The Eye of a Hurricane

Isabel

I felt so ungrateful. Uncle Lin had opened up his home to us, but all I could think about was my dad. I missed him so much. Sure, he could be a bit of a deadbeat, but he was still my dad. I wondered what he was doing right now; how he was feeling. He was locked up in some cell, probably wondering where we were. Or maybe he was just trying to figure out how to get more drugs.

Yesterday, I barely left my room. I just didn't feel like interacting with anyone so I read and slept. Uncle Lin tried to coax me out, but I just didn't feel like it. I felt bad that I was worrying him.

Luna was already up, making lots of noise. The kid was not a quiet one. She seemed to only have one volume - loud. She was long-windedly telling Uncle Lin about a dog that lived on our street back in San Juan.

I reluctantly sat up and let myself drop to the floor. I didn't even take a shower yesterday, so I grabbed some clean clothes and headed to the bathroom. The hot water felt good. I didn't stay in too long, got dressed, and headed out to the kitchen. Uncle Lin was unloading the dishwasher.

"Morning," he smiled at me. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Just some cereal," I told him. "I can get it myself."

I was used to being independent and doing everything for myself. Uncle Lin set out a bowl and grabbed the Cheerios from the pantry. I sleepily poured on the milk and started eating. Luna soon bounded over.

"Uncle Lin's gonna take us to the zoo today!" she reported excitedly.

"Awesome," I told her. It had been years since I'd been to a zoo. I don't think Luna had ever been. I ate up my cereal and rinsed out the dish in the sink. "Luna, let's go get you dressed."

"I can do that," Uncle Lin told me. "Why don't you relax for a few minutes?"

"No I can do it," I insisted. I didn't think Luna was comfortable enough with Uncle Lin yet to let him help her get dressed. I followed Luna to our room and pulled out one of her new outfits. She jumped on the bed and giggled.

"Stop jumping on the bed," I admonished her. She laughed and landed on her bottom. Free as a bird, she stripped off her pajamas and threw them on the floor. "Put your dirty clothes in the hamper."

She complied and slowly began to get dressed, all the while getting momentarily distracted by things in our room. I redirected her a couple times then grabbed the hairbrush. I instructed her to sit on the floor in front of me and I began to comb out the tangles in her hair.

"What do you think we'll see at the zoo?" I asked her.

"Maybe bears and wions?" she guessed as I brushed.

"Mmmhmm," I agreed. "And maybe a giraffe and an elephant?"

We named off more zoo animals as I finished getting her ready. When we went back to the living room, Uncle Lin was on the phone. He glanced over at us and seemed to wrap up the conversation.

"Alright, who's ready to go?" he asked, clapping his hands together once.

"Meeeee!!!" Luna said loudly.

"Okay," he laughed. "Shoes!"

We found our new shoes and soon were out the door. Uncle Lin kept hold of our MetroCards so we didn't lose them. It would almost be a certainty with Luna. I held Luna's hand tight as we walked through the subway station. I was mortified when I saw her pick up a piece of gum from a subway seat and move it towards her mouth.

"Luna, no!" I told her firmly. "That has germs. Put it down."

Uncle Lin chuckled a little as he scrolled through his phone. Luckily, Luna didn't try anything else disgusting.