As soon as we pulled into the short, concrete driveway, the door to the house swung open, and a man, who I assumed to be my father, emerged.
Mom parked the car and stepped outside. I did the same, and then shuffled over to the trunk, my eyes glued firmly on the ground.
“You made it alright, then?” he called from the porch, “Traffic wasn’t too bad I hope.”
“We’re from New York,” my mom laughed, “We’re used to it.”
“Oh, of course,” he chuckled.
I opened the trunk, and focused on the suitcases, trying to figure how to pull them out in a way that wouldn’t send the whole pile toppling over.
“Here, Elyse,” he said as he walked over to me, “I’ll get your stuff. You and your mom can go and have a seat inside.”
“I can get it,” I said, trying my luck at a small suitcase near the top.
“C’mon honey, don’t you want to see your new house?” my mom asked.
Now I had no choice. I let go of the suitcase and followed my mom inside.
There were a few squares of concrete sidewalk and then four grey steps that led up to the door. There really wasn’t much of a porch, it was pretty much just a slab of bare cement.
Mom opened the front door for me, and it was confirmed that the house was indeed as small in the inside as it looked on the outside. As soon as we both stepped through the door, we were standing in the living room. There was a big brown couch taking up the entire wall on the right, a coffee table in front of us, and a T.V. attached to the wall on the left. The walls were beige, and the carpet was one of those weird multicolored ones that was speckled with grey, brown, and white. But the only real color in this room was behind the sofa, where hung a painting of a sailboat riding aquamarine waves in the morning sun.
Straight ahead was the kitchen and dining room, which had an obvious theme, wood. Everything, the cupboards, chairs, and table were all made out of oak and pine. It was an unimaginative and plain décor, but at least he seemed to have all the basic cooking essentials; stove, fridge, sink. What else did you really need?
There was a large picture window by the dining table, and I walked up to it, gazing at the other houses around us. They were similar to ours - small and colorless - but immediately a splash of bright reds and yellows caught my eye. There was a children’s playground a block away, complete with slides, swings, and random junk like tires that kids like to play on.
“If only you were a few years younger,” came my dad’s voice, startling me a little, “You could have a lot of fun there.”
I turned around, facing him for the first time in I can‘t even remember how many years. The lighting wasn’t very good, but after he spoke, I caught - just for a split second - the hint of a smile light up his features, his eyes. My eyes, I realized with a start; light hazel, with the smallest flecks of stone gray. Those were my eyes, and he was wearing them. Tallish, medium length light brown hair, light skin, dingy green shirt and blue jeans.
“Yeah,” I laughed uneasily.
He set a few bags down, and brought his hand up to the back of his neck nervously.
“I’m almost done with your stuff,” he said hurriedly, and went back out the door.
I looked over at my mom, who was now in the kitchen, dragging her fingers across the countertops and inspecting the thin layer of dirt that came up. I rolled my eyes and left her to her inspection, taking a seat at the dining room table.
A minute later I heard our car door slam and he came back in with the last of my bags.
“Well, this is the last of ‘em,” he announced.
No one said anything after that so I decided to, “Thanks.”
“I have to say, I expected you to bring over a lot more stuff,” he said.
“It’s mostly just clothes,” I explained, picking at the table.
He nodded, and then it was silent for another couple moments.
“You guys hungry?” he suggested. I shrugged.
“That would be great, Eric,” my mom answered.
“Great. I’ve got stuff for sandwiches in the fridge, and I picked up bread the other day, so…” he trailed off as he opened the fridge and brought out two different kinds of meat and cheese, “Well, help yourself!”
Mom looked at me, “You first, honey. I’ve got to use the bathroom,” she announced in front of us all.
“Right down there,” he said, pointing towards the right hallway. I hid my face from embarrassment, but then I figured it was alright. They used to be together, after all. Even though I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
I decided to get up and have something to eat, fixing myself the second ham and cheese sandwich of the day. It tasted familiar; the cheese was slightly different but it was good.
“Glad you like it,” he said to me.
I looked at him oddly, but then I realized that I had gobbled up nearly all of my sandwich, and mom still hadn’t even emerged from the bathroom. I blushed and swallowed the large portion of food I still had in my mouth.
“I guess traveling made me hungry,” I said.
“Moving can be exhausting,” he admitted, “When you’re finished with that, I could show you your room. Then you can do whatever you want; you can rest up a bit or I can show you around town if you’d like.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed.
“Do you know how long your mother is staying?” he asked.
I hadn’t thought about that. My stomach curled up at the thought. When she goes, I really am alone.
“I don’t know,” I swallowed, “I know she has to work in the morning, so probably soon…”
“I was just wondering,” he said quickly, “There’s no rush.”
I took another bite of sandwich to suppress the blender churning inside my stomach.
I heard a toilet flush moments later. The door opened, and she stepped out.
“Well,” she said, “I might as well be getting back.”
I nearly choked. My fingers pressed tightly into the soft bread leaving deep sink marks. Was this really it? I felt frozen.
“Come give me a hug goodbye, honey,” she said, holding out her arms and smiling.
I set my sandwich down and waddled over stiffly. None of this felt right anymore. She wrapped her arms tightly around me and I fumbled to find a place to put mine. Then suddenly I burst out in tears. I did the whole sniveling, wailing mess right in front of them. I finally pushed away from her and ran off into the hall, opening the closest door I found and collapsing onto a bed, unable to take this anymore.
