Page 3 of Pleasure Island
2
Liam
I glanced around the rushed chaos of the airport’s baggage claim one last time.
Nobody was coming.
My parents knew I was coming home today. I’d got a text back from Mom yesterday when I sent her the information. She’d told me that she couldn’t wait to see me…when I got home.
I’d pretty much figured then and there that I wasn’t going to be greeted with balloons and signs and hugs.
It would be kind of weird if I was, to be honest.
I hadn’t seen my parents since I’d left for boot camp four years earlier. I’d had leave that I could have used to travel back home to see them, but things just never meshed up quite right, and after the first year or two of rushed calls and hurried postcards, the communication line between me and my folks faded away down to about nothing.
Cards on my birthday and at Christmas, and I always called Mom on Mother’s Day, but that was about it.
Making my way out to the street, I pulled out my phone and tapped on the icon for Lyft. There were plenty of cabs waiting in front of the airport, but I had no idea what a thirty-minute cab ride would cost.
Once I got an estimate on how much time I had to wait, I dropped down onto a long, concrete bench, dumping one bag on the ground in front of me while putting the backpack on the bench next to me.
Two bags.
All I had in the world was inside those two bags.
It wasn’t much more than I’d left home with four years earlier.
It seemed pretty pathetic, but at least I didn’t have a lot of shit to carry on the way back home.
* * *
Three cars satin the driveway when I got home. I recognized my mom’s van and the sedan my dad drove. I didn’t recognize the beater but suspected it belonged to my eighteen-year-old brother.
I wasn’t even up on the porch when I heard the sheer chaos that seemed to accompany my family all the time. I hesitated at the front door, uncertain whether I should knock or just go inside. I’d lived in this house most of my life, so knocking seemed kind of foolish, but at the same time, there was one simple fact…this wasn’t home anymore.
I made up my mind and opened the door, calling out, “Hello?”
One of the kids running across the living room skidded to a halt at the sight of me. Her eyes were the same shade of pale green as mine, and her hair – unruly, crazy curls – was what mine might have looked like if I hadn’t kept it cut close and short. And maybe if I’d skipped brushing it that day. I’d hardly touched a comb unless my mother made me up until I was in middle school and discovered girls.
“Hi,” she said, blinking at me. Then a smile creased her face. “Are you Liam?”
“Yeah.” I edged inside and dumped my stuff by the door out of the way. “You’ve got to be Claudia. Man, you’re getting so big.”
She threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my waist. The unexpected display of affection threw me off balance, but I recovered in time to catch her. Rising, I settled her on my hip and looked into her eyes. “How is everything going here?”
“Boring.” She rolled her eyes. “I heard you got to go to Germany. Is it boring in Germany?”
Mid-answer, we were interrupted by a couple of teens as they hurried through. I recognized my brother, but not the boys he was with. Assuming they were friends of his, I nodded at him. “Hi, Jacob. How are you?”
He hesitated, slowing to a stop as his eyes lingered on my face. Recognition hit, and he grinned. “Hey, soldier. I forgot you were coming back today.”
He introduced me to his friends, then as they started looking restless, he glanced over his shoulder at them and shrugged. “We’ll catch up later. I’m supposed to be hanging with them today.”
I worked my way through the house, encountering most of my siblings – there were six of us, so there were a lot of encounters – before I finally found my parents in the kitchen.
The moment Mom saw me, her face softened into a smile. “Liam…” She came to me and gave me a hug, leaning back to study my face with inquisitive eyes before patting my cheek. “It’s good to see you home.”
I got an abbreviated version of that from my father, but no sooner had they saidhi, then they were back to talking about whatever they’d been discussing before I came in.
