Dust

XXXVII

Gael's house is a significant distance away from the bar where we found him; an appealing two-story on the top of a hill, its red brick and white picket fence give me visions of a happy and warm household. Gael leads Shi and I up to his porch, where he produces a key to unlock the door, which is the same silvery gray as the shutters. Shi has gone to examining the rose bush near the stoop, and I lean awkwardly against a pillar, wondering what's taking Gael so long.

    "Hey...guys," Gael says, turning from the door for a second to face us. Instead of replying, I just lift an eyebrow at him, silently ordering him to go on. He clears his throat. "I don't think my family should know about you, you know."

    My eyebrow goes higher. "You don't trust them?"

    Gael twists his mouth to the side, looking unsure. "Well, it's not that I don't trust them, it's just that I don't...don't know how they'll handle it, especially not—"

    The door swings open, and Gael takes a few stutter steps back, bending to grab the keys he had dropped in his wake. Standing before him is a boy who looks almost too much like Gael, except taller and with a buzz cut. His eyes are a darker shade of emerald, but just as alluring. Gael coughs a little. "Kip," he says.

    "You're early, G," Kip says, balancing himself against the doorframe as he crosses his arms. "And you brought friends," he adds, addressing Shi and me with brief eye contact.

    Gael, with a sigh, turns away from Kip to look at me and Shi. "Kip, meet Shi and Gemma; Shi and Gemma, meet Kip, my older brother."

    Kip waves in a manner that tells me he doesn't care much at all, his eyes heavy-lidded. "How did you two end up on my porch then, hmm?"

    I hesitate, looking at Shi and Gael, hoping for one of them to make up the story so I don't have to; not only do I hate lying, but I'm also just plain terrible at it. When neither of the boys reply, I just shake my head and open my mouth. "It's a bit of a story. See, Shi here is my adoptive big brother...ah, you know, I was adopted into their family, but now we're orphaned...so, um, Gael, who I have known for a bit, offered to give us a place to stay. Yeah. That's it. That's the story."

    Kip's eyes narrow, and for a second I wonder if that was all too bogus and we're all screwed, but then he just shrugs and steps aside. "I couldn't care less. Welcome."

    Gael, looking relieved, lets Shi and me precede him before entering himself, and as I step into the foyer, I draw in a breath. The entranceway is huge and open, our voices echoing off the slate gray walls, light from the glass chandelier glimmering across the staircase's wood. It narrows behind Kip into a hallway, where I can see the corner of tiled floors. A voice rises from an unknown source, warm and feminine: "Kip? Who was at the door, honey?"

    A woman rounds the corner, wearing a comfy maxi dress with an apron tied around her waste. Her eyes are wide and dark, her skin a warm umber, and her tightly wound curls are pulled into a puff atop of her head. Dark freckles pepper her face, a dust of flour near her neck, while makeup smudges a bit underneath her lash line. She looks, confused, to Kip, and then to Gael, and then to both me and Shi. Before she can ask, Kip turns to her and says, "G's home early, Ma, and he brought...orphaned friends, who apparently will be staying with us for a while." He shrugs, as if this is something he encounters everyday.

    "Oh!" exclaims who I can only guess is Gael and Kip's mother, a smile growing on her face. She comes forward and closes me in a hug so tight that my arms stick to my sides; grunting, I feel blood rush to my cheeks. "I always love visitors! What's your name, sweetie? How long have you known my Gael?"

    I hear Gael groan, and when I glance at him, his face is hidden behind his hand. Chuckling a little despite myself, I face his mother and say, "I'm Gemma, and this is Shi, my adoptive brother."