|
|
The drive was nice.
Okay… Maybe it could have been better… The girls talked all the way, no one on the road that day knew how to drive, I kept running into red lights, and the car stalled once…
I will never forget that… I got out of the car to look at the engine, as any normal motorist would do. But as I was examining the engine, Jade honked the horn, causing me to bang my head, painfully, against the hood.
I stood up straight after the searing pain ceased and looked at Jade.
"Why the heck did you do that?"
For a moment, she was silent, but soon erupted in a fit of giggles, causing Bria to do the same.
Sighing, I pulled the cell phone out of Dragon 006 (sounds weird, I know…) to call a tow truck, admitting I couldn't fix it.
After the truck arrived, the events of the next few minutes made me laugh uncontrollably, while the girls nearly died (figuratively speaking, of course.)
The guy, a 300 pound pig in a rackety old truck, spotted the girls and… Well, you can guess the rest…
While the girls were trying to get rid of the man, who's name, I later learned, was Bob (how original…) I was sitting on the side of the road, tears running down my face in mirth.
I eventually let the girls off the hook (for I was sure I was going to pay dearly later) and made Bob look at the car.
"200 bucks?!" the three of us asked in unison, once he told us the cost of fixing the car.
"Yup," Bob said, smirking demonically. "But, I'll knock off a few buck if…"
Hold up… That next part's too gross to mention… Eww!!! Bad mental picture!!! *bangs head against the wall* Just the thought of Bob and Bria or Jade anywhere together makes me sick… Even I couldn't do that to the girls…
Anyway, Bob drove us to his shop (which, by the way, was about an hour out of our way) and made us pay for the gas, seeing that he normally didn't tow cars located more than a half an hour away.
"Good going, Jon," Jade said after Bob took the car to the garage.
I looked at my twin and frowned. "Huh?"
"If you knew how to drive, then we would be here, we wouldn't have had that nasty pig hit on us, and we wouldn't have to fork over 200 bucks for no reason."
"Bob was an unplanned payback for the honking incident. And my driving has nothing to do with this! But, if you think it does, I'd be happy to let either you or Bria attempt to drive and kill us all in the process."
I stood up to by a pop at the machine next to me. "And what do you mean 'for no reason?' We can't get to DC without a car, and this car is dead."
"True, but, Jon, you're forgetting one thing - or, two things, rather…"
The two droids rolled out from behind the girls and stared at me.
"You're point?"
"The point," began Dragon, "is that we could have fixed it… For FREE…"
I dropped my open pop can on the floor and stared at Jade. "Why didn't you tell me they could fix the car?"
She began laughing again. "Well, if you remember correctly, Bob was hitting on us, so we really didn't have a chance to tell you. But even if we could have, we wouldn't have."
"And why's that?" I asked as I moved closer to her.
"Because," she began mockingly, "you know everything. At least, you think you do."
I paused for a moment to soak in everything that'd happen.
"Jade… And how, exactly, do you expect us to pay for this? Did you think I'd have 200 dollars just sitting around to use to fix a stupid car? Though, surely, you can't expect me to pay for it, seeing as you were the one who failed to tell me that the droids could fix the car… And even if I intended to pay, I couldn't, 'cause I only have 100 bucks."
"Wait… You weren't the one who had a gross pig hit on you. You can't expect me to pay for this after enduring such torture."
"Jade, if you don't pay for it, you will endure a lot more torture than that. I'll make sure of it."
"But how can I pay for it? I only have 25 dollars."
"What…? How can you only have brought 25 dollars…?"
"I though you would have brought more. You are a guy."
"What's that got to do with it?"
"Well," she began, chewing her fingernails as she often did when unsure of herself. "I kinda assumed that you were going to pay for all the expenses, like food and gas."
"Then what the heck is the 25 dollars for?"
She looked at Bria for help, but Bria just smiled.
"For stuff like… make-up, jewelry, stuff like that…"
"Oh… I got it. I pay for everything and you just pay for girlie things. Okay. That's fine."
I sat down next to her and began flipping through a magazine.
"Wait. You don't care?"
"About what?"
"The money for the car, and me not bringing any?"
"Oh, that? No! I don't care."
She sighed and began talking to Bria.
"We just won't ever get to DC"
The annoying talking stopped abruptly as the girls looked at me.
"What?" they asked in unison.
"We just won't get to DC But that's okay. We don't really need to find our parents, or get away from Bob."
I smiled to myself as I saw them cringe. "Yup. We'll just stay here forever, enjoying Bob's company."
"Okay, okay… I'll pay for the car…"
Smiling inwardly, I looked at my sister with mock confusion. "But how can you? You haven't any money." I put my hand to my mouth and gasped dramatically.
"I, actually have, erm… 100 dollars. And Bria has 150, so it's fine…"
"Oh! Jade! Are you sure you can part with all the girlie stuff you have yet to buy?"
I love irritating her. It's great seeing her squirm.
"Sure… 'Cause you can buy them for me!"
I looked at her overly happy face with a look of confusion. "What?"
"Yup! You can surely afford a few things with your 500 dollars!"
She shoved my wallet in front of my face.
"How did you get this!?"
She and Bria both grinned demonically. "It fell out of your pocket," Bria said.
I quickly shoved it back in my pocket and frowned. "This doesn't change the fact that you're paying."
"What!?"
"You're still paying!"
I'm sure Bria (as well as the droids) were getting sick of our arguing, but they just sat back and watched us argue.
However, Jade soon turned to Bria and asked, "So, who should pay - me or him?"
"Whoa… I'm not getting in the middle. If I say Jon, you'll be mad and if I say you, he'll be mad."
"No he won't! He'll gladly pay for it! If you ask him, he'll be more than happy to do it. It was his fault anyway…"
I said nothing, just stared indignantly at Jade.
Eventually, Bria spoke up, surprising us both with her idea. "Why can't we just split the cost?"
"Why!? We don't need to pay!" Jade exclaimed. "It's his fault!"
"What is it with you two… Do you always do this?"
Neither of us spoke. Now, looking back on that, I realized that Bria and the droids must have though we were acting like children. And I can't blame them. We were both pouting, neither wanting to give in to the other.
Bria reached into her purse and pulled out sixty-seven dollars. "There. Now, each of you pay sixty-six fifty. I'm sure neither of you want to pay more than absolutely necessary."
We argued for a few more minutes, but eventually caved.
When Bob arrived, we asked why he took so long. It turned out that he went on his break without telling us. We thought it best not to argue, so we paid him then left quickly, much to the relief of the girls.
After we left, it became apparent to me that we weren't going to reach DC before nightfall. I was getting tired, so I pulled into a motel parking lot and woke the girls, telling them that we were going to stay there.
They agreed and slowly got out of the car.
I began walking in, but the girls were unloading their suitcases. (It was supposed to be a road trip, but they couldn't help packing way more than necessary…)
"What are you doing? We're leaving tomorrow morning."
"You're point?"
"My point - you don't need your suitcases. Grab your PJs and a change of clothes. That's it."
But, being girls, they argued, giving me many reasons why they needed all their clothes.
Being tired, and growing irritable, I caved, but explained that we would leave early. No stalling to watch TV or use the bathroom for hours.
More whining… They told me that they couldn't live without their beauty rest, make-up, and some other things that I didn't understand.
"Whatever…" I said, and began walking in, leaving the girls to their many cases of luggage.
I stepped inside the motel and groaned. It was horrible - really dirty and stinky. It would surely bring more whining from the girls. Even I wanted to leave, but I was in no fit state to drive.
I made my way to the front desk to get a room. But I freaked when I heard the rates.
"Fifty dollars a night!? This place isn't worth fifty bucks!"
"If you don't wanna pay, you don't have to, but you don't get a room."
I rolled my eyes and pulled out the money. I would have just left, but the car wouldn't have been comfortable and I couldn't risk driving… "The room better be good…"
He laughed, then led me to the room.
It was worse than I thought possible… The bare mattress on the single twin bed was ruined, the carpet had numerous stains of various colors, the air was thick and musty, and the room was sweltering hot.
"You've got to be kidding me. My sister and friend will never sleep in this…"
"Sister and friend? There are two more people?"
"Yeah… Why…" This couldn't be good…
"That'll be 100 more dollars please."
"What !? There's not a chance in heck that I'm paying 100 more for this piece of crap!"
"Do you want the room or not?"
"Yes, I want the room! But I'd prefer a clean room! And if three of us share this room, the price should go down! The floor's probably toxic!"
"How so? The carpet's 30 years old and there are a few stains on it, but it's in great condition."
I snickered. "Sure…. I don't even know what the stains are from!"
"Well, there's a-"
"Stop! I don't even wanna know…"
I headed back outside to discuss the situation with the girls.
I needed at good laugh at that point, and what I saw made me laugh hysterically.
The droids were watching Jade and Bria try to drag three very large suitcases from the car to the motel, and only moving a few inches a minute. Jade, having both hands on the handle, tried to walk backwards while dragging her suitcase, but fell in the process. Bria had a suitcase in each hand and groaned as she tried to drag them behind her.
"What's so funny…?" Jade asked me from the ground.
"You two!"
"Ha ha ha… If you would've been a gentleman and helped, we'd probably be inside sleeping."
"No… You'd be inside complaining."
"Huh?"
"Girls, even I don't wanna stay there… It's dirty and it stinks…"
Jade walked towards me and smirked. "But you're a guy. You're supposed to like stinky things…"
Even I couldn't argue with that… Probably 'cause I was so tired… "Well, not that stinky… Smell for yourself…"
I walked over to Bria and grabbed her suitcases. "Do you think you both can manage dragging that one?"
I tried to lift them off the ground, but I couldn't. "What do you have in here?"
"Girlie stuff," Jade said mockingly.
I smirked sarcastically as I tried to lift the suitcases. It took a while, but we got three of the five in, as well as three sleeping bags, three pillows, and my single duffle bag. When they asked me to get their other two suitcases, I refused, and they said no more.
"Gross!" Jade said as we entered the complex.
"Told ya. I'd go somewhere else, but I'm too tired…"
"But Jon!"
"Sleep in the car if you want…"
As the girls whined, I walked up to the desk and paid the man 50 more dollars. "That's all I'm paying… That's way more than you deserve for this."
The man shrugged and led us to our room.
I, rather sarcastically, thanked the man and closed the door. "Jade, don't say anything… We're here, that's it."
She closed her mouth and pouted.
"So," Bria began. "Who gets the bed?"
"You two argue over it…" I said as I walked into the bathroom with Dragon.
As I pulled on my PJ bottoms, I laughed to myself as I listened to the girls arguing over the bed.
I picked up my top, but threw it back into my bag, deciding that the room was too hot to allow for a long-sleeved shirt.
I picked up my toothbrush, but, upon seeing the blackish water flowing from the faucet, put it away.
Deciding that I could do no more in the bathroom without making myself sick, I picked up my bag and opened the door.
"You guys don't wanna go in there… The water's black…"
But I got no response.
Bria was sitting on the bottom half of the bed, next to a crying Jade, looking at me dejectedly.
I walked over to the bed and sat on the other side of Bria. We came to a silent agreement that we'd wait for Jade to talk.
"What can we do?" Jade eventually looked up at us through puffy, red eyes. "Our parents are depending on us, and we're letting them down…"
"No we're not…" Bria said, stroking Jade's hair. "We'll find them."
"How can you be so sure?"
Neither of us spoke. We really couldn't be sure. We didn't know how bad our parent's situation was. But I knew we'd find them. I don't know how, but I did.
"Trust us, Jade. We'll find 'em."
Bria and I got off the bed and walked over to our respective sleeping bags.
After the droids laid Jade's sleeping bag on the bed (for the bed seemed just as gross as the floor) I turned off the light and lay down on the floor, smiling.
Lord, protect our parents and us. Your Will always.
Feeling better than I thought possible (being in that motel,) I said "Good night" to the girls, and slowly fell
asleep.