I Am Cameron

A Different Kind Reunion

I pick up my bags, ignoring the slight strain in my arms and walk out of the hospital. In her last visit, Mrs. Anastasia left me some money to buy a taxi and a plane ticket to anywhere in the states. After a month of being hospitalized, I was just glad to be able to walk out the doors without a nurse trying to drag me back in.

No offense to nurses or anything, but good riddance.

I make my way to the Burlington Airport and buy the one-way ticket to the Roanoke Blacksburg Regional Airport. Throughout the four hours and ten-minute flight, I only grew increasingly nervous about what might be on the other side of that gate. I had no idea how Mrs. Anastasia acted around other people. She could just be pretending with me and turn out to be a real monster of a person. I don't think she would be an Austin, but bad is bad.

Maybe she's fine. What if the other kids didn't like me at all? I'm sure we're bound to have our differences, but what do I do if they hate me? And from what I remember, the ratio is four to one. At the least, they've known each other a month longer than they'll know me. The odds aren't in my favor at all.

I found myself worrying about everything until it made me anxious. At that point, my brain told me that it didn't matter anymore. I believed it. I close my eyes and let the time fly by.

I'm woken up by the sound and momentum of the plane hitting the terminal. I thought nothing of it as I got off the plane and headed over to the baggage area. It wasn't until I heard my name that my previous anxiety returned tenfold. I whip my head around and see Mrs. Anastasia waving at me. I give a slight smile and a half wave. She takes this as a cue to come over. I keep my eye trained on the baggage chute looking for the small blue bag.

"Welcome to Virginia", she says. I know I should be a little happy that she was here to pick me up, but I'm finding out that I don't know how to be that happy over small things like that.

"How did you know I was coming", I ask. She smiles.

"Your nurse called me when you were discharged. I figured there would be no harm waiting a day for you to come. If you didn't come, then at least the twins could get out of the house".

"The twins"?

She smiles before guiding my eyes to two sienna-skinned children watching planes land and take off on the terminal. They couldn't have been older than twelve. Their faces were practically stuck to the window. Even from here I could see the awe they held.

"The girl is Elizabeth Asood and her twin brother is Thomas Asood", Mrs. Anastasia points out. I've never met anyone with the last name 'Asood' so I was genuinely curious. Mrs. Anastasia called out to them along with a saying that I didn't understand.

"Ēkhānē āsō", she says. The children shifted their head before walking over. I half expected them to run, but the girl just walked slowly, guiding the boy forward. Pretty soon they were both in from of me and it was very obvious they were twins. They had the same skin tone and button nose along with big onyx eyes. They both had black hair, but Thomas' was curly while Elizabeth's was straight and shoulder length. There face shape was similar but I feel like they'll fill out by the time that they are my age.

The girl stared up at me.

"Hyālō. Āmāra nāma ēlijābētha", she says. My eyes open wide as I look at her and then at Mrs. Anastasia. My attention is drawn back to the small girl as she begins talking again. "That means 'Hello. My name is Elizabeth'. My brother doesn't speak English a lot".

Her accent... It was thick, but I understood her. I can only give a small smile in return. The girl frowns.

"You haven't told us your name", she pouts. My eyes go big.