Things weren’t going too well at home, again, and I wasn’t sure if my parents were going to pull through. I really tried to stay out of it, but part of me felt like I was slowly breaking apart, like rust was flaking away, bit by painful bit. I said that I’d like to go spend the summer with my uncle Kevin. They both agreed. They needed some space and I thought that if I weren’t around, they could work things out. I’ve always felt responsible for their problems, somehow.
It was the beginning of June when they said goodbye to me at the airport, and within fifteen minutes, I was on a plane to Tarrant, Ohio to see Uncle Kevin. It was beautiful and strange. Tarrant was one of those small towns nestled in a valley where history and hope seemed to be part of the air, and Uncle Kevin wasn’t really my uncle, but an older cousin. Still, I had called him uncle since I was about six, and the name just stuck. He owned a three-story house that must have been built in the early 1900’s.
He was a little bit too happy that I’d be joining him for the summer, like he had a secret list of dirty jobs ready to spring on me. My suspicions were right. On the way back from the airport, he told me that I’d have to pay my way by doing the laundry, mowing the yard, and taking care of all the things that he hadn’t got around to doing. I soon saw exactly what he meant. The backyard was buried by grass nearly up to my waist. “The mower’s out there somewhere,” he said. “I think.” I wasn’t at all sure I would make it back if I went to look for it.
I moved my stuff into one of empty upstairs bedrooms and looked over at what I had brought — just the basics: clothes, swimming trunks, my camera, and some toiletries. My laptop was broken and my parents were going to get me a cell phone, but they hadn’t yet. “Maybe this is roughing it,” I said out loud, gazing out the window at the lazy street below, the houses hiding among the trees that sprawled shade everywhere. The sun lined rooftops, leaves, and the street in gold leaf. I took a picture and then set the camera on the bed, wondering what else laid in wait besides the jungle in the backyard.
