Deborah put her packed bags in the trunk of her car and closed the lid. “All ready to go,” she said.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” asked her mother. “For freshman orientation you can have a parent with you.”
She knew Flower might be there and wanted to get info on what she was up to. There was no way she could get time to lean on Flower with her mother there. “I need to do this on my own. I know there are things you can help me with and I have a cell phone if I need anything, but it’s time I do a few things by myself.”
“Do you have enough supplies?” her mother asked. “You’ll be staying overnight for two nights.”
“Mother.” She looked around to make sure no one heard, but it was only her mother and father there. She was embarrassed, but was sure her mother hadn’t mentioned the word “diaper.”
“Well drive safe,” said her dad, “and try to keep it under one hundred.” Deborah smiled back at him.
“I’ll try.” She hopped in her car and drove toward Pullman, Washington. At last she would be able to make some headway on her search to get the terrorist. Her lips curled in anticipation of how she would make the terrorist pay. During the few hour drive, she thought about different punishments she would give the terrorist. Maybe she would soak him in diesel fuel and light it, or maybe she would strap him down to a gurney and inject poison in his veins. Whatever she decided, she could only do one thing to him because she knew it would be fatal.
When she got to her destination she parked where her orientation packet said to park. She parked beside a red Eclipse and got out to get her stuff.
“Hi. I’m Ami Kent,” said the Asian girl getting out of the Eclipse. She dressed and talked like an American so Deborah guessed she wasn’t an international student.
“Are you here for freshman orientation too?” Deborah asked.
“Yeah,” said Ami. “Of course I am.” She pulled a large bag out of the passenger seat and smiled. “No parents and no boyfriends. Nothing will stop me now,” she said.
Too hyper, thought Deborah, but she responded anyway. “Well I want to get settled in before everything starts,” said Deborah.
“Good idea,” she said. “Let’s go in.”
The dorm they would be staying in for the next few days was the Stephenson Complex. It was not by any mean luxurious and Deborah knew that. She didn’t care. She wanted to get in her dorm, find a place to hide her diapers, and get a little downtime before they rounded them up for orientation.
“So why didn’t your parents come with you?” Deborah asked. “I mean mine didn’t come either, but I had reasons for wanting to be alone.”
“My dad had a multimillion dollar business deal he had to deal with and my mother is too sick to come so I am here alone.” She shrugged. “I’ve been doing everything for myself anyway and Dad’s got money so I manage.” She looked at Deborah struggling with her bags. “So what’s your story?”
“I just wanted to be alone,” said Deborah. “I love my parents, but they can be a little overbearing sometimes.”
“I understand. Mother is overbearing when she isn’t pretending to be sick so Dad with pay attention to her.”