Karyn's brain sort of shut off as her muscle memory started steering Biff's truck home. She needed to clear her head. Things weren't right. She just needed to be back in a space that was hers for just a bit. Then she could go back and talk to Jon.
"Wait a second," Karyn said into the air of the truck cab as she took a right turn. "Where am I going?"
Biff's house. Karyn was driving to Biff's house. She gave a quick shake of the head just to pull herself back to the present, made a quick U-turn at the next intersection, and re-directed Biff's truck towards Karyn's home instead. That's where she knew she would feel grounded.
The rumbling truck pulled into the familiar driveway, and Karyn took a minute to just sit there, ignition turned off, and stare at the garage door in front of her.
Then the front door of the house opened.
"Excuse me?" Karyn's mom stepped out onto the front porch with a wave of her hand, grabbing Karyn's attention. "Excuse me, I think you have the wrong house."
Strips and strands of Biff's life and Karyn's life co-mingled in Karyn's head as she quickly improvised what to say in this situation. Biff's dad, Gary, getting on his case about falling behind on his Eagle Scout service project. Karyn's mom, Bethany, saying that the gutters needed cleaning, but it would have to wait until her father, Dominic, finished his two-week shift on a fishing trawler. Bethany wasn't going to get up on a ladder, and she sure as hell wasn't going to let Karyn risk falling off the roof of the house. Those were Bethany's words. Karyn's mom. The woman trying very hard to conceal her confusion and panic as she approached Biff's truck.
Karyn opened the door and stepped out.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to cause any worry," she said with Biff's trademark charismatic smile. "I'm doing a community service project for Eagle Scouts, and I was just going door-to-door to see if anyone had some yardwork I could help them with."
Bethany paused to recalibrate her assessment of the situation, as Karyn let her eyes scan the front of her own house.
"Do your roof gutters need any attention?" Karyn shoved a casual hand into her pocket. "That's something a lot of people can forget to clear out."
Bethany shook her head slowly as she breathed out through her nose. "You know, I was just talking to my daughter about that yesterday. Let me show you where the ladder is."
Bethany walked to the side of the garage and punched a code into a box, causing the garage door to open. And Karyn let out her own sigh of relief. She didn't want to startle her mom, but she just needed to be somewhere familiar. And working with her hands for a bit would help calm her down.
Clean the gutters. Clear her mind. Then find Jon. She had a plan, at least.
