Amity
An Airport Arrival
Businessmen dressed in fancy, meeting-ready suits passed him, dragging their carryon luggage behind them with cellphones pressed tightly to their cheeks. With them passed mothers, pulling their children by their limbs, struggling to juggle children and suitcases as they passed through the airport hallways, praying they would get to their destination without losing too many hairs from their ponytailed heads – or misplacing a child within all the chaos.
Zane Cortland, tall and brawny, stood quietly in the middle of busy, bustling Reno-Tahoe International Airport. His hands dug deep in the pockets of his half-undone overalls, one strap hanging helplessly behind him. A light yellow slab of paint stood out against the dark wash of the fabric on his left thigh and a dingy white wife beater snugly hugged his chest beneath the overalls.
“I’ll stick out like a sore thumb,” he told his niece just minutes before she boarded her first flight six hours before, “Just look for the bearded, messy man,” he laughed.
Feeling anxious and bored after waiting almost half an hour, he turned the opposite direction his niece would be arriving from, he hoped, watching as people attempted to dodge his stationary body on their way out of the airport. He glanced around helplessly for something to occupy him.
“Uncle Z, you go out in public like that?” he heard her ask, the young and lightly feminine voice cutting through the open room and straight to his ears. With a quick tug to his fallen strap, he turned around once more.
“Mahogany Corrine, look at you,” he smiled, pulling his hands from his pockets to hold them in the air for blatant emphasis. “You look so grown up,” he bragged, pulling her quickly into a tight, breath-restricting hug.
Mahogany, letting her backpack slide off her shoulder and onto the floor, threw her arms around her uncle and pulled just as tightly. He was a second father to her now, strong and noble and trustworthy. He was going to take care of her when nobody else was willing, and she loved him for that.
Her family hadn’t loved her in the way they should for quite some time.
“Ahh,” he bellowed happily, pulling her away from him so he could look at her. “I just can’t get over how much you’ve grown.”
She smiled, the apples of her cheeks sticking out proudly. “Well,” she said, brushing a hand to the underside of her six-month belly. “It kind of comes with the territory.”
“No, no. Not that,” he replied, arms waving in the air between them. “You were this tall the last time I saw you.” He waved his right hand beside him, leveling equally with his hip. “And your hair was so short. You were still a little girl! And now – now you’re just so grown up.”
She continued to smile, happy with the situation before her and happy to finally be out of Florida.
Zane Cortland, tall and brawny, stood quietly in the middle of busy, bustling Reno-Tahoe International Airport. His hands dug deep in the pockets of his half-undone overalls, one strap hanging helplessly behind him. A light yellow slab of paint stood out against the dark wash of the fabric on his left thigh and a dingy white wife beater snugly hugged his chest beneath the overalls.
“I’ll stick out like a sore thumb,” he told his niece just minutes before she boarded her first flight six hours before, “Just look for the bearded, messy man,” he laughed.
Feeling anxious and bored after waiting almost half an hour, he turned the opposite direction his niece would be arriving from, he hoped, watching as people attempted to dodge his stationary body on their way out of the airport. He glanced around helplessly for something to occupy him.
“Uncle Z, you go out in public like that?” he heard her ask, the young and lightly feminine voice cutting through the open room and straight to his ears. With a quick tug to his fallen strap, he turned around once more.
“Mahogany Corrine, look at you,” he smiled, pulling his hands from his pockets to hold them in the air for blatant emphasis. “You look so grown up,” he bragged, pulling her quickly into a tight, breath-restricting hug.
Mahogany, letting her backpack slide off her shoulder and onto the floor, threw her arms around her uncle and pulled just as tightly. He was a second father to her now, strong and noble and trustworthy. He was going to take care of her when nobody else was willing, and she loved him for that.
Her family hadn’t loved her in the way they should for quite some time.
“Ahh,” he bellowed happily, pulling her away from him so he could look at her. “I just can’t get over how much you’ve grown.”
She smiled, the apples of her cheeks sticking out proudly. “Well,” she said, brushing a hand to the underside of her six-month belly. “It kind of comes with the territory.”
“No, no. Not that,” he replied, arms waving in the air between them. “You were this tall the last time I saw you.” He waved his right hand beside him, leveling equally with his hip. “And your hair was so short. You were still a little girl! And now – now you’re just so grown up.”
She continued to smile, happy with the situation before her and happy to finally be out of Florida.