The first weekend of school is way too eventful.
***
I was floating in the pool when my mother finally came home. I did not hear her pull up, nor did I hear her come out onto the pool deck. I was on my back looking up into the sky when I suddenly saw her smiling down at me from the side of the pool. She looked a little tired.
One of the negative aspects of working in real estate as she did was that it was such a competitive field. Working on commission means that it is an all-or-nothing proposition; either her client buys a house and she gets a big fat commission, or they don't and she has wasted a lot of time. That emotional roller coaster ride at work meant that sometimes Mom came home looking worn out like this.
I smiled up at her and swam to the side, getting out of the water and g
