Left or Right?

I am Tara Tiffany Tyler. Yes, my mom did that to me. And yes, my dad let her.
Left or Right? Left leads to California and sunny beaches and anonymity. Right leads to Virginia and home and the realities of Mom and Dad. If I head to California, I never have to deal with this past again. No one will know me, and I can start fresh. If I go home, I will have to face the fact that Mom and Dad are both gone now. I will walk in their house, and Dad won’t be there to ask me how the new car’s running and if my breaks are squeaking. Mom won’t be there to give me a hug that I only half embrace, like we always do it. California sounds pretty freaking good to me!
I wage this silent war within me. I’m sitting at the stop sign with my left blinker on. I turn right. After hours and days of waging war and second-guessing I pull into the driveway. It’s strikes me as uncomfortably familiar. I reach for the key I still have on my key ring even though I haven’t lived here in years. I put it in the lock only to find the door already unlocked. Again, uncomfortably familiar. The lump in my throat is the size of a cantaloupe.
I walk in and jump, startled by their presence. Jennifer sits at the table and asks about the drive. Chelsea gets up and hugs me, but I embrace it wholeheartedly. Mom and Dad are here. I bust out laughing, as do the other two. We are three and have always been three. We just used to have two old geezers to guide us along by their craziness. I pull up a chair. Jennifer gets the booze. Chelsea gets the photo albums. Tonight, the only reality we face is the past one we have lived together.