a bunch of ‘stuff’ in my room-
“From school,” her mother reasoned.
“I know. He had me tailed and accused me of prostituting. Well, his secretary-
“Michelle, his lover.”
“The very one. She accused me and I…assaulted her. I-I just got out of jail a month ago?”
“Excuse me? You do mean overnight, don’t you?”
“Overnight for 35 days.”
“What? How?”
“Well, she initially told Mel I was prostituting and all this other bad stuff about me. Mel told me, of course and I drove straight over to hurt Michelle. It turns out that I picked up about ten police cars and some traffic violations.”
“Shelton. His stupidity is why we’ll be getting a divorce.”
“Fantastic,” Morgan and Melanie said together.
“So when can I expect to be back home?” Morgan queried hopefully.
“I’m not sure yet, sweetie. As soon as I know, you’ll know.”
“Good enough for me.”
Morgan strolled over to the window and only heard the beginning of her mother and Melanie’s conversation.
This visit had helped her appreciate her life in California. She hadn’t realized how much she loved and missed her mother and Amanda until she had to leave them again. New York wasn’t for her; she hated it, in fact. She hated the population, the taxis, the people, the smell; the fact that you had to pay for parking when it was available and the point that there were no alleys. Where does the trash go? Oh, yeah, the water.
Pasadena wasn’t exactly a small town but New York being called the Big Apple was an understatement. It was more like the Massive Watermelon. The only good thing that came out of the Massive Watermelon was Dillan. He was, by far, the best boyfriend she ever had.

They stayed with their mother until visiting hours were over. And that was the way it went up until the following Friday. They went every day to talk and to laugh with her until visiting hours were over and done. Friday morning they said their I-love-yous and good-byes then headed home to pack.
They were staring through the television when the bell rang.
“Must be Amanda.”
Morgan skipped to the door and yanked it open.
“Tad,” she said in confused disbelief.
“Hi, Morgan.”
“What’re you doing here?”
“I heard about your mom and that you’d be in town this week.”
Tad was the total opposite of Dillan. He was literally a gold boy: blond hair, hazel eyes, stunning smile, clean shaven, no tattoos, well tanned, straight As, athletic. He drove an Audi A4. It’s funny, to think back on it now, they both had alteria motives for dating each other. Morgan dated him to drive his car every so often and he dated her in hopes of sex. Now she wondered if it was real for either of them.
“You shouldn’t be here, Tad.”
“I just wanted to see how you are.”
“I’m fine. Now you can go.”
“Please, Danika.”
She couldn’t stop herself from laughing but then a sob slipped out. She lowered her head to gather herself. He pulled her to him and she let him. He wasn’t Dillan but his strong embrace helped her imagine.
“Thanks, Tad.”
“Glad to be of service.”
He leaned in to kiss her when Amanda showed herself.
“Tad?” she said, puzzled as she proceeded into the house.
“Bye, Tad.”
“Bye, Danika.”
She smiled and closed the door behind Amanda.
“What was that?”
“He just wanted to see how I was. He seemed sincere.”
“So do babies then they grow up to become us: deceptive, manipulative, sarcastic, smart mouthed, despondent ruffians.”
Morgan applauded her rant with satisfaction.
“You’re leaving in an hour.”
“I know. But don’t worry. I don’t have a best friend in New York. How can I when she’s here?”
They hugged each other for dear life.
“Let us vow to never be frienemies,” Amanda proclaimed.
“Never will we be frienemies,” Morgan vowed.
“Girls?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go.”
“We have an hour,” Morgan complained.
“You can never be too early to the airport. Let’s go.”
Melanie turned off the television and grabbed her bag.
“At least this time I get to say goodbye.”
“Bye, Manny.”
“Bye, Morry.”
They hugged one last time then Amanda left.
“Until next time, Pasadena,” Morgan mumbled locking the door.
Once on the plane she let Melanie sit next to the window.