They don't have to pack his boxes for him, but things jolt forward eventually.
“Sorry! Sorry!” Bruno Ellerby shouts from the street, waving apologetically up at the window as he tries to climb out of a cramped Camaro. Behind him, Bryce can hear a gentle exhale. The closest thing to a laugh he’s heard from his mother in weeks.
“I’m not taking you away from them,” Marilynn continues as the sound of the horn continues to echo through the neighborhood. “I still love this town, I still want you to go to Peckenpaugh.”
“What if I don’t want to come back? You get to bail, why can’t I just go to Ilvermorny or something? Just,” he throws his hands up in a frustrated shrug, “leave all this shit behind?”
Marilynn doesn’t answer right away. She climbs to her feet, hefting the box up with a surprising strength. Then again, Marilynn Swint Qualls has always surprised people with her strength. “I don’t think you can, honey,” she answers, finally, as she moves to the door. “This holler is in your blood, and your blood is in this holler. It’ll call you back.”
Bryce doesn’t say anything. His mother clearly doesn’t expect him to. She takes the box out into the hall, but for everyone else it’s an exit to 2020.
MEMORY: Moving Out But Not On
“Sorry! Sorry!” Bruno Ellerby shouts from the street, waving apologetically up at the window as he tries to climb out of a cramped Camaro. Behind him, Bryce can hear a gentle exhale. The closest thing to a laugh he’s heard from his mother in weeks.
“I’m not taking you away from them,” Marilynn continues as the sound of the horn continues to echo through the neighborhood. “I still love this town, I still want you to go to Peckenpaugh.”
“What if I don’t want to come back? You get to bail, why can’t I just go to Ilvermorny or something? Just,” he throws his hands up in a frustrated shrug, “leave all this shit behind?”
Marilynn doesn’t answer right away. She climbs to her feet, hefting the box up with a surprising strength. Then again, Marilynn Swint Qualls has always surprised people with her strength. “I don’t think you can, honey,” she answers, finally, as she moves to the door. “This holler is in your blood, and your blood is in this holler. It’ll call you back.”
Bryce doesn’t say anything. His mother clearly doesn’t expect him to. She takes the box out into the hall, but for everyone else it’s an exit to 2020.