Displaced

 

Cam pressed his lips tight as he kept listening to Mario's mother on the phone. "Why are you calling now?" He practically shouted. Couldn't she have called sooner? But before he knew it, there was a knock on the door. Mario's little sister had arrived.

"Well, you would have talked me out of it," she said there was no place else for Sammie to go. They didn't have a home now after all the flooding in California. He was the nearest relative she could think of. "It'll only be temporary."

Cam didn't even want to ask how long that would be. He gritted a smile to Sammie. Wishing he could tell Mario's mother no.

"I'll get back to you, on this," Cam clicked off and direct-dialed Mario. "Your sister is here, and I hate to tell you this, you and Bren will have to take her."

"All right," he didn't say he'd ask Bren. "I'll be there after work."

He got off the phone and told the teen that her brother was coming. He went to the fridge to see if he could find her something to eat. She said she wanted to go to the bathroom. She wasn't used to the cold and the gray snow. Cam told her he'd put on the kettle. They'd find something hot to drink. 

Of course, she was a tiny thing. She really didn't look old enough to travel alone, but she'd made it to Omaha. When she finally got back to the kitchen he had an assortment of snacks out and some cups waiting for hot tea or hot cocoa. She opted for tea and took a cookie.

"Or you like an uncle or something?" She mumble as her big eyes looked up at him.

"Or something," He nodded. "But you can call me Uncle Cam if you want."

She nodded. It wasn't long until Rico and Liv arrived. They were putting away coats and books. Both looked at Sammie as if this was a bit awkward.

"This is Sammie, Mario's sister," Cam had to catch himself from saying little.

She said she was a Junior in high school. Rico studied her face as if he was trying to figure out who she reminded him of, evidently.

"When's the last time you were at school?" Cam wanted to know. 

"Oh, I couldn't tell you, it's been a while," she said she'd been helping with her siblings. It felt they'd spent some place differently every night. Her mom was with the other two at a friend's in Arizona.

"Did you fly here?" Rico asked.

"I took a bus," she said.

"A bus," he winced. Rico sounded as if she was his little sister he'd never let her go anywhere on a bus alone. 

"We'll get you enrolled in school," Cam said Mario would.

"Did you show her the guest room yet?" Rico asked Cam.

"No, she's going to Mario's." She was his responsibility, not his.