Melissa takes a road trip

According to Googlemaps Charleston was less than four hours away. It would make it a long day if I intended to be back to work tomorrow, but I might just take Friday off too and spend the weekend getting the answers I needed. With that in mind I packed a small carry-on bag with some comfortable sight-seeing clothes, a light suit and even a dress that I doubted I'd even unpack. A few more minutes to put together a toiletries bag and a collection of underwear and I was almost ready to go.

The vibrator in my underwear draw was added to the suitcase. With the rolling case in one hand and my oversized purse that held the precious diary in the other I was headed for my Audi less than five minutes after I decided to go.

As I cruised at a little over 70 mph along the Interstate system, I could not help comparing my trip to the one that Bianca had taken. So much had changed in the two centuries since the diary was written, and yet here we are still grappling with the issues of race and fairness. Aniya and I had an argument about Restitution just the other day.

She found a paper that claimed Black Americans were owed over $10 trillion dollars or almost 300k each for every descendent of slaves. When I tried to explain that there was no way the American government could possibly pay this, she accused me (yet again) of being too white. I let my anger and resentment get the better of me because I told her that if Jordan got a check for $300 thousand, he'd blow it all on cars, clothes and **** in under a year.

“God!” I hit the steering wheel with my palm causing my car to swerve slightly. Thinking back on that conversation sucked. I sounded like fucking Laura Ingraham. Maybe Aniya's right: maybe I am too much a product of Fortune 500 America.

I am still in a bad mood when I pull into the Hampton Inn off of route 17 just West of Charlston. I had originally planned on staying in the historic center down by the waterfront, but just by being 12 miles out of the city I saved over $100 a night. Besides, this is the direction that I'm guessing Havenhall lies so being here is better for that reason too.

Once in my room I look at the clock and see that it is only a little after 2. I have more than enough time to check out some local museums but instead I dig the leather journal out of my purse and settle down on the bed to read. I tell myself I'm looking for more clues about where my ancestor first put pun to paper, but the fact that I'm stripped down to a tightfitting undershirt and panties and my vibrator was ready and waiting on the bedside table makes my true intent pretty clear.

I easily find where I last left off with Priscilla's offer to move in and help Bianca run Havenhall and settle in to learn what Bianca ended up doing.