Restart

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Lucia

I awoke to a strange smell. It was something that was nearly foreign to me. I pushed off my towels and stood up, enticed with this delightful scent. Meat. I followed it to the back door and I peered out.What I saw sent shivers of pleasure down my spine. Out of a garbage can, was a small fire where my uncle was cooking meat on a stick.

I wandered up to him, cautious with every step. When he saw me he smiled." Is it.... is it real?" I asked.

"Yep. Hot dog. Well..." He says scratching his head. "Close enough. It's as real a kind as they come. " I look up at him.

"Dog?" I say timidly. Thinking about the tales of wild savage dogs roaming the streets at night. He laughs and shakes his head.

"No, not dog. Misleading name I suppose." I breathed in deeply. My mouth starting watering. I just stood there watching him for a few minutes, until he lifts it out of the fire and offers it to me. I blink, taken aback.

"I couldn't..I...But...really it's not..." I stammer. He raises his eyebrows suggestively. I sniff it. But how could he have gotten....? I shake my head lifting myself from the trance. I take a step back."Black market. That's the only way you could have gotten this. And..and...I've just met you. I couldn't possibly accept food from you." He simply shrugs and it's like he nearly breathes the thing in how fast he eats it. I stare at him for a moment, perplexed.

"I don't understand." I say. He looks at me blankly, still swallowing the hot dog. "I mean, I don't understand why you took me in so easily. Were you and my mom close? She never told me about you. Why would she forget to mention you?"

"I guess I do owe you an explanation, don't I?" Jason says. "Did your mom ever tell about where we grew up?" I shake my head. "Well we grew up on the border of Zone 9 where it met Zone 10. One day our parents went past the border into Zone 10. They never came back. So we were close. But we only got along because we had to. I guess it stayed the same as we got older. She never wanted to tell you about me or her past. She wanted you two to have a clean start without being haunted by memories. Or me. When you came here I thought she had finally let me into your life. I mean obviously not..." I start to feel a lump in my throat so I gulped and kept the topic on him.

"I've noticed you talking to my mom a few times at work. I mean if you were doing so well there that you could afford electricity and a house why couldn't you have afforded to help us out? Your family. It is Zone 9 after all. And while we're mentioning work why aren't you there?" Uncle Jason's teeth clench nervously.

"I have today off since I was a Fixer. That's how I got lights. God knows I couldn't afford to buy them." He says. "Look Lucia, I know you feel like I am in the wrong here by not helping you guys out, but you don't understand. It's more complicated than that." My brows crinkle and my eyes scrunch in a mixture between anger and puzzlement.

"It's more complicated than that?" I say in exasperation. It shouldn't be that way with family.

"Hey slow down there. I'm not the one holding back information. I let you into my house, gave you a place to sleep. And you still haven't told me what happened. You'd think something as big as the death of my sister would be an important thing to tell me. I understood that it was hard for you though. I think I am the one who deserves an explanation now. What happened to Aurelle, Lucia?" He replied with tension straining his voice.

A large lump grew in the pit of my stomach and did little flips till I felt sick. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I felt tears coming on. I took a deep breath, trying to keep calm, and began.