My Complicated Life

Chapter 17

I zipped up my suitcase, hoping I had not forgotten anything. Jason had already loaded his bags into the backseat of the pickup truck when I brought mine down. When all of the bags were packed in the truck, we said goodbye to Jason’s mom, and got in the truck.

I pulled out the map, which showed the entire state of Florida. The trip from Orlando to Noma is supposed to take about five hours with no traffic. Apparently Noma is an extremely small city with just over 200 residents. I could not help but wish that I was going back to San Francisco for Christmas as we pulled out of the driveway.

All I knew about this Uncle of mine was that he was a single man who basically lived in the middle of nowhere. My mom had never actually met him, though she went to his house once with my dad for some reason. She claims that when she went, he was sick so he stayed in his room the whole time. They only stayed one night.

Instead of boring you with the details of the car ride, I will provide a brief summary:

Hour one: Ate cheetos; blasted the radio; fought with Jason over whether Hook from Once Upon a Time should be considered evil or not (Jason believes he his due to the sheer fact that he is Captain Hook, but I personally believe that there is more to him and that his attractiveness makes up for anything he may have done bad).

Hour two: Sleep.

Hour three: Sleep; gas station stop to use the restroom.

Hour four: More food; more sleep.

Hour five: Bathroom break; McDonald’s stop; mini Panic! At the Disco jam session.

There was actually an extra thirty minutes in there due to our dinner stop at McDonald’s, but nothing else really happened.

To reach the house there was an extremely long rode which spread from the main rode to the front of the house. A canopy of trees hung over the rode, brushing against the top of the truck as we drove under it. The house itself appeared small on the outside, but was larger than I had expected. Jason parked under a tree about forty feet from the house. I took my time getting out of the truck while Jason unloaded our bags, throwing them on the grass. Luckily I didn’t have anything that could break in my bags. I knew Jason did not want to be here about as much as me, but I hoped that he could hide it from Uncle Dave. After picking up our bags from the grass, we headed up the paint-peeling steps of the porch. Jason knocked on the door and about a minute later, a man appeared in grey sweat pants, a faded blue t-shirt, and slippers. He is only five years older than my dad, but he looks to be about fifteen. His receding hairline bares a thin layer of brown and grey hair. He has the same brown eyes as his brother and Jason as well as the same eye shape. I didn’t realize so much of my family looked alike. I’m not sure I inherited anything from my dad’s side of the family.

“Well look at you Jason you just get taller every time I see you,” he says before pulling Jason into a hug, which Jason reluctantly returns.

“Uh, this is Callie,” Jason says. “She’s Dad’s other kid.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Callie,” he says holding his hand out for me to shake.

“Say, how many kids does Brian have now?”

“Just two, as always,” Jason replied.

Uncle Dave chuckled before opening the door to its full extent to let us in. Jason steps in first and I after.

“So I guess y’all can just make yourself at home. I fixed up the bedroom a bit.”

I followed Jason through the living room and down a short hall to a bedroom. Jason entered the room where I assumed we would be sleeping.