Annaka

I got inside the house I saw Nan and Mom sitting at the kitchen table with bacon, eggs, and sausages. I was still shaken up by everything that happened the night before.
“Hey, where were you last night? Did you spend the night at Tia’s?” Mom greeted as I came in.
“Yeah…I spent the night at Tia’s place,” I lied. It would be weird to say I slept in the truck.
“I thought as much. Are you hungry?”
“No. I think I’m gonna go lay down.” I didn’t know what made my stomach ache, but it wasn’t a good feeling.
Mom walked over to me, put a hand on my shoulder, and said, “Listen, I know everything is hard right now. But I would like you to eat something. Making sure you’re fed is part of self-care, and right now we all need to take care of ourselves and each other.”
I sighed. “Fine.”
Mom put a plate of food in front of me, but I felt sick to my stomach. Nan was a slow eater, and Mom asked me to sit with her while she went to go make Nan’s bed. I kept silent because I didn’t think we had much to talk about. On the table was a photo of Grampy; he was smiling, wearing a nice button-up. It was his school board photo. Eventually Nan picked up and observed it.
“It’s a shame what happened to Rudy,” she said.
I didn’t reply, only listened.
“What a handsome man.” She spoke about him like a stranger, putting the photo down. That made my heart ache as much as my stomach. I remember Grampy had told me where he met Nan. When I was younger, he told me he met her while on summer vacation away from university. He visited Yarmouth on the off chance of taking a ship to Maine. It turned out he missed his boat and ended up at a local bar. Nan was there, Grampy asked her to dance, and the rest was history, I guess. Key word: history. I was sad it was a memory Nan probably didn’t carry anymore.
I couldn’t sit around all day in the house. I thought about getting some sleep, but being there put me in a bummed-out mood, so I shot Tia a text instead. With everything that happened the night before, I needed to vent.
Me: Hey dude. Something happened.
Tia: Everything okay?
Me: There’s no way I can explain over text. Wanna meet up?
Tia: Sure. My parents actually suggested I take the day off school to see if you needed anything. Come over.
Me: Well I definitely need a friend. Be right over.
I went to my room to get changed quickly then darted for the front door. I made it down the front steps of the porch before I heard Mom’s voice coming out the front door.
“Anna. Are you leaving?” She stepped out.
“Yeah, I was gonna go to Tia’s place,” I replied.
“Didn’t you just spend the night there?”
“Uhhh….” Shit. “I think I forgot my phone there.” I managed to save myself, knowing my phone was in my pocket.
“All right.” Mom gave me a suspicious nod. “Anyway, you weren’t here yesterday, but we read your grandfather’s will.”
I didn’t say anything.
“I wanted to let you know that he left a little something in there for you.”
“What was it?” I genuinely didn’t know. I just hoped it wasn’t his crappy old charcoal barbecue.
Mom threw something in the air that tinkled—I caught it. It was a set of keys. Not just any keys, they were…the keys to his truck.
“What?!” was my only response. “You can’t be—”
“He knew how much you adored that truck growing up, hon,” Mom said with a smile. “You were his co-pilot, remember? But I know how you drive, so just don’t perform any crash landings, all right?”
I wanted to cry thinking about that. When Mom and I left, she would call me her co-pilot too. I think she did it so I would feel more comfortable about leaving. We all had a duty, and Grampy left me his truck to take care of. It was a huge responsibility but he must have had faith in me.
I didn’t know what else to say besides, “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously, babes. And besides, driving can soothe the soul. It might be good to ride around town for a bit. Maybe you can pick up Tia and head on a small road trip or something? Just don’t go too far.”
I knew right away where I wanted to go: Cape Forchu. After what happened the night before, I couldn’t stop thinking about going up the hill holding on to Grampy. It would be nice to grab Tia and Taz and spend the day out there. I couldn’t bear to sit in that house and listen to Nan rambling.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I’m not the one to thank,” she replied. “Be safe, all right?”
“All right.”
When I got to the garage, I stared at Grampy’s truck for a moment. My truck. I opened the door on the driver’s side and slid in. I held the steering wheel. It was way wider than Mom’s minivan. I knew Grampy kept CDs under his front seat so I reached under. I chose one that said “Jazz 2006” and stuck it in the CD player. As it played, though, I realized I wasn’t a fan, so I turned it off and blasted music from my phone that I “forgot at Tia’s house” instead. I put the keys in the ignition and revved the engine, giving me goose bumps that fuelled my smile. It felt like I was sitting in a rocket ship getting ready to blast off. It was almost the same thing, right? I took a deep breath, put the truck in drive, and hit the gas. I never thought I’d actually be driving this thing.
“I promise you I’ll take care of it,” I whispered out loud as I drove towards the path and onto the main road. I couldn’t wait for Tia to see. My big old truck would be better than her stupid car.
Tia