I wasn’t driving, even though my dad’s knee was a bruised balloon. My job was to converse. We talked about Nebraska’s only good quality: sunflower fields for miles. We laughed, pretending he wasn’t dropping me off and driving back cross-country by himself, only to arrive at an empty home.

Cozette Annemarie Calderon is an undergraduate student at The New School where she studies Literary Studies. She was previously the Editor-in-Chief for The Benicia Paw. Now, she is a copy editor for the New School Free Press. She is based in New York City and Vallejo, California where she works as an American Sign Language interpreter.