Home. Sweet home?

She climbed the last few flights of stairs, panting, her three bags in hand. She made it to the thirteenth floor and placed her bags down at the top of the stairs to catch a breath.

After a few seconds, she picked her bags up, opened the door and made her way to 1213B - her new home. The door read 1213. June could tell from the way the door was worn that there used to be a B next to the 3 at one point. She dropped her bags, once again, to fish through her pockets for the key.

Once in the door, the key would move neither left nor right. She pulled on the door knob and tried to turn the key. Nothing. She pushed her shoulder into the door and turned key. The bolt slid unlocked. She pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The sound of her shoes on the hardwood floors bounced off of the naked walls and back off of the floor again. This was definitely a fixer-uper; it was nothing like the unit that Jupiter's website displayed.

After scanning the efficiency-style apartment, with it's worn, yet well-preserved hardwood floors, June got her cell phone from her pocket.

She walked around the edges of the room, looking, her phone ringing in her hand.

"Hello."
"I thought I told you to call me when you got in."
"Ma, I literally just walked through the door."
"Well then you should've called right once your foot crossed the threshold."
"Okay."
"How do you like the place?" June saw a roach on it's back in the corner of the room right next to the closet door. "I said how do you like it, June?"
"It's fine, I guess."
"What are you guessing about? You're right ther ein the place, aren't you?"
"Mom! I just walked through the door, my bags were heavy, plus I had to carry all three of them in my lap on the busride here," June said. "Please don't start this with me. Not now." She noticed the roach had collected dust on its belly.
"Well, I'm sorry baby. I just wanted to know if you liked it. How am I supposed to act? It's your first time being out on your own. Asking you about the place is the next best thing to being right there with you.
"Alright. I'll just call you once I get settled in, mom. Just not now."
"Okay, baby. Don't forget to call me back."
"Bye."

June hung up the phone and made her way back to her bags, which sat in front of the open door. She slammed the door shut and the walls rattled. "Okay, baby," she repeated aloud. She wasn't going to let her phone be the vehicle through which her mother continued to baby her. June decided to move out for two reasons: to get away from the emotionally-draining environment at home and to prove her independency. For these reasons, constant phone contact was not advantageous.

She got the bed sheets from her bag and began to make her bed in the way her mom had taught her.