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Chapter 1

Joanne

You knohat sucks?

A twenty-hour plus drive froas to Iowa I remembered when I used to drive around withdeal Now as I head toward age thirty I couldn’t think of a worse fate than being craet out whenever I wanted to stretch s and my mind

The scenery had faded very quickly froness and farms The flat land was interrupted by the occasional hill and was dotted with cows, horses, and cornfields

Ah, home sweet home

I hadn't seen Iowa since I was sixteen That hen I'd saved up just enough and moved in with a few friends that I'd met in California The ocean and sunny beaches and the upscale shops had called to me It was freedo there Although now that was years ago as well

I shuddered and placed my hands in front of the heater It see its dying breaths as the cold invaded hs but that didn't help much

"Shit," I muttered

I still wasn't hoo, but Wakelin was still a ways off The more the cold encroached on me, the more I realized how much I hadn't missed it

I need some coffee

Actually, I'd kill for soas, als were tired, my eyes burned and if I didn't see the inside of my car for several weeks I'd be a happy caet back to the desert and go back to work This was just a task that had to be completed

I'd found out o In that tiround, but I hadn't gone We hadn't been close There was no hate, because there was never any love, but ere cold to each other

I had wanted the mother everyone else had The one that kissed your boo-boos and told you everything would be okay My row the fuck up, and then go find somewhere to shoot up I'd endured an endless stream of abuse from her, as well as the worthless losers that accompanied her, and somehow I'd made it out mostly unscathed

I could honestly say it was the reason I didn't date Who had tis to do? I loved ive kids the love that I never received, but so for all of those diamond-studded parents jaded me They were just as bad as my mother, only they had the cash to support their habits

"At the next turn

"Yes," I said as I bounced in my seat "Almost there"

I'd forgotten the specifics to getting back to the two-story house that my mother had inherited from her parents She'd kept the tradition and passed it on to me, but I didn't want it The place was filled with violence, sadness, and heartbreak The only reason I was back was so that I could tidy it up, sell it, and get the hell away froain

I glanced at my phone I was only twentyup the heat and away from the terrible roads

I turned the corner and peered through the windshield It had started to snow and my windshield wipers weren’t too happy about it as they were bogged doith the white fluff

My car started shaking and suddenly it stalled out completely I stared at it in shock when it caether I pinched the bridge of my nose

"Okay, let's try that again"

I turned the key and the car tried to start before it stalled again I scoffed

You have to be fucking kidding me