Red River

Chapter One

My twin brother, Lucas, and I grabbed our suitcases from the shelf of the train and hopped off. It was a very hot summer day in Florida and feeling that heat on our skin, he and I blew air at the same time. Ninety-three degrees the last time I checked the state's weather and I could not have been more appreciative of the shorts and tank top I had on. Lucas wore shorts too and a thin buttoned shirt.

Florida was one of the warmest states year-round. No winter but dropping low enough for people who had never experienced real freezing would call cold. Aside from that, I heard it rained the most during the summer like in Portland. Lucas on the other hand said the rain would make the heat feel cooler. For our sake, I wanted to believe that.

Lucas and I sat on a bench with our luggage and waited for our Grandma to pick us up from the station. We were spending the rest of the year with her after three long years of being away. The last time we were all together was during a family reunion in April. But after the death of our Grandfather, the family seemed to not feel up to celebrating with each other anymore. Pity too. The reunions were a time to follow up on long-distance family members.

Grandma arrived not long at all. "She still driving that thing," Lucas commented. She kept the same gold Chevy as I remembered from going to her house as a kid. When I was nine, Grandpa told me it was his first vehicle his father bought him and he took Grandma on their first date to a movie in it. Interesting to know it continued to work well after that long.

She parked the car and Lucas was the first to it and he put it in his bag once the trunk was up. He picked up mine and put it inside. We both entered the back seats. She turned to us almost immediately. "Lucas! Lucy! The two graduates and now adults," she squealed happily. "I'm so proud of you two. Sorry, I couldn't make graduation. The car was giving me some problems, it stayed three days at the repair shop." Grandma was an overly happy person and even at her age, she became excited over things quickly.

"It's fine," Lucas replied. "Ma said hi and that she would be over in three weeks." He was always the responsible one and remembered every important detail. Our mother told us to tell Grandma this first thing and honestly, I would not have remembered for days.

"It will be like a family reunion. Kind of. Just us. And thank you, Grandma," I gave my input.

"How long she going to stay?" Grandma asked in a tone that sounded like she did not want to see her daughter.

"She did not tell us, why?" he asked.

Grandma turned around in the seat and said, "Just wondering." The car came to life and down the road we went.

Everything in town looked the same as I remembered. Just a few construction sites with the promise of new neighborhoods being built. A part of me was excited to explore and job search. Lucas and I would be on the hunt first thing tomorrow.

"Have y'all learned to drive yet?"

I scrunched my lips together and looked at Lucas who glanced at me. "I have my license but Lucy over here hasn't passed the test yet." It was true. As much as I studied the handbook, I failed the test like three times already.

"Oh dear." I saw her looking at me in the review mirror. "I'll help with that. For now, your brother can do all the driving. As a graduation gift, I bought you two a car." Lucas and I looked at each other again. A small smile crept on his face. Not even Ma gave us something like that. We had dinner and a gift card as presents.

We pulled up to the two-story yellow building and parked beside a car that was covered up by a grey cloth. We got out and took our bags into the house upstairs. Lucas and I had the spare rooms and Grandma's room was downstairs. Sadly though, only one bathroom split between my brother and I space and that meant we had to share.