Familiar Territory

The familiar dusk air was hot and murky with no sign of any sort of a breeze; I could feel my hair drawing up into a frizz as we exited the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Mama’s strides were slow and uneasy, a look of sadness quickly covered her face, and her lasting impression gave way to the fact of her not wanting to be here. Isa on the other hand had the look of despair, almost angry and annoyed. She marched rather quickly toward the rental car area stomping; Izzy dangling from her arms. I could feel my knees begin to tremble ready to give way as my heart seemed to thump louder than my heels hitting the hard ground. Neither of us wanted to be in this place, the depraved memories began to resurface as we piled ourselves inside the over-the-top luxury rental SUV.

“Isa, what made you rent this truck?”

Zion jumped in,

“More like who let you afford this truck, it’s got to be running you at least six hundred a day?”

We all looked at Isa with curiosity, waiti