THE next day, my mom looked surprised when I told her that I would be hanging out with some friends from school. As far as my family knows, I’m not the type who likes to hang out with friends. Carmela and I usually hang out in the diner when we’re working, and when we’re not working, we just hang out at each other’s houses. Since her mom got sick, we never got to hang out outside of the hospital anymore.
When my mom asked which friends I was hanging out with, I mentioned Mariah and her friends. She asked if there would be boys, and I said, “Probably.” My parents trusted me implicitly, so she didn’t ask any more questions, and my mom just told me to avoid alcohol and stay with my girlfriends.
When she asked where we were going and how I was getting there, I told her that it would be at Dr
