“Hi, Lou,” Ginger says, and offers up Mom’s guitar case to me. I was right. She has hazel eyes, same as Mom, same as me.

“Hi,” I mumble, and hold the case by the handle, as it was meant to be held.

Silence trips over us like we’re a crack in the sidewalk. Then Maria breaks the quiet. She’s all business.

“Mrs. Latimer, Louise’s caseworker, Melissa, will be by tomorrow afternoon after we meet to discuss the current custody status. For now, as the closest living relative and appointed guardian in case of an emergency, you have been granted temporary placement. Obviously, we will keep you apprised as the situation unfolds.”

As the situation unfolds… like it’s a Christmas present and not the unraveling of my whole life. I don’t want to go with these people. I don’t want to be in this airport at ridiculous o’clock in the morning. We walk together as a group toward the exit, but then Maria starts to turn left at the line for shuttles while Ginger and Dan head for the parking lot.

“Wait!” I yelp, and everybody freezes.

“Maria, please tell my mom…” And then I can’t think what to say. There are too many things. Remember to eat. Don’t smoke all day just because I’m not there to stop you. Don’t pick fights with the people trying to help. I’ve got your guitar. I’ll keep it safe. We’ll reschedule with the Mazes. Come get me. Finally, I choke out, “Tell her I love her.”

Maria smiles and wipes at her eyes once and says, “I will, Lou. I promise.” Then she walks out, and I am following two people I wouldn’t recognize in a crowd into the parking lot. And then we stop. It’s a sea of cars, and Ginger holds out her keys and points them at it. And then she begins to point them in every direction.

“I’m sorry,” she says, and we start to walk down the rows. “We were just so distracted getting here, and it was so late.” She pauses and cuts through the middle of a row. Dan steps back and waits for me to follow her before taking his place behind me. I feel hemmed in. “I can’t remember for the life of me…,” she says, and then we see a flash of lights off to our right. She cheers. I jump back and step on Dan’s toe. He doesn’t seem to notice as we follow Ginger to a white SUV. It’s a Lexus. My mother’s sister drives a big shiny Lexus. Dan sees my mouth fall open and kind of shrugs. I slide onto the leather backseat without a word. There’s only so much a person can process in one day without losing the power of speech.