Mom Said She Saved Me a Room,All I Got Was a Folding Bed

2: 2

After my mother said that thing about how I could make do with anything, the table went quiet for a second.

Rain held her chopsticks and said in a small voice, "Milly, maybe I'll just sleep on the couch."

"Why would you sleep on the couch?"

My mother picked the bones out of a piece of fish and set it in Rain's bowl.

"Tomorrow we're taking Adrian to your uncle's place. If you don't sleep well and look tired, they'll think we don't care about him."

Only after that did she turn her eyes to me.

"Go put your bags down first. I'll bring you the folding cot in a bit."

I stood up and dragged my suitcase down the hallway.

I'd walked that hallway for years. First door on the left was my room.

There used to be a faded sticker on the door, one Rain insisted on putting there the year I graduated high school.

She said with that on it, no one would ever mistake which room was mine.

The sticker was gone now.

A pale pink cloth tag hung from the handle, a little rabbit embroidered on it.

I paused at the door before I pushed it open.

A warm yellow night-light was on inside.

The sheets had been changed to a floral print, the curtains swapped for pink and white.

On the desk sat a diffuser, hair clips, and a few bottles of skincare, with Rain's knit cardigan draped over the back of the chair.

Half my old bookshelf was gone. What was left held Rain's photo frames and a few little trinkets.

None of this could have been set up in a single night.

I stood in the doorway, suddenly not knowing where the suitcase should go.

Even the empty spot by the door was taken now, filled with her storage basket.

My suitcase stuck in the doorway, and when I shoved it in it hit the foot of the bed with a dull thud.

I bent down to look for an outlet, and that was when I saw the cardboard box shoved under the bed.

The flaps weren't closed all the way. Half of a small blue-rimmed bowl showed through the gap.

I crouched and pulled the box out.

Inside were the graduation photo I used to keep on the desk, a few old books, and the mug I always used.

The mug was wrapped in old newspaper, the paper already crushed flat.

I picked up the graduation photo.

In it I stood at the school gate, my mother's arm around my shoulders, telling me that no matter how busy work got later, I should remember to come home.

Footsteps came from the hall.

My mother walked in carrying the folding cot, saw me crouched on the floor, and frowned first.

"What are you digging through those for? It's all old stuff. I packed it away so it wouldn't collect dust."

She leaned the cot against the wall and took a thin blanket down from the cabinet.

"You'll sleep here tonight."

I looked at the cot.

The iron frame was folded together, a deep old crease running down the middle of the mattress.

I asked, "When did you change all this?"

My mother glanced at the sheets, following my eyes.

"Changed it a while ago. You barely come home a few times a year. The room's just sitting empty either way."

She shook the thin blanket open, her tone perfectly ordinary.

"Your sister's bringing someone home. We can't let her stay in a room that looks shabby."

Rain stood in the doorway, twisting the hem of her shirt.

"Mom, didn't you tell Milly beforehand?"

My mother looked at her at once. "Tell her what? She's your sister, not an outsider."

Rain lowered her head. "But this is Milly's room."

"Your sister has her own place out of town."

My mother pulled the cot open, and the iron frame snapped into place with a clack.

"She's used to it by now. She's not that delicate."

I didn't say anything.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

I took it out. A message from my landlady out of town.

"Lease is up at the end of the month. If you're not renewing, I'll list it in the next couple of days."

I stared at that line for a while.

The room smelled of Rain's diffuser, my folding cot leaned against the wall, and the cardboard box still lay open at my feet.

I didn't answer the landlady.

I just put the small blue-rimmed bowl back in the box and covered it again with the crumpled newspaper.