Who: Dallas and Lucy Where: Alexandria, their childhood home When: Friday, early evening What: Dallas and Lucy arrive home, and Dallas gets some fun news.
Dallas and Lucy started their trip back home to Alexandria a little bit after noon, just like they had arranged during their pizza dinner. The siblings met at their grandparents’ house, said goodbye to Delia (although Dallas did yell goodbye to his grandfather before he left, doubting he would get a response, but trying nonetheless) and made their drive back to their hometown. Dallas had packed the present, his fancy and cleanly washed clothes, and a few other things that he would need for the weekend, including but not limited to some trades, his mp3 player and the DS. There were plenty of things to keep him entertained at his childhood home, since he still had quite a few of his belongings there, but in case he didn’t feel like being caught up in nostalgia, there was nothing like having current stuff around, just in case.
He had made the drive to and from Alexandria and New Orleans more times than he could count during his young lifetime. Before New Orleans became Dallas’s permanent residence, it was the place that he usually went to for at least one of the big three holidays every year, if not more, and there were always those times in the summer when he would go down to visit his grandparents… more specifically Delia. Dallas knew how to make it from one city to the other without much of a problem, but maybe he would have enjoyed having something that was unfamiliar to him, something that he had to pay attention to, because otherwise he was basically just left to talk with his sister (not a bad thing, of course), but he still didn’t have to pay that much attention to the road, which only let him think about what was going to happen the next day even more.
There were many opportunities for Dallas to do a u-turn and head back to New Orleans. He could be a no show at the wedding. People did that, right? Larke couldn’t hold it against him, maybe she wouldn’t even realize that he wasn’t there. She barely realized that he was there when they were growing up, at least in the way that Dallas wanted her to realize that he was there. Even though Dallas thought about flaking on the wedding, he knew that he couldn’t do it. Once Dallas said that he was going to do something, it was that simple… he was going to do it. The pain that he felt, that he put himself through, none of that mattered. All that mattered was being the kind of guy that did not go back on their word.
Alexandria’s city limits came into view within time. It was home, but it was also the place that he had lived for 18 years, and it came with a lot of baggage. Dallas couldn’t help but give a sigh when he drove into town, those instincts that told him to flee trying to pull him in the opposite direction.
Dallas and Lucy’s childhood home was nestled in one of the nicer areas of Alexandria. It was a two story, five bedroom house, surrounded by foliage and having a decently sized backyard that still had the tree house that was built one summer when Dallas was four. It took him quite some time to actually get the courage to go up to the tree house, but eventually he came to enjoy it.
He remembered what it was like when he was in his early tweens, when most of the kids were still living in the house, and more than a few of them could drive. There were a few cars parked in the driveway and on the curb. Now? Now it was really different. The house was the same size, but it didn’t look so crowded from the outside. People still lived there, but it was only three instead of nine. That was a huge difference, and it showed. More than that, he felt it.
As he drove into the parking lot, Dallas turned to look at his sister. “We’re home. Does it seem weird to you, too?” Had it really been that long since he had been home? It didn’t seem like it was that long ago…