Ihmissusi Kesä

They said that Maine was cold year round and even though it was summer time I would need more than a sweatshirt to keep me warm. Whoever they are, they lied. It was so hot when I stepped off the bus that I thought for a minute I was going to pass out. I could see the black top shimmering and all the people standing around waiting were dressed in hardly any clothing.

I heaved a sigh and grabbed my bag, tossing it over my shoulder. It was unexpectedly heavy but I managed to keep my balance. I was just glad to be off the bus and out in some fresh air. The man I had sat next to smelled like take out food. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed my cousin's number.

Naani was twenty seven. She was ten years older than me and lived on her own in Northern Maine. She was the first choice my parents gave me when they told me they were sending me away for the summer. It was a tie between my grandmother in New Mexico and her, but she won based on the fact that she wasn't seventy eight and didn't live in a retirement home. I figured if I had to be shipped off and cooped up with someone it might as well be someone a little more my age. Besides, I vaugley remembered her being cool from when I was younger.

"Hello?" She answered on the sixth ring. "Sorry I didn't answer earlier, didn't see the damn thing going off."

"Oh, it's alright. I just got here anyway, it's not like I've been waiting."

"Excellent, so where are you? I can come meet you or you can just come out to the truck. I'm in the back of the parking lot, don't know if you can see me. I'm in the orange truck," She said.

I squinted and surveyed the parking lot until I caught a hint of bright orange in the distance. "I see you, I'll just come to the truck if you want."

"Sure thing."

We hung up and I made my way toward her, sweat dripping down my face. How attractive. I hadn't seen my cousin in how many years and this is how I greet her? I know my parents must of told her I was a mess right now and that she was probably expecting a crazed teen, but this wasn't helping.

When I finally made it the door swung open and out stepped Naani, who was nothing what I had imagined. She didn't have a facebook so I couldn't spy on her before I had arrived and I wasn't about to ask for a picture through text. That would just seem weird. She was tall for a girl, if I had to guess I'd say five foot eight, and had bright red hair. She wore little makeup and had sunglasses on top of her head. Her shirt was a tank top with some comic book character on it and she had men's basketball shorts on. Like I said, not what I expected. She was also littered in tattoos.

"Little Avery bean." She said and smiled. "That's what Jack Jack and I used to call you. Of course, he doesn't go by Jack Jack anymore so why would I think you would respond to Avery bean?"

I smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I don't remember that one."

"Ah, that's not surprising. It's been a long time since we've hung out. Anyway, welcome to the most gangster state in the United States, it's a real hoot. You can call me Nii instead of Naani if you want. Most people do. I'd tell you my real name but then I'd have to erase your memory because only a handful of people actually know it."

I shook my head in amusment. She sure talked a lot. "Most gangster state? Really?" I asked.

Naani, or Nii rather, cracked up. "Not at all. I just wanted to see your reaction. Most people come here with some really strange ideas of the place." She stuck out her hand and offered to take my belongings. I handed the bag over to her.

"What kind of ideas?"

"Like for example, wearing black like that will give you a heatstroke. You must have thought it was going to be cold here right? Igloo's and stuff? It's not true. This place gets hotter than Satan's kitchen sometimes. In fact, if Satan were to come to Earth and look for a place to settle down and start a family, Maine would be it." She glanced around then motioned to the other side of the vehicle. "Shall we?"

I nodded and walked around to the other door and climbed inside. It had comfortable seats. I wasn't expecting that.

"No a.c. unfortunately," Nii said breaking my concentration on finding the seatbelt. "But we can have the windows down the whole way back if you want. That kind of works. Just watch out for bees and what not flying through. A lot of accidents happen that way."

"Okay." I said. What else could I say? Even though Nii seemed like an extremely nice person with only good intentions in mind, it was awkward for me to be there. I didn't know what to talk about. I literally knew nothing about her, except that she drove an orange truck and liked comics. Even then both of the items that pointed me in that direction could have been borrowed from someone else.

"You feel like getting something to eat before we hit back in Keag?"

I shrugged. "Sure, but I don't have any money. Actually," I reached in my pocket and pulled out a Hello Kitty wallet. "This is for you from my mom and dad. They said they wanted to help with whatever expenses I might cause."

Nii snorted. "Yeah right. I'm not takin' that from you, are you crazy? No. I told Uncle Tim that I'd take ya for the summer and I knew what that meant. I tell ya what, how much is there?"

I counted the money quickly and looked over at her. "One thousand."

She let out a low whistle. "Well, consider that your spending funds for this summer. I'll take it and all but I'll give it to you whenever you need it. I mean, you're old enough to hold on to your own money but I was your age once. If you want booze fine, but I don't want you to blow all of your gold on one night."

At the mention of alcohol my heart sank in to my stomach. Derek, my boyfriend of three years and my first love ever, had been killed on my seventeenth birthday because of a drunk driver. After that I had sworn off alcohol all together. I didn't want anything to do with the stuff and I certainly didn't want to be around anyone who did.

"Ah shit, I forgot. I'm sorry. I'm a terrible damn person, I forget shit so easy." Nii said.

I laughed at her string of curse words. "No it's alright. I'm here to get over it, right? Can't do that if I keep thinking it all the time."

"It's alright to think about it. You're gonna anyway, that's the point of tragedy. At least that's what my old English teacher used to say. He was big in Greek plays though." She looked thoughtfully at her steering wheel then shook her head and started the truck. "You don't ever have to talk about it if you don't want to, but part of you being here is me being here for you too. I know you can't tell your parents certain stuff and I'm a total stranger to you right now...but If you ever need someone to listen." She cut herself off and threw the truck in gear.

We drove through the city and found the nearest Burger King that we could find, both of us agreeing that onion rings were much better than fries, and then ate in the parking lot. Once we were done she asked if I minded some music to which I said I didn't give a crap. It was her truck, she could do what she wanted.

"I take it you don't cuss in front of your folks either, huh?" she asked before turning up the radio. "Just so you know, you can in front of me if you want. I'm not easily offended."

I smiled once more before she got us in to traffic and on the highway. It was early on in the summer, the first hours quite literally, and already I felt that there might be a slight chance I could ride this out until my parents changed their minds and brought me back home.