Preservation Read Online Free PDF Page A

tutoring center and bartered with my neighbor Mrs. Morris, selling her my favorite antique necklace, the one with the vintage rabbit pendant. I couldn’t bring myself to take it to a pawn shop. It was too impersonal. At least this way I’d know the owner of my cherished jewelry.
    As she handed me the money, I instantly felt that I’d lost a piece of me. It was my mentor’s necklace, the woman who practically raised me. Rabbits were her favorite, precious and innocent, just like her. She was like a second mom to me, and was also my best friend; a hippie wonder woman who was about thirty-five years my senior and yet knew me better than anyone I’ve ever known. She’d passed away last summer and I’d sworn to myself I’d never part with that necklace. Unfortunately, my mom’s health required every ounce of my income, to the point where dodging eviction notices was becoming a full-time job.
    I knew what I had to do. I had to give up school. But I was past the refund deadline and everything was paid for. It was a miracle I’d managed to even start school after putting it on hold for the last five years. Financial aid and a few grants had managed to help a little, but it was still a struggle to pay the leftover and hold my own. I was determined to finally get a degree and do something for my own future, but it was dipping into my time and now my bank account, just as I’d feared. Something had to go: school or my mom’s expenses. And I already knew the answer to that one.
    Carter came over Sunday night to go over the draft that Mr. Campbell suggested I change, peering up at me through his chunky glasses when he finished reading.
    “Kate, this is good. I mean, scary good. Why don’t you submit to some of the literary journals we read? They’d eat this stuff up.”
    I bit the inside of my cheek and played with my fingers, thinking it over. “Maybe,” I decided. “I’ll see what Mrs. Meyer has to say. Getting a few more opinions on it will give me the extra confidence boost, I think. That means a lot, Carter. Thanks,” I nudged his shoulder and smiled. I plopped down on the sofa next to him, relieved I’d managed to swing the rent money I owed over the weekend. Homework was done and now it was back to the weekday grind, and I was looking forward to getting back to class and making the most of it before I had to say goodbye to my academic dreams. Again.
    “I think I’m going to turn in. I have a long week ahead of me and I need to visit my mom tomorrow night.” I took a sip of my tea and kicked my shoes off, then curled back up on the couch.
    “All right. But listen, Kate.” Carter locked me in a bear hug on the sofa. “You know you don’t have to keep doing this. With your mom. It’s not your job anymore. Hasn’t been for a while. Please tell me you’ll think about it?”
    “I will,” I hugged him back, breathing in his warmth. “I just can’t let her lose everything. Can’t have that burden on my shoulders.”
    “But look at what you’re replacing it with. You’re on the verge of losing a roof over your head because of choices she’s made over the years. You didn’t put her in this position, Kate. She did. You’ve been cleaning up her mess long enough.”
    My arms still wrapped around his torso, I nodded, emphatic. “You couldn’t be more right. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that she’s my mom and she really is sick. How she became sick just isn’t relevant anymore. I can’t do that to her. No matter how much I resent her, I still love her...”
    “I better go,” Carter squeezed me once more and stood, grabbing his wallet from the coffee table. “I need to hit up the lottery tonight if I want to get you out of this mess. Will you let me buy a monkey if we win, though?”
    “Only if you buy me an island off the coast of Fiji.”
    “You crazy-ass woman. A monkey is so much cooler than an island.”
    “How about a monkey in