The Streets Of Sicily

Italy, Here We Come!

It was a bright and sunny morning...maybe too sunny, 'cause Andy felt his eyes hiss under the rays of light sneaking in through his blinds.

It's days like these when Andy wished they'd stayed in Scotland. I mean, there wasn't that much sun there, and that was perfect.

Getting out of bed was a hassle. Andy had a tendency to tangle himself up in his blanket at night. Waking up was definitely cozy...if you liked feeling paralyzed.
He untangled himself roughly, not caring whether he ripped the blanket or not. That was until he fell off his bed and onto the floor.

THUMP

Andy got up, annoyed, and headed for his bathroom. Showers were always appreciated, warm water eased the tension in his shoulders and helped him relax. And after a start like this one, Andy appreciated it even more.

"Andy! You ready? We're leaving in an hour!" Mrs. Sanchez called from downstairs.
That's right! Today was the day! Andy had been looking forward to this all year.

They were going to Italy! After graduating high school and getting marks his parents found acceptable, he'd finally got his wish: a trip to Italy! And he couldn't be happier.

He got out of his shower and tiptoed into his room with his towel around his waist. He then changed into some clothes, before swiping a bottle off his dresser. It was a concealer, he used it to cover up the freckles he had on his face. Andy was dark skinned and his freckles were the complete opposite. White freckles spread from his nose to his cheekbones, and after getting bullied in middle school, Andy had decided to cover them up whenever he went out. After applying the concealer, he did a quick once over of his suitcase to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

Ready! he thought. He had everything he needed, clothes, extra clothes, a few sketchbooks to draw in, and his camera. Everything!

"Bubba! Bubba!"

His door was swung open by his little five year old brother, Marcus, who ran in at 100mph and leaped onto his bed, before starting to jump on it.

"We'we leaving today, Bubba! Awe you excited?"

"Oi, I told you to knock next time you came in!" Andy fake scolded.

The tiny boy stopped jumping immediately and sat still on his brothers bed.

"Sowwy, Bubba." he apologized sweetly, "I was just so excited fow us!"

Ever since his big brother had told him about Italy and all it's wonders, Marcus had become extremely interested. He would sit and listen to his brother reading about people who'd been before, it was nice. Even if Marcus didn't understand all the words, he loved spending time with Andy.

Andy smiled at the child, always so excited for him.

"I am excited, really excited!" he replied finally, smiling at the boy on his bed.

"Yay! Bubba, Bubba-" he had to take a breath in between, "-what are you looking forward to most, Bubba?"

Andy sat next to his little brother and  pulled him onto his lap.

"I'm not sure," Andy pretended to tap his chin in thought, "maybe the..."

"FOOD!" They exclaimed in unison.

Andy laughed with Marcus, eventually  falling backwards onto the bed with the tiny boy now on his chest. They huffed out a few more giggles before finally calming down.

"Andy! Marcus! Are you both ready?"

Andy shot up, remembering to hold onto the little jellybean still sat on him so he wouldn't fall.

"Yes, Ma, we're ready!" He called back.

"You ready?" He whispered to Marcus. The boy nodded excitedly, "Yeah!" he whispered back.

"You ready to go?" Marcus nodded again, "Where's your suitcase?"

"In my room."

Five minutes later Andy stumbled downstairs, a suitcase in each hand, and a little Marcus on his back.

"Andy, you'll fall like that!" His mother called, after spotting him from the kitchen. She then took a closer look at his face, a frown falling upon her lips when she couldn't find her sons cute little freckles. Andy simply shrugged and continued down the stairs.

Andy's mother was Scottish, she was also a red head. Precisely why, Andy too, was a red head. Although his mother was quite light skinned, his complexion was exceptionally darker. His skin was a dark bronze, with a very mellow hint of orange. He got that from his father. Mr Sanchez was a very dark skinned man, darker than his son.

"Son, come here." His father was sat at the dining table, sipping on his morning coffee. Andy walked over to his father, after shaking Marcus off his back, and stood before him.

"Papa?" He asked. 

His father urged him to sit beside him. When he did, he took his son's hand and smiled.

"I'm proud of you, son." He explained softly. "We both are." His mother added from behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders. 

"You deserve this trip, understand?"

Andy nodded to his father and smiled, "Thank you!" He said while hugging him, his mother joined in the hug. They stayed like that for a moment before separating.

"Why so sappy?" Someone muttered from across the table.

 Also in the kitchen was his younger sister, Alejandra. She was four years younger then him, she had a knack for tech and and was more interested in Korean culture than Italian.

"Shut up." Andy retorted unfazed.

The rest of the day went by, everyone had breakfast, rested a bit and finally got into the car to head to the airport.

---

"Bubba?"

"Yeah?"

"What we gonna do fiwst?"

Andy thought for a moment, before turning to his brother and smiling, "We're gonna buy a huge authentic cheese pizza, just for us."

Marcus giggled and smiled at his brother. It wasn't long before he fell asleep on Andy, soft breathes landing on his shoulders.

Andy checked the flight info on the screen in front of him, two more hours left, he couldn't wait!

---

"Do we have everything?" Mrs Sanchez asked her kids as they entered their hotel room, "Well?"

"Yes, Ma!" Marcus replied after counting everything, he'd counted everything before they left too.

"He's right, Ma, that's everything." Andy reassured. 

They then spent the rest of the day unpacking their things. They were staying four and a half months after all. Mrs Sanchez's sister had married a Sicilian man, and they were eager to meet him while they were there. Audrey, the sister, had instructed they stay longer, otherwise they weren't gonna have enough time to see everything, hence the long stay.

"That's everything." Mrs Sanchez declared, washing her hands and wiping them, "Sleep everyone, lets make the most of tomorrow!" She called after the rest of her family.

Everyone washed up, changed and got into their beds.

Mr and Mrs Sanchez shared a room, while Alejandra got her own. Andy and Marcus also shared a room.

"Night night, Bubba." Marcus whispered from their twin sized bed.

"Night night, Marcus."

The rest of the night went by silently, the whole family slept soundly.

Unaware of who was watching.