I know what you’re thinking and you’re right. I mean, what the f**k? Hitchhiking after what you’ve just been through! Are you batshit crazy, or what?
The answer is yes, and no. My thoughts were all twisted at the time, so it’s hard to explain why I decided to thumb it home instead of heading for the first phone booth in sight. I guess my brain wasn’t working right.
I wanted my Mom so much, wishing she’d wrap me up in a tight hug like after I’d gotten lost in that national park when I was little. If only I could feel her hand stroking my cheek, maybe I’d find out that this all was just a bad dream. I’d wake up and there she’d be, standing over me, telling me it was time to go to school. I wanted to hear her voice more than anyone’s just then, but things had been better at home. And I ha
