Never Let Me Go (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 26: Less House, More Home

"Perhaps home is not a place, but simply a irrevocable condition."

- James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room

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"Lukey?"

Lucas looked down from the kitchen table to see his brother standing before him, a hopeful look on his face. "Yeah Cam?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"My teacher said I was really good at art, so she said for a summer project I should try to draw one thing every day. She even gave me a book." Cam continued, the clever pun Lucas was immensely proud of drifting right over the four year old's head. He glanced down to see the boy holding out a large colouring book, the title covered in big letters that read "101 Things to Draw for Kids". He accepted it, prying open the spine to see the pages were in fact blank, yet each was labelled at the top with a word. The first page had the word "home" written in the top corner, the entire page left for drawing space.

"Wow, that seems like a waste of money. So what's up?"

"I don't know how to read it. What's the first word?"

Lucas blinked, quickly recalling that the boy still couldn't read. "Oh, it says home."

The boy took the book back, looking at the blank space quizzically. "So I have to draw our house?"

"You don't have to." Camila replied for him. She was standing on the other side of the kitchen, spinning a jar of peanut butter around in her hand and scanning the label. "You could draw all kinds of things."

Lucas looked to his brother, who had an expression of utter confusion on his face. "But it says home." He told her, taking the book back and holding it up. "See?"

"Sure, but home could be any number of things." Camila nodded, setting the jar down. "It could be the people you love, the places you love. Anything that makes you feel happy and puts a smile on your face can be considered home. Home is where the heart is."

Cameron turned back to his brother, just in time for Lucas to shrug. "She's crazy." He explained, then turned his attention back to his phone.

"Who's crazy?" Lauren walked into the kitchen, pulling her hair down from it's resident ponytail and shaking it out. "By the way I think I finally fixed the garage door, just as long as everyone promises only to open it a few inches and slide your bikes out across the ground."

Camila blinked. "So you've fixed the garage door, just as long as everyone promises not to use it."

"Correct." 

"Okay, by that logic I've fixed every pair of earphones I've lent you in the last three years." Camila picked up the jar of peanut butter again. "By the way I thought I just bought this jar a few days ago, what happened to it?"

"I get peckish around midnight, and it goes really well with those tortilla chips in the cupboard." Lauren shrugged, heading to her side and draping an arm over her shoulder.

"So is that why I keep finding tortilla crumbs in the sheets of our bed?" Camila frowned at her. "Lauren, that's gross."

"Embrace your culture Camila. We're both part Mexican right? We enjoy tortilla chips." The green eyed girl laughed. "They're also good if you put a little Nutella on there. It's like a sweet, salty, peanut infused chip of wonder."

"Oh my god." Camila pressed her elbows down on the counter, covering her eyes with her hands. "When we go grocery shopping this afternoon you and I are going to have an open and frank discussion about making healthy choices."