Leo Valdez

The food was really good and made me really tired, so I took a nap on the couch after lunch.

I woke up to a phone call, which was a very dangerous (monsters) miracle (it went through)— Tio Rico telling me that somebody was asking for me by name.

"H— hello?" I took the landline as I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes— based on the sun, it was probably 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Not quite dinner time, but I slept for a few hours.

"Leonidas Valdez!" My girlfriend's scream did wonders to wake me up, a sensation that I guess wasn't new, but I haven't heard in like a week. "where in Hades' balance are you? You were supposed to be back here like 4 days ago! Me and Emmie have been trying to send you IMs, but nothing would go through until today."

Tio Rico, able to hear my girlfriend, cast me a concerned look.

Everything okay? He mouthed.

I just shrugged and nodded.

"Hey, babe, sorry I... Hold on, I just woke up from a nap." I began, processing everything she told me. "Things kind of went sideways in California— I tried letting you guys know the updated plan, but I assume the letter hasn't arrived and obviously my calls never went through. Just... Take a breath. I'm fine— physically that is. I'm not in harms way, but how did you know to call here?"

"The semi-prophetic child that lives here gave us the numbers— it took us like 18 separate calls to get them in the right order to call you. So where the hell are you? The carrots don't cut themselves here's you know."

I sighed.

"I know they don't, Cal, I'm not..." But I worried that, no matter how I worded this, she'd get mad for the wrong reason.

Sure, it's valid that she's worried and a little mad that I haven't made contact for multiple days after the day I said that I'd return, but communications have also been down for a while.

I'm worried that she'll get mad about why I've been gone for so long, though.

"I got to California— to Camp Jupiter just fine," I insisted. "I got there in time and hopefully it helped, but afterwards I met Piper and Jason and Lester in LA and..." I exhaled. "And they were loading Jason's casket onto the McLean's helicopter— he's dead and Piper's dad lost everything, so they used the final flight to get Jason back home. The ceremony was at Camp Jupiter, so I couldn't go, so I helped Piper and her dad move because she was a wreck and her dad was like a walking ghost so....I left there this morning to go to Houston, which is where I am now."

"Wh... Okay, so? What's in Houston that's so important? You could've come here instead of going with Piper— did she guilt you into helping them or something? Use her charm speak on you?"

Is my girlfriend really acting jealous that I helped a friend right now?

A friend who doesn't even think she likes men, at that.

"She... No, Cal, I offered to help because it would give me something to do for a couple of days. I helped them assemble a bunch of furniture and hung up a bunch of their photos and whatever." I shut that down. "Pipers my friend, it's never been or will be more than that— I'm pretty sure she's a lesbian. And either way, it doesn't matter— we were both best friends with Jason, we just wanted somebody else to grieve with. As for Houston, my mom and her entir family is here, and I haven't been able to come back since she died, so... I was already in Oklahoma. Figured it was close. I ended up running into my uncle, so now I'm at my grandparents place."

"So, what? You're just going to stay there now? Without talking to me or Emmie or Jo about it?"

I'm going to get a headache.

"Wh... I don't know, Calypso," I admitted. "I wasn't intending on a family reunion because I assumed they all sided with my aunt, but apparently they all thought I died, so it's weird. I came here, had lunch, took a nap, and now I'm talking to you. We haven't talked about it I'm staying and if so, if it's just for a night or two or if it'd be long term, but I'll... Try and keep you updated, okay?"

"We just got to the Waystation, babe, how could you think about leaving?"

"I don't have it in me to argue about this right now." I insisted, resting my forehead on my knees. "We can argue about it when I make a decision or when I get back, yeah? Then you can scream and yell all you want. I have to go, though, okay? I'll try and call after dinner."

"What? You can't just end the conversation—"

I hung up the call, handing Tio Rico the phone.

"You... Sure things are okay?" He asked again, putting the landline on the charger. "That seemed... Heated."

He paused.

"You have a girlfriend?"

I sighed again.

"Yeah, but probably not for much longer," I insisted, but still felt bad for making that assumption. Looking down, I shrugged. "I guess we'll see. Things have been... Stressful, lately, for both of us for like, slightly different reasons, so... Maybe, now that things are calming down, it'll be fine. Or maybe not— maybe she just doesn't like me and she just needed somebody to get her out of where she was. It's hard to say."

Tio Rico squeezed my shoulder, and I hate that I could feel his hesitation when he noticed just how scrawny I was.

It's not as if I'm as severely underweight as Nico is— I wasn't starved for weeks on end, after all.

But food was still scarce until these last two or so weeks.

"I'm sorry that you're already going through that kind of tension in a relationship," he apologized. "You guys will figure it out— whether that means sticking it out or ending things, you'll figure it out. You've always been a smart kid— you got that from your mom."

Smiling, a pang of sadness hit me as it began to sink in.

My mom's never coming back.

It's not like that's new. Theoretically, I've known that for many years.

But coming back to Houston, visiting the grave with her name on it, coming back to the home she grew up in...

The home she'll never return to.

The home I never thought I would return to.

My mom is gone.

And no matter how caring and how welcoming Emmie and Jo are, they're never going to be my mom.

Nobody is ever going to replace my mom.

Calypso doesn't even have mortal parents for me to pretend like I have a mom.

"Leo?" Tio Rico asked softly, and it hit me like a brick to my best friends head.

"I miss my mom."

We came here because I wanted a hug from abuela, but really I just wanted a hug from my mom and my abuela was the closest person I could think of that might fill in the hole that was burned into my heart when my mom's body was turned into nothing more than ashes and dust.

"Oh, Leo," Tio said as he pulled me into a hug. Although I cried, I didn't completely meltdown this time, which felt like improvement. I could hear him tear up. "it's okay, I know it must be hard to be back after so long. I miss her, too."

Pulling out of the hug, my uncle cast me a look of concern as I saw my grandparents walking down the stairs.

"Is it too much?" My mother's brother asked in a soft tone, and I appreciated that he opened that possibility. "To be here? Because if so, we can go to my house or we could even rent a motel for the night. We don't have to stay here if it's overwhelming you."

"He's right," my abuelo agreed, smiling at me and then ruffling my hair. "As much as your abuela and I love to have you here, Leo, if it's too much, we aren't forcing you to stay. Where are your uh, caregivers or guardians, staying? Who did you come here with?"

"Who..."

I closed my mouth, hugging the pillow I had used during my nap.

"I don't really... Have any caregivers or guardians or... Anything right now." I admitted, and of course, like it did with Rico, it worried my grandparents. "There's a couple in Indianapolis who has offered to take me in— my girlfriend is saying there as well right now, but I don't... Know if I want to go back there. I also have some half siblings in New York, but that's like a whole different mess than I just left and need time away from, but either way there wasn't any adults there, so..."

I shrugged.

"It's just me, sorry to disappoint." I concluded. "There's no foster parents or anything for you to meet. That's sort of what happens when you're considered a missing person. But I'm... Okay. It was just a wave that hit me."

"Are you sure?" Albuela asked as she sat down to the right of me. "because it's alright if you're not feeling okay— going back to somewhere after a long time of being away is intense, and you've had an intense week on top of that. Can I ask where you would stay in you left here?"

I thought about it.

"I mean, I'd probably go back to Indianapolis, I just wouldn't be enthusiastic about it." I answered her question. "I'm not sure how long I'd stay there— probably not long, if I'm being honest, but that would be my start. After that..." I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'd figure it out, though— I always have."

"There ain't much to be enthusiastic about in Indianapolis, I get where you're coming from, kid," Abuelo related, which made me smile. "But if you're missing, what's that mean? You been skipping out on school?"

"I mean, I wouldn't call it skipping school— moreso not having one to go to in the first place." I confirmed more or less. "No parents to enroll me, and the State doesn't know of my whereabouts, so they can't do it, either. I'm 16, though, so I could emancipate and get my GED if I wanted to."

The three adults shared a look, and I don't think they really liked that idea, which is fair. It wasn't one I've considered very heavily, but Jo mentioned it to me one day before I left since Calypso is enrolling in a local school.

Yeah, she's weirdly excited about it, too.

I didn't like the vibe of the school, though— almost completely white with an all white staff— there's no way o wouldn't get labeled as a clown or troublemaker within my first few days there.

"Is that... Something you want to do?" Tio Rico ventured. "Or is it just an idea?"

"Just an idea, I don't even know if I can emancipate from the state." I insisted, allowing them to breathe easier. "Um... Yeah. I checked out a school in Indiana before I had to leave for California, but it just seemed very racist, so I didn't ask to enroll."

And, in all honesty, it was a silly idea, but it still came to me.

"Do you guys have any idea where Augustus is now? I know it's been a long time, but..."

Augustus Sanchez was my best friend as a kid— we were practically brothers with how often we were at each other's houses. His dad was a construction worker and his mom worked with computers somehow— I was too young to understand what her job was. But Augustus and I would build and design all of these cool things— his dad helped us make Augustus a bunk bed once. We also played a lot of Minecraft together.

Outside of my mom, he's the one person that I thought about coming back to Houston for. But the longer I waited... The harder it gets.

"Oh, I don't know off the top of my head, but I could find out." Tio reassured me. "I know his family still lives in Houston, but I'm not sure what school he's going to right now or if they live in the same house. Do you want me to reach out to his parents? We could have dinner with them, if you want."

"That... Would be too many people," I pointed out, as much as I appreciated the offer. "but if you could get their address, I might try and see if he's home. Depending on how it goes, I might stay there for the night. If not, I'll come back here."

"Okay, I'll give them a call then, okay?"

Nodding, Tio walked to the kitchen to make the call, leaving me with my grandparents.

"You'll be in Houston, though?" My abuela asked for confirmation. "Tonight?"

I nodded.

"Should we tell the police that we know where you are, then?"

Thinking about that, I put my hand back over Jason's necklace.

Would they take me away again?

"Um... What... Would you tell them exactly?"

"Just that you've been found, so they don't have to search for you anymore. Why? Do you not..." Her voice drifted, suspicious. "Do you not want them to know where you are?"

"Wh— no! That's not... Why I ask," I insisted, not wanting them to think that I've like, killed somebody (which I guess I have, but... I don't want to think about that because it was a battle). "I just don't really know what they would do if you guys told them since Rosa like, signed me away. I don't know if they'd let me stay or I'd they'd come and take me again and..."

"And...?" Abuelo questioned. "do you not want to go back? Because if you want to stay, Leo, we'll figure it out. Wherever you are most comfortable is where we want you."

It's not that easy, though.

I wish it was— I wish I could just say that I wanted to stay and have absolutely no hesitation.

"I don't... Want to go back into foster care."

But both of them sensed my hesitation.

"But?"

I looked down at my hands.

What would happen if they saw them light up?

If I get too excited or mad or... Even if I just get hyper focused, my ear with sometimes flicker and I don't realize it because it doesn't impact anything, but...

"I... Need to think about it."

Would they still believe that I didn't kill my mom? Even accidentally.

If I tried to tell them about my dad, would they believe me?

Did they even know my dad?

"And that's okay, too." Albuela reassured me, rubbing my back. "Can I ask what you're thinking about? It seems to be causing you a lot of trouble."

Biting my tongue, I weighed my options.

I didn't like most of the outcomes.

"I'm just... Debating to myself," I half-lied. "About staying here vs. Indiana. vs turning myself back to the state. It's... Complicated."

Not pressing me further, she just gave me a hug from the side and reminded me that I was always welcome as my uncle walked back over.

"Okay, I just got off the phone with Augustus' Mom, and her and Augustus are home right now and she said you can go over if you want— though I didn't say your name, so they might expect Raphael instead of you. She seemed a little confused." He told me, handing me a slip of paper. "The top address is theirs, the middle is my address, and the bottom is this address with all of our numbers. I know you don't have a phone, but you should be able to borrow one from somebody wherever you are. Do you want somebody to drive you? It's not far from here."

"Um..." Looking at the address, I knew it was only a few blocks from here. It was the same address as when we were kids, meaning they haven't moved and that I knew where I was going. "I'll walk, but thank you. I just... Could use the air."

"Okay," Tio said, messing with my hair again. "Just be safe, yeah? If you come to my place tonight, just have his mom shoot me a text so that way I can make sure Rosa doesn't bug you, Kay?"

Nodding one last time, I stood up and took a breath, promising that I would survive the four block walk to the Sanchez household.

"We'll see you again?" Abuelo asked a wonderful question as I put my shoes back on.

"I make no promises, but if I don't spend the night there, my intentions are to come back here." I insisted, which naturally worried. "Sorry, that sounds bad, I just... You never know."

Why did I word it like that?

"Sorry." I apologized again, awkwardly waving as I opened the door. "Thanks for lunch and for letting me crash."

And, not giving them time to say anything else, I walked out of the house my mother grew up in— unsure of how I felt about going back inside again.

Maybe Augustus will have some insight for me.

I hope he does.

I miss him.

I placed my hand over my necklaces.

I hope he missed me, too.