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never stops losing her
keys. Fair warning, I think she has a new boyfriend named Sol.”
    "That's what I like about
Veronica. She really gets after it."
    "Oh, please," I said,
rolling my eyes.
    I smiled broadly as the door swung
open.
    A man in a maroon bathrobe, holding
a newspaper, gave me a long, searching look.
    I raised my eyebrows. Solomon was
not at all what I was expecting. He was about half-a-foot too short for my
mother for a start, and too old. Way too old.
    “Well, hi there,” I said.
    “Can I help you?”
    So, the boyfriend hadn't been
expecting us. Wonderful. Solid start. “Hi, I’m Hadley.” I held out my hand and
stepped through the doorway.
    “What—excuse me? Are you selling
something? I did not invite you in.”
    “I’m Veronica’s daughter,” I smiled
winningly. I looked around the foyer. The entire place had been redecorated. A
new maid stood by the stairs with her arms crossed.
    Solomon still looked totally
confused. “I believe you’re sleeping with my mother,” I said delicately. I
nodded at the maid. “Hi, you must be new, too. I’m Hadley. So, where is she?”
    The maid looked like she was going
to faint. “Roy! Who are you sleeping with? What is she talking about, Roy?”
    “What the hell are you talking
about?” the man asked me, turning red.
    I flinched. Shit. I opened
my mouth and closed it. “I—um. Okay. Does Veronica Mapplethorpe live here?” I
squinted. I couldn’t remember if my mother had kept Seth’s last name. “Or
Veronica—”
    “Veronica Mapplethorpe sold us this
house,” Roy said. His voice shook with indignation and rage. “And I am most
certainly not sleeping with her, young lady.”
    I took a step backwards, grabbing
my bags, and herding David, who was grinning from ear to ear, out the door.
    “I am so, so, so, so sorry. I
thought—you see—I mean.” I spluttered. “Nobody told me—there was a—”
    “We’re very sorry. This has been a
huge misunderstanding. You have a lovely evening,” David said, gracefully
pulling me out of harm’s way and closing the door.
    “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”
    David burst out laughing.
    “Oh my god,” I said.
     “So. That was hilarious. Please
tell me your mother actually lives in San Francisco and we aren’t homeless.”
    “I can’t believe she didn’t tell me
that she moved ,” I breathed.
    "Focus. What's your actual
address?"
    "That was it!”
    "Okay. Maybe time to make a
phone call."
    "Ugh," I said to him.
    “ What is she talking about,
Roy?” David mimicked.
    I reached for my phone and called
my mother, heart pounding.
    “Hello?” she answered breathily.
    “Veronica. What. The. Hell.”                           
    “Oh, Hadley, darling, where are
you?”
    “I am at what I thought was our
house,” I said as calmly as possible. “Except for someone, not you ,
named Roy lives there now.”
    “Oh, darling, I’ve moved.”
    “Yes, clearly . You have
moved. Where to is what I’d like to know. And where do you get off not telling
me you sold the house?”
    “Oh, honey.”
    “And our cab is gone!” I exclaimed.
    “I’ll tell Solomon to pick you up.”
    "Are you fucking
kidding?"
    “Oh, Hadley, please don’t swear.”
    “YOU SOLD OUR FUCKING HOUSE WITHOUT
TELLING ME.”
    David giggled.
    “This is so not funny,” I said to
him.
    “Well, I did send you a change of
address card in the mail,” she took a shallow breath and exhaled. “The little
pink cards?”
    “IN THE MAIL? Who does that?
You can’t send me a text message or an email like a normal person? You couldn’t
pick up the phone—”
    “Well, I think that’s sort of vulgar—”
    “You think it's vulgar to call me?
Seriously?"
    "You never answer your
phone."
    "That's not the point! Listen,
tell Salmon—”
    “Solomon.”
    “Whoever the fuck. Tell him to get
here pronto. I mean it,” I said. “This is so screwed up.” I firmly hit
the end call button on my phone and