"Here we are!" My dad pulled the car into park in front of Oma's house. I looked up from the dime-store adventure novel I had been trying to read for several weeks and glanced at my father. He looked at me and gave me a grin from ear to ear.
Whenever we went out as a family- my parents, Alex, my older brother, and I- people would always make some sort of comment to how I looked like a mini clone of my father and that my brother looked a lot more like my mother. I would be lying if I said that these types of comments never troubled me.
I had his broad hands, his deep set brown eyes that disappeared into a sea of wrinkles whenever he smiled, and his short, stocky frame. I guess these features are somewhat attractive on a middle aged man, but not on an already insecure teenager who was never much of a looker to begin with, especially compared her overachieving older brother with movie star good looks.
"Well, Maddiwobbles, looks like I'll get your stuff from the back. Can you bring in your smaller backpack?"
"'Kay." I paused. I dogeared the corner of the page in my novel to save my place. Normally I wouldn't do such a horrid thing to a book, but I was so uninterested in it's flimsy plotline and characters that I didn't really care.
Dad shut off the engine and hopped out, shutting the door loudly behind him. I grabbed my backpack that was sitting at my feet and got out of the passenger's seat. The smell of sand, waves and salt hit me full force in the face. I took a deep breath of the heavy smell and exhaled slowly. It had been years since I'd been to the beach, let alone Topsail.
I adjusted the strap of my backpack so it hung comfortably on my shoulder. I turned to face Oma's house, the place that I barely remembered from my childhood, but would call my home for the next two months. Small fragments of memory started to come back to me as I looked at the little two-story beach house with Tarheel blue chipping off of its cedar panels. The upper floor of the house was comprised of a small hallway and one room with large windows lining each wall. Mom and I would spend our summers in that room. I think Oma used to wake us up to the smell of apple pancakes.
The house was situated about two blocks inland from the beach, a reasonable ten minute or so walk. It stood on spindly legs like some overlarge, awkward insect. Around the house grew a giant jungle of native plant life. The untrimmed yaupon shrubs ran rampant, and the yellow jessamine vines curled up around the stilts that supported the house. As wild and uncared for as the house seemed, it emanated a sort of grudging, friendly welcome that one would expect out of a year-round resident of Topsail.
"Why don't you go inside and say 'hi' to Oma for me? I'll bring your stuff in." He had already pulled out my luggage from the trunk- a small, plastic floral-patterned suitcase with my clothes in it, my favorite pillow and a large, graffiti-covered backpack with anything else I could possibly need.
"No, I got it." I adjusted the strap of my book bag and grinned.
"You sure?" He raised his eyebrows inquisitively.
"Yeah. Leave everything there. I'll get it all on a second trip."
"Well- okay then. Make sure to call Mom before too long and tell her the car ride went swimmingly. Tell her that I am going to stop by Alex's place and go out to dinner with him before heading to Boswick for the meeting. I'll probably forget to call her."
"I will." I ran over to him and gave him a hug and peck on the cheek.
"You stay safe, you hear?"
"Right."
"No hanging out with scary people, okay?"
"Of course not!" I made a face. It wasn't much of a secret that I was a giant homebody and introvert. If a circumstance or person made me uncomfortable, it is kind of easy to tell that I want to get out that situation as soon as possible.
"Good." My dad smiled, not his wide, all-teeth grin that he usually had on, but an almost-sad, closed mouth smile. He trotted back to the car and opened the door.
"I love you! See you soon." He waved once and got back in. I watched until his car was out of sight before I started my way up to the bottom of the stairs to the front door.
I had barely half a minute to myself before a stocky Chinese lady threw open the screen-in door.
"Hello! WeIcome!" she shouted. I felt my heart leap into my throat at the abruptness of her appearance.
"We have been waiting for you!" She opened her arms wide. "You have gotten so big! I can't believe you all have grown up so fast!" I quickly noticed light traces of a Mandarin accent in her speech- enough to suggest that English was a second language, but hardly noticeable.
I probably looked really stupid standing at the bottom of the stairs staring up at this very excited woman standing at the top.
"Ooh...you probably don't remember me very well. I am Gertrude's mother."
Huh? Who's Gertrude? I racked my brain, trying to recalling childhood memories that seemed to still be there, but hazy and faded, like old celluloid film.
"I am Lena Xiong."
"Oh!" Duh, why didn't I remember Mom mentioning Mrs. Xiong? "It is good to see you again." I smiled, praying that I didn't look as awkward as I felt.
"Come inside, come inside and sit down. I will get the rest of your luggage. Have you eaten yet?"
"Something to drink would be nice." All I had in the car was warm water.
"I'll see what we have. Go make yourself comfortable." She bounded down the stairs, past me, and picked up all of my bags with ease.
I climbed up the rickety stairs and entered the house, closing the screen-in door behind me. I had entered the kitchen. The walls were covered in china blue paisley print wallpaper, and the counter and cabinets were white. Lazy afternoon sunlight filtered in through a large window above a broad, elegant sink with silver faucets. The room was immaculately taken care of and the brash smell of orange cleaner wafted through.
I heard the screen-in door creak behind me.
"Ah, do you like the new decorating job? Me and Ms. McKay are updating the look of the house," Mrs. Xiong set my bags in a corner. "Go sit down, sit down. I have a lot to talk about with you!" She motioned to a little oak table set up for three people in the corner before hurrying into the kitchen. I took off my backpack and set it on the back of a chair before sitting down timidly. This place seemed very familiar to me, but strange enough to make me feel like I needed to be on watch.
"Sweet or unsweet tea?" Mrs. Xiong called out from behind a line of cabinets blocking my view of her from the table.
"Unsweet, please."
"Do you like sweetener in it?" I heard her rapid footsteps on the other side.
"Yes, please."
She quickly emerged from the kitchen with two tall glasses of iced tea in her hands.
"Here you go!" She set one glass down in front of me and sat down in the chair across from me. She took a sip and wiped the condensation off the outside of the glass before looking back at me.
"Before we start talking, let me have a really good look at you." She drew a pair of thick-lensed glasses from somewhere on her being and perched them on her nose. We locked eye contact and sat in silence for what seemed like half an hour. She looked older than she acted, with pronounced dimples, thin eyebrows, and crow's feet wrinkles. Her round face was framed with a bob, obviously dyed to hide grey hair.
She smiled wistfully. "You look so much like Daniel when he was younger." Duh, I knew that. (Daniel's my dad's name.)
"Do you still go by Maddie?"
I attempt to laugh. "No, not anymore. I like to be called Maddison."
"Well then, Maddison, it is then. So," She paused to take her glasses off and tucked them away into the folds of her dress, "how is your mom?"
"She is pretty good."
"Does she still play the violin?"
"Not as much as she used to."
Mrs. Xiong leaned back in her chair and took a sip of her tea. "Ah, that's a shame. She was such a talented violist in high school. She always got the solos in orchestra."
"Hm?"
She gave me a look of surprise. "Your parents and I were classmates! I came as an exchange student sophomore year and your mom (a junior) was a huge mentor to me. She taught me how to pick up boys." She winked at me and kind of stifled a giggle. "Nessie was good at getting boys to dance with her. It is a shame that she couldn't come with you for the summer. We have so much lost time to make up. I guess she has her reasons." She beamed.
"So how is Alex? Is he getting along well at App?"
"I think so. He says that nursing sounds like a major he wants to go for."
"Ah." She took another swig of her iced tea.
I tried to think of another topic before it turned to me. I never liked to talk about myself, not because I have something to hide, but because I have such a bland and routine lifestyle that I was afraid to bore people.
"Is Oma okay?"
She smiled brightly. "Ms. McKay is doing very well after her accident. She is currently playing bridge with a couple of her friends. She will be back around 6 o'clock."
"Oh, that's good."
Silence. I could hear the clock on the wall tick as seconds passed
. I took a sip of my sweetened tea.
"How is Gertrude?"