Violet

The move from New York to Richmond, Virginia was hard on my mother, Kathy Monti. I could see it in the way she gripped the steering wheel tight, her knuckles turning white with the force of her hold. I could hear it in her tired voice and the soft tones she used as she spoke about a fresh start in a new place. The drive took about six hours and when we entered Richmond, I couldn’t believe how much open space there was.  “It’s so pretty out here.”  I spoke up, finally cutting through the silence the long car ride had caused. My mother only briefly smiled at me before turning her eyes to the road as she led us through the different areas of town until we made it to our new home. She pulled her new car into the driveway and put it in park as we stared at the new red brick house. I remained quiet as I examined the place, turning my eyes over the red brick, garage door, and front lawn. I wanted to look at the neighbors houses so I quietly opened my car door and stepped out.  I listened as she stepped out of the car with me and walked around to the passenger side where I was. We were both leaned up against the side of the car now and I almost wanted to smile at the fact that I could stretch out my legs finally.  “Why don’t we go over a few things and then we can go inside okay?” My mom’s voice floated to me as I turned back and looked at her, unaware I had been slowly moving around the driveway to stretch my legs while I stared out at all the neighboring houses. I nodded my head once at her and that seemed to be enough clarification as she launched into all of the details she wanted to give me.  “So, this is our new house, it’s a one story brick house, nothing like the crappy apartment we had back home. I want us to spend the next few days unpacking and I want to try to get you enrolled in the nearest school by next week, on Monday. So I think maybe on Friday, we might try and go shopping and get you some new clothes and some school supplies.”  I shivered from the November cold as I nodded my head once in her direction. However, before I could speak, she beat me to it.  “Why don’t we go check out the inside and then we can get some of the bigger boxes moved in? Our rooms are on opposite sides of the house, with the living room in between.”  I listened to her talk as I followed her up the driveway, down the sidewalk by the front door and then onto the porch. She fumbled with her purse for a moment as she drew her keys from within and quickly unlocked the front door. Once we stepped inside, I was impressed with how beautiful this place was. The front door was located in the front room, to the left of that was a small area for a table and a window overlooking the front yard. To the right was the living room. We continued on into the living room that looked rather large from where I was standing. The room was a beige color with light brown couches and a dark brown coffee table to match.  There was a large stone fireplace up against the opposite wall of the couches and a flat screen hanging above the mantle of the fireplace. On either side of the fireplace were cabinets and shelves all made of a dark cherry oak color. There were windows on the far right wall along with a back door leading to a fenced in yard.  “Let me show you your room.”  I followed behind my mother as she led me to the right side of the living room, through a hallway. There were only three doors on this side of the house. She stopped at the farthest door on the right side of the hallway.  “This is your bedroom.”  My mother reiterated once again as she opened the door and allowed me to step inside first. The room was fairly large, with a door for the closet on the same wall that the entrance door was on, and then there was another door on the wall facing my new bed.  “What’s that door lead to?” I asked softly.  “It leads to a bathroom, you’re gonna love the shower and bathtub.” My mother spoke up as she opened the bathroom door.  The bathroom was larger than I was used to. There were double sinks with double cabinets on either side of the counter and a garden tub, along with a shower next to that. The shower wasn’t huge or anything and it was covered by fogged glass. The colors in the bedroom and bathroom were the same as the living room, beige and cherry oak colors. I walked by my mother back out into the bedroom. The bed was a queen size with a black and grey comforter set on it. There were a few black and beige throw pillows sat on top of the bed and I was honestly impressed at my mothers tastes. On either side of the bed were two black night stands with black lamps on them and against the wall with the closet door was a black dresser with five pull out drawers. On the right side of the room there was a large window covered with black and beige curtains.  “I know you had said, before the move, that you were saving money for us to get out with, I didn’t realize you had enough money saved to get us such a nice house.” I spoke up, hoping to not offend her with the talk of money.  “That’s because I didn’t tell you how much I had saved and how long I had been saving for. Do you like the house? And your room?” She questioned quickly as she looked at me concerned. I tried to ease her concern with a soft smile.  “I think it looks great, very spacious. Honestly it will be nice to have my own bathroom.” I tried to chuckle softly but it turned into a cough when I noticed my mother’s sad face. As a way to distract her from the sad thoughts I brought about I spoke up quickly.  “Why don’t you show me your bedroom?” I questioned with a small smile.  This seemed to be enough for her to snap out of her sad thoughts as she threw a full blown smile my way and began making her way out of my new room.  I once again followed her through the living room, into another small cubby of the house on the opposite side of where my room is. She slowly opened her door and I followed her inside to see a similar copy of my room only her bedroom is slightly larger, with a king sized bed instead of queen. She had two sets of dressers in here and a standing jewelry box in one corner of the room. Her walls were painted beige, just like mine, and her comforter was colored red, brown and beige with two brown night stands on either side of her bed.  She had her own private bathroom that held a garden tub, like mine, and a walk in shower. Double sinks and cabinets in her bathroom as well. I should have been surprised at how similar our rooms were but after acknowledging facts about us I realized why they’re more likely to be similar instead of different.  “I love it.”  I spoke up when she looked at me for confirmation. As great as this house was, I needed to step out and get some fresh air. The reality of the move was starting to sink in and I was finding it a hard pill to swallow.  “I think I am going to go for a walk around the neighborhood, try and get familiar with the area before we start unpacking boxes. I won’t be gone long.”  I spoke while heading out of her bedroom, through the living room and towards the front door. I could hear her following behind me closely.  “Don’t forget a coat and maybe some gloves, it’s cold out. Also, try not to be gone too long, it’s getting dark out and we still need to unpack the rest of the boxes. I was thinking about taking us out to eat sometime tonight, that way neither of us have to cook.”  I made out her every word as I found my coat and gloves and made my way to the front door. I stopped when I reached it and put the coat and gloves on. My mother came up behind me and began opening the door for me.  “I won’t forget. I will be back in time to unpack and for us to find food.” I responded as I made my way out of the, now warm house, and into the cold outdoors. I inhaled the fresh cold breeze as I looked up into the light grey sky, when I exhaled I could see my breath appear in a cloud and I watched as it slowly dissipated away. For a fraction of a second I smiled to myself and a calm washed over my nerves. With my head held high I began to make my way down the street, letting my eyes roam over all of the different types of houses and cars lining the block. I saw no one else outside and smiled to myself. Truthfully I enjoyed the silence and solitude, it allowed my mind time to recover from the noise of the day. It was hard to do this in the car earlier. With a nod of my head I continued walking down the street, no set destination in mind.