Excerpt: Getting Real

“Brazil?” I screech, mid spoonful of rice krispies. The milky cereal snaps crackles and pops as I try to wrap my mind around what my father just said.

Very matter-of-factly he repeats it, “Arthur offered me VP of Latin America and I took it though it does mean moving to Brazil! The best part is we won’t be on different continents and you girls won’t need to fly down to visit disrupting school or friends” My father seems far more excited at this prospect then myself or my mother. Actually Mom hasn’t said anything. Hasn’t moved a muscle or blinked, or reacted in any way. Frozen in thought she is just sitting at the kitchen table with a death grip on the coffee mug handle, her jaw practically hitting the floor. I was pretty surprised to, after our talk last night I didn’t think Dad had taken any late night meetings. He had just kissed me good night and went to bed.

“That’s great Dad,” I say, it is great, but Brazil wasn’t around the corner, it was a plane ride away. I guess he’d do what Kat’s Dad had done three summers ago, work there weekdays and fly home every weekend. What else could he mean? It would be hard, but I was used to Dad not being around. Not being able to go to him for advice or have him drive me to friends’ houses. But maybe I could go on Spring Break to Rio with him. Then again, I’m not sure I wanted to go to nude beaches with my Dad. Was Rio even in Brazil?

“How long is it for?” I ask.

“Not really sure, could be a month, a year, longer. When Arthur mentioned the opportunity last week I didn’t think it was something I was interested in, but then last night, it clicked.” He seems very impressed with himself.

“So when do you leave?” I ask. We should totally have a going away party for him. Everyone was going to miss him. I was going to miss him. But it’d all work out.

Mom still hadn’t said anything. She’d loosened her grip on the coffee mug but looked more and more upset with Dad as every second passed. She’d miss him a lot too I bet. Maybe she could fly down to see him in between, it wouldn’t matter much to me if I stayed here. I had already texted Georgie, Marissa and Katlyn asking them if I could stay with them when my Mom went to Boston next week with Gwen.

“We leave in about four weeks; the company will plan all the moving and relocation. They’re even going to set us up in a nice little townhouse with a great school for you to go too…”

“WAIT!” I interrupt, my voice came out a little louder then I expected, scaring me some, “what do you mean – we?”

Something must be wrong with my hearing. I must have one of those diseases where you hear voices, or maybe it was just a bad nightmare. Yeah, I'll just wake-up and when I tell Dad he’ll laugh and tell me not to eat Broccoli Pizza before I go to bed. It always gives me weird dreams. That’s right, I’ll wake up and none of this will have happened.

I pinch myself, but nothing happens. Okay so I have an auditory disorder. They have doctors for that right? “I’m sorry. I’m just a space cadet today. I thought you just said we were all moving to Brazil. That’s crazy, right?”

I wait for them both to hysterically laugh, because it's just so surreal and never in even my wildest dreams would I have thought that... “I did.” Dad replies, “It’s perfect. All of us under the same roof, you won’t be pulled out of school again or have to worry about lost luggage. It’ll be great, we’ll be a family again.” It brings to mind the expression, be careful what you wish for.

This can not be happening. This CAN NOT be happening. I'm just finishing up my freshman year of high school and my whole life is in New Jersey. They can't expect me to leave and live somewhere else. That is insane. “What about my school? My friends? Ben?” I croak. Oh G-d, Ben, this seriously couldn’t be happening. “What about staying here during the school year. I could stay with a friend’s family, or even Grandma. I could commute the thirty minutes to stay at Fallfield.?” Surely someone would take me in, I was neat and well-behaved. I’d help with cooking and cleaning. Anything to stay here.

“Pumpkin, it’ll be great. You’ll make new friends at your new school. You instant message all the time anyways, what’s the difference if your across town or across the equator?” Dad clarifies. “Besides, this plan only works if we all go.”

My hopes of having an audiologist fix all my problems are slowly fading. Dad was impulsive, he hadn’t thought this through. I try to reason with him, “What about the house? Our family? My friends? My learner’s permit?” most of all I wonder – what about me? I only tolerated the travel because I always knew I was coming home. Even if the flight was delayed or Dad had a last minute change in schedule, I always knew I’d be home eventually. I knew I had friends who missed me. I had something to keep me sane. Every crappy hotel, every lousy room service meal, every turbulent flight, I had something, or someone to keep me holding on. But now I was moving halfway around the world? How long would I even be gone? I had so many questions and the school bus would be coming in a few minutes. There wasn’t enough time.

Dad just smiles, “Don’t worry, we’ll talk about it when you get out of school.” I look at my watch, realize I am running late, I gulp down the now mushy rice krispies with my spoon and slowly make my way to the door, still in awe. Could it be - I was moving to Brazil?

This was all my fault, I thought, if only I had kept my mouth shut.