My mother is forcing me to get the Buick repaired.  She says she is afraid I’ll die on the walk home from work.  I’m going to listen, and appreciate her concerns about me walking alone at night, but I have to wonder how much longer she’s going to behave this way.  If/when I move to Boston, will that be a satisfactory reason for her to let me ditch the wheels?  What will she try to dictate next?  

My mom’s never been the overbearing type, or at least I’ve never thought of her that way.  But still.  I told her my decision was to send Loretta to the same junk yard she forced me to sell my Oldsmobile to.  And that car had nothing wrong with it.  This current car won’t even run long enough to drive it to a mechanic.  AAA says the alternator likely needs replacing, a part that runs roughly $200.  Then there’s the body work to take care of in light of that woman crashing into me on my way to the gym.  All of this is money I do not have to spend if I simply decide against having a car.  Not to mention that my mother is the one who pays my insurance because, honestly, I cannot afford the expense.  She says we’ll figure it out, which in mom speak means “I’ll borrow money from your grandmother so I can pay for it.”

Apparently everyone had a family conference about the car situation without me this past weekend.  As the black sheep, I should be used to this right now.  But every time, it stings.