WE FINALLY LEAVE Nana's house. Uncle Kimmy and I drive up to the vacant lot. It's clean and unpolluted, unlike it was in Tennessee.
"Uncle Kimmy," I say as he throws his trash away.
"Yeah." We're walking back to the car now.
"Uh," I take a moment, not just to get in the car, but for what I'm about to say. "I-I'm still scared."
"Why?" Uncle Kimmy says.
"I miss Tennessee. I miss Cassidy."
"Look, Indie, I know it's hard to accept change. Trust me, I even have a hard time accepting change but you've gotta adapt. As your Nana said, it's better to learn now, than later."
No. no, no, no, no! I try to hold back all the pain and all of the tears as thoughts fill my head like a rain of sorrow and despair drown me in the deepest part of the sea. California.