by M. K. Claeys
I had left the majority of my things at Aunty Jo’s in their basement, and I would pick them up when I returned to Illington in December. Rae had considered renting a storage unit to keep her things in over the summer instead of transporting them back and forth, but between Bobby and I, we’d convinced her she was being ridiculous and she agreed to put some of the bigger things she wouldn’t need at home in Aunty Jo’s basement with my stuff.
The apartment was fifty dollars cheaper per person a month if we took it unfurnished, and since I lived in a home that was basically a living furniture store, we decided that we would furnish it using the items that my mother had deemed un-tour-worthy for the kitchen and living room. There were several bedframes that had long since been in storage—I had already picked one that I would bring to school—and as the baby would need a room of his or her own, the furniture in what was now the nursery had been given to Rae. Well, technically it had been sold to Rae because she refused to let us give it to her, but we’d beat her down to a reasonable price.
She and my parents had worked it out where they would bring the furniture to Illington when our apartment was ready for us to move in a week before classes commenced, so we would really get a full welcome week this time. Somehow they’d managed to convince her that, even though they would be transporting her bedroom set for her from Tennessee along with the general apartment furniture, since she was doing all the manual labor of moving it in with Ryn and Paul without me, she didn’t need to pay for the U-Haul.
Although I’d be willing to bet that Bobby will be more than happy to assist her with any manual labor she’ll let him help with. He is so smitten with that girl, and she has positively no idea.
Mama had her baby three days before I left for England. I was so glad that little Xavier Jeffrey Callaway had decided to arrive before I had to go because, even though I knew I could have pushed back my flight by a few days, I had to admit I was a little worried that a few days would be enough to make me fall behind in the classes. Luckily, it wasn’t an issue.
I was glad that Mama and I’d had the foresight to make sure that my cell phone would work overseas—I’d actually needed to upgrade the phone as well as the plan—so at least I wouldn’t be dependent on phone cards for twenty-four weeks. Daddy had managed to secure a laptop for me through one of his expatriate coworkers that had just gotten back from Sweden, so that had been lucky. I had heard horror stories of people that had attempted to use converted power cables for long term and it had ended up frying their computers. It wasn’t worth the risk, and my desktop would be used for Emma, Caroline, and Billy to complete homework, so I didn’t have to feel too guilty at having two computers, and Mama and Daddy could have theirs to themselves again, if only temporarily.
Mama, Daddy, and Bobby took me to the airport in the morning while Emma, Caroline, and Billy took care of Xavier. I knew they were a little mad about not being able to see me off, but in all honesty, I knew that the more people that were there, the harder it would be for me to actually enter the departure terminal. I had traveled internationally several times before, but it had always been with my family, so I was a little nervous. The university had arranged that I would meet up with another participant at my layover in New York, though, so I wouldn’t be traveling alone the entire time. Jake and I had emailed one another several times over the past month, and he seemed like a nice guy to travel with, so I was looking forward to meeting him.
I had triple-checked that my passport was easily accessible in my REI backpack, which I had been advised to take by a previous participant in the program because she said it would be highly convenient for weekend trips and much easier to lug around the airports than a suitcase. I had also checked to make sure that my travel toiletries were easy to get at, since they had to be scanned separately. I had packed enough clothes in my backpack for three days, in case my luggage got lost, and I had enough money for the same. The program would take care of banking with us once we got there. I knew that logically I had prepared for everything, so I didn’t understand why my stomach was churning underneath my traveling clothes.
“You all right, sugar?” Mama asked.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“You’re in for the experience of a lifetime, honey,” added Daddy, smiling encouragingly. “I’m so proud of your decision to do this. It’s something I wish I would have had the opportunity to do while I was studying at State.”
I hugged them both, which was awkward with my backpack and the two suitcases standing around, and then I turned to Bobby. Surprisingly, saying goodbye to my big brother was the hardest. Bobby had been the one who had stood beside me from the very beginning when I had applied to the University of Illington. He had been there through the entire Tasha situation, had convinced me to apply to the International Scholars program, and had supported me right through my sobbing phone call to him at two in the morning when Jamaal and I had decided to end our relationship.
“I’ll miss you, Bobby,” I whispered as he held me tight, despite the backpack.
“I’ll miss you, too, Mitz,” he replied, his voice cracking.
“Please don’t start, Bobby,” I begged. “If you do, I will, and I won’t stop.”
He sniffed, but he dried his eyes and wiped my cheeks on his sleeve.
“Take care of Rae for me, will you, Bobby?” I teased, trying to lighten the moment.
“Shut up, Mitzy,” he said through gritted teeth as he blushed.
I smiled and shot him a wink. “Well, somebody’s gotta do it.”
“I will, Mitz. I promise.”
He leaned in to hug me again, whispering in my ear that he had left me a “little something” in my backpack.
“Bobby!” I gasped. “You know I can’t take that on the plane!”
Grinning mischievously, he simply shook his head and told me not to worry, that it was perfectly carry-on acceptable, but that I wasn’t to open it until I got to England.
I hugged each of my family members one last time and managed to wheel my suitcases over to the security checkpoint without tripping over them, giving my family a final wave after I had passed through the metal detectors on my way to my first gate. I put the earbuds of my phone in as I waited for boarding and read a book during my flight to New York.
I met Jake at the gate, easily identifiable in his University of Illington baseball cap—mine was attached to my backpack—and we celebrated with a toast on our British Airways flight. Traveling internationally was something I loved, admittedly because once you got out of U.S. airspace, you could drink even if you were under twenty-one and usually your alcohol was covered in the cost of the flight. There was something about drinking white wine at thirty-seven thousand feet that made it exceptionally delicious.
We met up with two other Illington students once we arrived in London, and a representative from the university picked us up at the airport to take us to what would be our home for the next seven weeks. As I unpacked my bags, I saved my carry-on backpack for last. Opening it up, I saw what Bobby had left for me, wrapped neatly in comic-strip newspaper. It was two framed photographs that he must have had developed from photos I had texted him. The first was of me with Jamaal, Ryn, Derek, Kate, Maliha, Rae, and Paul. The second was a photo that had been taken of my family all together at the hospital just after Xavier had been born.
I wiped away a tear and tenderly placed both photos on my bedside table. True to form, Bobby had given me what I needed most, whether I had known it or not.
Bobby had given me a little piece of my homes.
About the Author
Maddelein K. Claeys (or ‘MK’ to her friends!) is making her introduction to the formal publishing world with UI 101, but she is no stranger to writing. Her previous “claim to fame” is being rated in the top 10 of Fan Fiction authors, but she won’t tell you what series (although you can still find her other stories, if you know where to look)… Other published works include a horribly boring and technical dissertati
on that nobody wants to read, especially her. MK is an alumna of Michigan State University’s undergraduate program and has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. She lives in North Carolina with her spouse, daughter, and two black rescue cats.
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Like MK on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MK-Claeys-145827712799162/
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