Chapter 1
Mist coated my face as the rain pounded on the sidewalk in front of me. My luggage lay beside the bench I was sitting on which was situated in front of the terminal and out of the rain. My fingernails were practically diminished leaving me to chew on the inside of my cheek instead. People flooded out of the automatic doors behind me to retreat into awaiting taxicabs.
A couple stood at the edge of the sidewalk holding onto the hands of their two young children. I watched as the little girl tried holding onto her older brother's hand but he continued to pull away like any little boy would. The little girl dropped her hand in defeat and leaned her small back against her father's side, shifting her gaze onto me as I stared back. I smiled at her as the wind picked up, blowing the hood off of her raincoat and her wispy red hair into her smiling face.
"Cute kid." My stomach dropped as I turned to see my mother sitting beside me. Dressed in a thin strapped, purple cotton dress she was the only splash of color amidst the dull hues of those passing by us. Her thick hair was pulled back and her face had lost the carefree glow it had in the pictures she had sent me.
"But I never liked red-headed kids. Your father had slightly red hair so you can imagine how relieved I was that you were a brunette like me." She slipped her feet in and out of the ratty hemp sandals she was wearing and slid the thin, woven bracelets that adorned her ankles up and down her leg.
"Still couldn't keep you from leaving though could I." She smiled and averted her gaze from the little girl onto me. Her dark green eyes mirrored mine but held the mischievous sparkle that mine lacked.
"I thought I'd gotten rid of the lectures when my brother stopped speaking to me." I turned my attention back to the family as they climbed into a taxicab, the little girl still peeking at me through the back windshield as the car drove away.
"I was practically raised by him. What did you expect?" She laughed and I felt her stand up beside me as she grabbed one of my suitcases and lugged it into the rain without a word. I had no choice but to grab my other bag and hurry across the slick pavement and fall into stride beside her. She stopped at a silver truck parked in the handicapped space and unlocked its trunk.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked, lifting my luggage into the trunk.
"Nothing, I'm healthy as a fucking ox. I wasn't going to park in the back of the lot if I was only picking you up." She laughed again and slammed the trunk closed before climbing into the truck.
"What if someone who was really handicapped had to park in the back because you were being lazy?" I climbed in beside her and she started the car.
"Listen. I understand you've been holding some animosity toward me for a while now but that doesn't mean you can pick a fight with me about any stupid little thing." My face was turned away from her and I was staring out the window but I could almost feel her smiling.
The ride to her, our, house took about twenty minutes and stayed silent except for the soft music emitting from the radio. I now lived in a condensed section of suburbia where the houses practically sat on top of each other and were sheltered by the thick branches of towering oak trees. The driveway she pulled into was that of a house right at the center of the street and which seemed to be the heaviest shaded on the block.
"Welcome home darling," was all my mother said as I stared up at the one-story home fully equipped with a porch, deck and major renovations. Among homes with cracked and weathered sidings and yellowing lawns, my mother's was a fucking jewel.
"I had some extra money lying around and I wasn't planning on moving anytime soon," she stated practically reading my mind. I nodded and slipped out of the truck, walking up to the porch and gently touching the wind chime hanging above the steps.
"You expected me to live like a nomad in some crappy house, didn't you?" I shrugged and lifted one of the bags she had pulled out of the truck.
"Well here are some rules," she pulled her keys out of her bag and jammed them into the door.
"I'm no slob and I'm definitely no moron. You have your own room and I expect that you keep after it or I'll give it to the dog and you can sleep on the couch," she turned and looked me dead in the eye, "If you're anything like me I expect you to pull that 'you may be my mother but you've never been around so you have no right to order me around' bullshit. Don't. Just...don't. I'll tell you this now and I won't repeat myself." She lifted her hand and pointed at me, much resembling my late grandmother.
"I left for my own reasons. You were better off with my mother anyway so don't expect me to feel sorry for leaving you with her. She took good care of you, I know she did because I can tell just by looking at you. Don't make me regret this decision." I cocked an eyebrow and shook my head.
"I would never choose to have been raised by anyone other than her so you can stop threatening me." She dropped her hand and nodded.
"I'm not threatening you. I'm just warning you that I can have a cold, black heart." I smiled against my will as she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open with her hip.
"I'm home and my dog better still be alive." The sound of paws hitting hardwood floor could be heard from another room as black dog ambled from another room and started licking my hand.
"She likes you. Dylan this is Charlie. Charlie, Dylan." Charlie barked softly as if she had understood what my mother had said and ran back into the other room as a boy close to my age walked out.
"She didn't piss on the sofa this time." My mom laughed and pushed my bags down the hallway.
"Well thanks for watching her. Gerard, this is my daughter Dylan. Dylan this is Gerard, one of my students and occasional dog sitter." He raised an eyebrow and stuck his hand out for me to shake.
"I expected you to be much younger," he stated as we dropped hands. I was shocked that she had told this guy about me and I was curious to know exactly what she had told him.
"Sorry to disappoint you." Gerard smirked and pulled on a sweatshirt before opening the front door.
"Well I'm off. Nice meeting you Dylan. I'll see you around." He put on his hood and hurried across the lawn and down the street before it started pouring again.
"He's a good kid. You'll learn to love him." I smiled half heartedly and followed my mother into the room she had deposited my bags in.
"This is your bedroom. Shall I give you the grand tour?" I shrugged and followed her as she led me trough the house with Charlie at my heels. The house was quaint and cozy, relics from her travels strewn about the walls and shelves.
"I already enrolled you in school. You start at the beginning of September so don't start bitching that you don't want to go when the day rolls around." I'd already become accustomed to her addressing me more like a friend than a daughter.
She sighed and plopped down on the couch.
"Now that I got all the mom shit out of the way," she pulled a stack of flyers off the coffee table and leafed through them.
"Chinese or Italian?"
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