Nomads

Chapter 9

After successfully making it through the flight to Paris without dying, the two orphans parted ways with lots of hugs and promises to keep in touch. Luca ran off after cutting it really close to missing his flight, and once he left Naomi sluggishly made her way to where she was supposed to retrieve her ticket.

On the way there, she pulled out her phone and called Iosif to let him know that she had made it to Paris safely. In the middle of her conversation with him, some big burly dude with the coolest beard she'd ever seen slammed into her and caused the phone to clatter to the ground, smashing it to pieces in the process.

The older man let out a short string of curses upon seeing the scattered bits of phone on the shiny airport floor. "Sorry honey," his deep, scary voice rumbled. "Do you want to use my phone to call your friend back? You'll have to make it quick, though. I gotta catch my flight."

"Um, no thanks... I don't wanna cause you to miss your flight." she mumbled distractedly, bending down to collect the scattered pieces of her cell phone.

"It's alright; I feel terrible. Just let your friend know you're ok so they don't worry somethin' happened to ya."

"Okay." she took the phone from his hand and typed in Iosif's number. "Hey Uncle, it's me. No. Yeah. I dropped my phone and demolished it. Yep. I- yeah. I gotta go though, I need to get my ticket and the person who's letting me borrow their phone needs to catch a flight. Yeah. I'll be fine. Love you too. Bye."

She handed the man back his phone with a polite smile. "Thank you. Hope you catch your flight. Also, your beard is super cool."

The guy chuckled and thanked her before checking the time on his phone and swearing. "Gotta go, kid. Have a safe flight."

She waved at the stranger as he practically flew down the hallway, narrowly dodging people as he went.

Naomi sighed, continuing on her way to the desk where she was to retrieve her ticket.

Luckily, that encounter ended with minimal problems and her ticket safely in her hands.

Now all she had to do was survive this plane ride to...

Rhode Island. Great.

Without wasting a breath on this new revelation, she headed toward her gate and waited patiently to board. At least the fall would be pretty there.

And who knew? Maybe she'd like aunt Clara a little more upon moving in with her. Maybe they'd get along great, and even bond a little.

Who was she kidding? The entire side of her dad's family was difficult to be around at best. And aunt Clara, while being the least difficult out of all the Hendersons, had her fair share of difficulties.

But. Jesus loves her. He loved her so much that He died for her, so, Naomi could suck it up and be loving and kind to the woman.

Besides, she probably didn't want this just as much as Naomi. Aunt Clara just had her son, Jay, graduate and move out in May. She was probably sick of taking care of kids. Hopefully they would be able to bond over their mutual dislike of the situation that Grandma Stanford thrusted them both into.

A flight attendant called everyone to board, effectively snapping Naomi out of her increasingly negative thoughts.

The young girl scurried over to the end of the line, and was (not so) soon enough seated and on her way to her new 'home'.

***

The first thing Naomi realized when she stepped off the plane early Friday morning was that her aunt was still one for dramatic flair.

The older woman with flaming red curls and pale freckled skin tossed aside her huge 'welcome to Fallston, Rhode Island, Naomi!' sign (which was a bit garish to begin with) and proceeded to engulf her in a bone-crushing huge. Then, as if that wasn't enough affection from an estranged aunt to her niece, Clara then planted a big, wet kiss on Naomi's cheek and pulled away, but only to hold her at arm's length and admire her.

Naomi could practically feel the walls that she spent all summer tearing down being rapidly built back up like they were inflatable bouncy castles.

Aunt Clara prattled on about how excited she was to have Naomi stay with her, how she always wanted a daughter, how much fun they were going to have, and so on. It seemed as though aunt Clara wasn't aware that she was old enough to tell that she was terribly nervous and was trying to cover it up with an unnecessary amount of enthusiasm.

But she was trying, and Naomi would be darned if she didn't meet her at least halfway.

After all, it wasn't aunt Clara's fault that Naomi wanted her parents to be the ones welcoming her back. There was nothing either of them could do about that.

So she straightened her shoulders and gave her aunt a weak smile. "Hey, aunt Clara."

Clara took in the fragile politeness of the young girl's smile and tone and smiled apologetically. "Was the sign too much? You know what, don't answer that. You must be exhausted. Let's get you settled in."

Naomi followed after aunt Clara, watching her pick up the big sparkly sign and tuck it under her arm. "So, how was Greece? My goodness, you're so young and yet you've traveled to more places than I could dream of going. Meet any cute guys? Break any hearts while you were there?"

The girl shrugged in response, gripping the handle of her suitcase a little tighter. "I hope not." she muttered.

Clara glanced back at her, chittering about some european guy she dated in college as they exited the airport. Mara squinted at the midday sun as they approached her aunt's bright purple vintage-looking Volkswagen Beetle.

The older woman opened the trunk and placed the suitcase gently inside.

"Is this all you've got, hon?"

She nodded mutely, heading toward the passenger side and sliding in.

"Excuse the mess, sweetie. I was running late on my way to come get you, and I completely forgot to clean out the car." Clara reached down and tossed a few things into the backseat. She glanced over at the teen, as if only just noticing the lack of response she was getting.

"Is everything alright, Naomi? Are you feeling sick?"

She shook her head, feeling the next few words slip off her tongue with more cold sorrow than she wished; solidifying in place the walls that were slowly being built up from the moment she parted ways with Luca.

"I'm fine, aunt Clara. And I uh, I go by Mara now."

Aww the poor baby. She's having a tough time. 😭

I'm writing this currently while dead tired from being at the beach all day lol, hope I didn't miss anything that I wanted to correct.

What do you guys think of Naomi saying she Goes by Mara now? Did the chapter's buildup to her changing her name make sense? 

What do you think of Aunt Clara so far?

This chapter was really hard to write. I had such a hard time making sure that the change in her feelings and actions were clear. Phew. Let me know if there's anything I could improve on.

In other news, I'm dead from carrying little kids (that aren't that little really) on my back and almost drowning as I have them rides across the beach under the water. 2 days in a row I did it. Two days in a row I almost drowned and I'll probably do it once again tomorrow. I'll get the hang of it.

Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what you think!
<3 Ava