We got back to my sister's car, unable to get in.

I am fuming, but I see Sydney kept her cool.

"That no-good-for-nothing bum", I say, once behind the wheel.

I still have the key in my hand, but I can't resign myself to putting it in the ignition.

"Katy doesn't know who had the idea to move in here. It could have been your sister's"

I laugh. "He's the bum, don't you see it?"

She put her hand on my shoulder.

"Kyle, he was raised by a very bothered mother. It's possible he calmed down. He had a gallery! And your sister worked there"

"Right. Maybe we should take a look first"

"Kyle, let's talk about what happened in there"

"I am not stripping naked to meet my niece and nephew"

"It's how they live. We are the adults"

"Exactly, they should adapt to us"

She looks at me.

"That worked super well with your sister. She changed states and cut you off from her life. Kyle, why are you only ever adapting to me and never to anyone else"

"Well, I love you"

"You loved your sister"

"It's not the same"

"It is. She needed you to be there for her, and you weren't, so she ran away."

I look at her.

"And you heard the attorney. We need to petition the judge for custody. If you want custody, you will need to adapt to them"

"Are you seriously telling me that you think that living with your bits out is sane?"

"No, I am telling you that, but Katy thinks it is"

"She was naked!" I yell.

"Yes, I saw that. But it doesn't mean that she is wrong. It's a whole philosophy. We don't have one. We are just surviving."

I sigh.

She speaks up. "We have two choices. We accept this opportunity, or we go back home. I am game for either."

"And you are okay with being naked in there?"

"Kyle, we are always broke. Do you think I like being a waitress in a restaurant always on the verge of bankruptcy? Do you like begging for renovation jobs and then not knowing if you will actually get paid"

"No, but we don't need to become nudists"

"They prefer naturist. But no, we don't need to. We could try to find a place nearby to live, and try to find jobs. Or we can get over our hangups, move into their house, and then search for jobs while the attorney gets the judge to decide."

"Naked"

"Well, I don't like it anymore than you do. But they can't tell whether we are naked or not in the house. We can just say that we will park and undress there, and in the house, well, decide what we do and just keep our clothes on. She did say we had to be nude in the common areas but said nothing about the house."

I look at her.

"Ok, that's brilliant"

So we went back to Katy.

"Hi again"

"Ok, we have suitcases and stuff. Can we park our car at their house?"

"Sure. It's where they usually parked. "

"Good, we'll go and stay out of your hair"

"Wait", she says.

"What?"

"There is a visitor fee", says Katy.

"Ah come on. We just got off the Greyhound bus; my sister just died. Can't we just go sort out her stuff"

Katy looked at me.

"It's the rules.

"How much?"

"Well, I can charge you the weekday afternoon rate. It's $15 for a couple"

I sigh and take out a fiver and a Hamilton and dump them on the counter.

"Hum, Florida has a 6% sales tax, so it's 15.90 with tax", she says.

I sigh again and take out a buck. But she doesn't move.

"I also need picture IDs from both of you"

"Seriously?" I say.

"We get picture IDs of everyone."

While I take out my driver's license, Sydney does the same.

Katy goes to a scanner, puts both in, and with her computer, scans the front and then the back.

She gives us back our IDs with a dime in change that she gets from a cash register. She also gives us an invoice, printed from her computer with our names on it.

"You have access to our facilities until 9:00 PM. After that, you need to either leave or stay in the house."

Sydney spoke up.

"If tomorrow we leave from the house to the exterior, do we need to pay anything?"

"No"

She then continues. "And until 9, we can leave and return as we wish, since we already paid?"

"Exactly"

She smiles. "Thank you very much. Can you just tell us how to find the house?"

"Sure. I will open the gate on the left of the front office. You will turn left on the street. The third street will be Delaware Road. They were in #28. The streets are in alphabetic order. If you see Colorado Road, you went too far. Georgia Road is just before Delaware"

"No state starting with E?", said Sydney

"Indeed. And calling a street Florida Road seemed weird; we are in Florida..."

"I bet. Have a great afternoon. We'll survey the house and go grocery shopping soon"

"Oh, most of the content was already removed. The foster parents have the kid's stuff, and that attorney, Davenport? He stored most of the things"

"Well, good. That will make our job easier"

We returned to the car, and I asked Sydney.

"How the hell did you keep your calm with her, Syd?"

"How do you keep your patience with your clients?"

"I don't"

"Ah. I didn't know that. I depended on my client's tips. So, I just always remembered that each of my clients is a human being who is the main character of his story. And I am just a background character in his. So, I try to imagine what my credit is"

I laugh. "Your credit?"

"Yeah. Like, when you watch a movie, in the credits, you see people with characters like Client #2. Or happy waitress. That's me. Of grumpy contractor. That's you. But you decide what credit you will have in their story.

I look at her. This is the stupidest thing I ever heard.

Katy appears behind the gate and presses a button or something, which lifts it up.

I slowly drive in, and Sidney waves at Katy, who waves back with a smile.

I saw a 10 miles per hour speed limit, so I mostly drive with my foot on the brakes.

The first street we see is Hawaii, followed by Georgia. Everyone we see is completely nude, from head to toe. Well, except those with a hat or with shoes. But they don't have anything between that.

We quickly get to Delaware, and I turn right. I see #12 and keep going, and soon enough we find #28. I park there and take the key out of the ignition, which also has two other keys.

The house is small, but it's not a mobile home like ours. It looks like your prefabricated homes you can buy online.

I look around, and all the houses are the general style but different models or colors.

One of the keys fit with the door. We both get in and look at the place. It's mostly empty, and impersonal. Only the basic furniture, but there are sheets on the bed in the master bedroom.

The other bedroom, with bunk beds, does not even have mattresses. Maybe they were sent to whoever has the kids.

The fridge is empty, but there are plates and utensils.

"Let's bring our stuff and go do some grocery shopping", proposes Sydney.

She decides to play with the AC while I carry the luggage. It was turned off, but electricity was on.

I carry the first two suitcases in, but when I get out for the final two, a nude man, about 60, salutes me.

"Welcome. I didn't know the place has sold"

"Oh, it didn't. We arrived all the way from West Virginia and are just exhausted"

"Can I ask what brings you here?" he says.

"I don't believe it's any of your business"

He looks at me. "I do believe, son, that seeing I know the lawful owners of this house and you are not them, that might be some of my business. For sure. Why don't we get back on the right foot and so some presentations before I call the cops to sort this out for us? And for sure, you don't want that."

I sigh.

"Fine, I am Kyle Franklin. Daphne Quentin was my sister, and I am her and Ron's only remaining sane and free-living relative."

"Look at that. The older brother. I heard a lot about you, for sure, for sure."

"And I still know nothing about you"

Sydney came out.

"Hi", she says.

"Well hello there. We were just making presentions"

"I'm Sydney, Kyle's girlfriend"

"Oh, the Sydney? I heard good things about you", says the man.

"Ok, so, it's your turn"

"I suppose it is. Lieutenant Walter Wilson, retired"

"Lieutenant, as in the army?"

"As in... Orlando Police Department Lieutenant"

"I see". I didn't need a retired police officer to stick his nose in my affairs.

"Any outstanding warrants I should know off?"

"Nope. It's Ron you should have worried about"

"Ronny? Nah. He was a good man. I was sad to hear of his violent death. And of your sister. Sweetest girl I knew. Of that generation. For sure, for sure. I married the sweetest of mine. "

"Well, nice to meet you. We have to put our stuff in and go do some grocery shopping"

"For sure, for sure. Say, any plans of undressing once your stuff is inside?"

I look at him,

"I don't believe that's any of your business"

"Oh, for sure. Well, I do believe it is my business. Did you know that your sister and your brother-in-law have kids?"

"I do. I am petitioning for custody"

"Oh, for sure. It makes sense. You helped raise her, from my understanding. Did a pretty good job at it, even"

I laugh. "If you knew my sister, you wouldn't be saying that. She hated me and cut contact"

He laughs.

"Do you know that animals rarely bite the hand that feeds them?"

"I don't know if that's true"

He smiles. "Then you are a wise man. The role of a parent, or a guardian, isn't to be loved. It's to love. And you loved your sister. Under her complaints about you around a campfire and her stories of you picking her up in an empty field, scolding her, and dropping her at school like a maniac, well, I knew I liked you. For sure, for sure. She didn't. But I did"

"In that case, I am happy to have met you"

"Oh, we will meet again, young man. For sure, for sure"

"Because you live nearby?"

"No. Because when you appear in front of that judge to take custody of your nephew and your niece, it will be to take them away from the nicest retired elementary school teacher in Florida, who already has a strong relationship with them, as she was just about their nanny for when Mommy and Daddy were at work. And that teacher is my wife. So, either I will be in your camp, or you will see what it's like to fight in court against a hardened police officer who spent his career advocating for children"

"I see"

"For sure. You are an intelligent man. Get settled, and eat a hearty meal, because you have an uphill battle to fight"

"Didn't you say that you believed I was a good brother?"

"For sure. You were. Absolutely. For a teenage, out-of-control sister. These two angels, however, don't need the tought love your sister needed. They need soft love and care and to recover from their lives being pulled from them, and for sure, I am not certain that you are the right man for them. Sydney? For sure. But she isn't the living relative. You are"

I look at him. And say nothing. It had made it my habit not to talk to police. Retired or not. I had already said too much.

"I wish you both a great evening. I would offer to take a walk, the two of us, to see eye to eye once you are settled, but I have a feeling that you won't leave the house much. Did I get this wrong?"

"That's indeed not in the plans. We aren't naturists"

"I got that from speaking to your late sister. I will still offer you all my condolences, but I feel like you are, for sure, discovering a whole new life for Daphne that you were unaware of."

"No, I wasn't"

"Well, I will let you get settled. Maybe tomorrow we can talk before you leave?"

I look at him and reply. "For sure"

He laughed. And wished a great evening to Sydney.

We got inside, and I realized that I was stunned.

"That was a shakedown, right?" I say to Sydney.

"He does seems protective, Kyle. But you heard him. He likes you. You just have to show him your soft and tender side"

"I don't have a soft and tender side"

She laughs. "Kyle, think about how to treat me. You see me as your co-leading character. See Walter as your antagonist that you need on your side and getting closer to your sister's kids as your arc. Well, learning to show your soft and tender side is your personal journey"

I grunt.

"Let's go find a grocery store before it's too dark", she says.

And just as we arrived, we were back in the car to find some food.

Driving back, I see all these nude people smiling and laughing. Eating at a picnic table or just playing with a ball.

I've never seen so many people just casually laughing. At least not since the mine closed.

Maybe that's when I lost what remained of my soft and tender side. But as we engage to leave the resort. I realize something else.

I lost that side way earlier than that. When I became my sister's guardian.

I like to blame Ron for her problems, but she was trouble before she even met him, and it was driving me crazy.

The question is, can I find who I was to be for her kids who I should have been for her?

While driving, I didn't have that answer. But I would need to find it, and fast.