Page 53 of Kings Don't Break

It’s the freest, most refreshing feeling as I pull up to the garage and swing my keyring around my finger.

Blake raises his brows. “You look like you’ve just come back from a joyride.”

“As close to it in a Geo Metro.”

He grins. “That Geo gets you places. That’s all that counts.”

* * *

“Look at my baby and her wheels,” Mama says as I pull up outside the trailer. She’s waiting with her handbag dangling from her wrist and cape coat she’s so fond of. She waddles over to the passenger’s side door and slides in. “Maybe we should do something special tonight. Dinner somewhere. How about Steak and Cow? That place was good.”

“In Houston?”

“Oh,” she says, frowning. “We’re not in Houston.”

I give her a sympathetic pat on the lap. “No, Mama. Not anymore. But dinner sound’s good. I’ll text Blake.”

The entire drive to the doctor’s office, Mama talks my ear off about her ‘stories’ as she calls them. She tells me about which soap opera characters are sleeping with whom and about another one returning from the dead.

I laugh along, grateful we’re able to have light moments like this after so much bad.

Once I drop Mama off, I shoot off that text about dinner to Blake and hit the roads. I’m turning down one of the more barren streets in town when my phone vibrates with an incoming call.

It’s Mama. I press accept, putting her on speaker as I drive.

“Hello, is everything okay?”

Before she even says a word, I know she’s in tears. She’s panic stricken and sniveling.

“Mama!” I say, immediately alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

“They… they say it’s no good anymore.”

“What is? Mama?—”

“Korine, where do I go? They say I can’t go here. My card—it’s not accepted.”

My insides run cold. “Your insurance card? They turned you away?”

“They say it’s not good anymore,” she repeats between sniffles.

“Mama, stay where you are. I’m coming to straighten it out. I’m sure… I’m sure it’s a mistake.”

But as I hang up and then pop a U-turn, deep inside I know it’s not. It’s no coincidence and it’s no mistake that this is happening.

Worry fills me as I think up what to do. Mama’s medical bills have always been a point of stress for me. The disability coverage she has from the government isn’t the best; it’s barely covered any of Mama’s needs and the quality of care is downright criminal.

Ken’s insurance has always been what we’ve used. It’s gotten us seen by some of the best specialists in the state.

He’s cut us off.

I figured the day would come when he would. I just didn’t count on it happening so soon. Without any notice.

I’m so distracted that it takes me another second to realize red and blue lights are flashing behind me.

Oh no…

There’s an instantaneous shift in my behavior. A numbing that paralyzes me over the course of the next few seconds as if subconsciously preparing myself.