Nomads

Chapter 11

Luca realized the moment he stepped off the plane late Thursday night that this was going to be a long year.

His uncle was waiting for him outside the airport, standing rigidly in front of his black audi when Luca exited the building with his suitcase in tow.

Luca nodded stiffly at the older man, who opened his trunk and helped the boy set his luggage inside it.

"Hey, uncle Bruce."

"Hey, kid. How uh, how was Greece?" the older man asked, shutting the trunk and looking directly at his nephew.

"It was... good."

"That's good."

The two stood there awkwardly, neither knowing what to do next.

"So, uh... Are we gonna, go..?"

"Oh! Yeah. Come on; it's pretty late. You must be exhausted."

They both clambered into the fancy car and drove off into the night.

"So, uh... I'm staying with you, right?"

His uncle nodded with a nervous smile.

"Yes."

"Did you sell the house?"

"No, no. Your grandfather wanted you to stay there once the summer ended, thinking that too much change wouldn't be good..."

"Oh."

"But I thought it should be up to you, in case it was too much to stay there by yourself. So I have a room in my house cleaned out for you if you'd rather stay with me for now." Bruce cleared his throat. "But if you'd rather stay at your parents' house, I'll be moving in with you until you turn eighteen at least."

"So grandpa is willing to make you uproot your whole life over this?" Luca scoffed. "That's ridiculous. I'd rather stay at your house so you don't have to deal with moving."

His uncle shrugged, seeming to relax visibly at his response. "Only if you're sure."

Luca nodded, "I'm sure."

"Okay. And uh, your grandfather wanted to wait until you came back to go through the stuff in the house. Since it's all yours, we wanted to let you choose what to do with it all." He glanced warily at his nephew. "But you don't have to worry about that right now. Let's just focus on getting you settled..."

Luca's uncle continued to spew logistics about the upcoming school year and all the other things that needed working out, and the boy tried to listen but he was so exhausted that he fell asleep listening to his uncle drone on and on.

He woke to Bruce opening the door to the passenger side, reaching in to gently nudge him awake.

"Hey, Luke. We're here."

The boy's face scrunched up in confusion, having not been used to people calling him that after spending the summer being only referred to as Luca. "Ok."

He rubbed his eyes and eased out of the car, shutting the door behind him and following his uncle into the small house.

"It's not much, but it's home." Bruce muttered, hanging his keys up on a hook before heading into the average sized kitchen. Luca followed him mutely, taking a seat across from his uncle at the square dining table.

"I know it's late, so I'll keep it brief. Curfew is nine on school nights and midnight on weekends. If you're gonna be late, call me and let me know so I don't worry about you. The house is small, so just clean up after yourself. Don't get in the liquor cabinet without my permission, and, uh, that's all I can think of right now." He paused for a moment, then, "Oh! Your Nana wants you to go over to their house for lunch every Sunday, so she can know you're well."