Three things happened on my first road trip that changed me forever: a call, a crash and... I don't know what to call the third one. Suz went on that road trip with us. In fact, she was the only reason I went. I didn't want to go, my brother drives like a psychopath and Leo is the stupidest among the stupid that ever managed to breed. And he was circling Suz like a starved vulture too.
I sat on the back seat behind my brother, where I could see Suz's profile during the whole trip, and put my headphones on so I wouldn't have to interact. She's five years older than me and treats me like a child. I'm not. But she doesn't know that. And the truth is I can live with that, as long as... Nah, no conditions are required.
The music I carry around it pretty mellow, as opposed to my brothers pseudo trans hop flat rap acid house mixes, which he loves to play too loud and too much in the car. The sound is so think you gotta open the windows to let it out and avoid dying, like a bean fart. Yes, that's what his music is: a long stream of bean farts. Suz and Leo don't say anything, they don't seem to enjoy it either, they just kinda cope by staring out into the thick, misty wilderness.
Sure, they spoke to me along the first two hours, but I wasn't listening. It was probably teasing or patronizing talk, I don't care for either. After the first bathroom/coffee break I couldn't avoid them anymore. Had to leave the headphones in the car, and I really had to pee. The place was a dirty dump, looked like the insides of a sick bowel, but what the hell. The others had coffee, except for Suz, she refused and was completely disgusted, too.
I think Leo was the one who did it, wanted to show off, but whatever the case, my headphones dissapeared. My brother couldn't care less if I listened or not, so I'm guessing it was his stupid friend. Anyway, that's when the call came.
Suz's ringtone was that song from Twisted Sister, you know the one, with the catchy upbeat. She had been laughing at some stupid joke made by stupid Leo. The phone rang and she picked up. The voice she heard must have been both very unexpected nd very unpleasant, because she took the phone away from her ear and stared at it for three seconds before putting it bak and saying 'hi' with a trembling voice.
The person at the other end spoke for a while, she remained quiet. My brother, clueless as he is, must have picked up something because he turned the music to the minimum. The three of us were quiet, feeling the air inside the car getting heavier and heavier. Eventually she would say things like 'but...' or 'listen...' or 'Wait...' but she was not allowed to finish the sentence. In the end she muttered an impatient 'Fine' and let the phone slip from her face into her lap.
'Was that your dad?' my brother asked.
'Yeh' she said. But she was lying. I don't know how I knew it, but I did. My brother bought it, because hee buys everything. Leo bought it too, because he didn't really care. He just went on about how strict parents suck and should be put in special institutions where they'd be force fed and leashed.
'We're gonna have to go back' she said.
The other two looked at her like she was crazy, but Suz was dead serious. In fact, she might have cried, had she been a weaker person. But she didn't. Leo and my brother ranted ('we've been planning this for ages!') but she wouldn't budge. She didn't mention the possibility of walking back herself, either, probably because she knew they might accept a deal like that.
Ten minutes into the discussion, their voices began to raise; meanwhile, the wheel and the road were becoming less and less important. Until finally, as I had beenn expecting from the moment we left the driveway, our car collided with a minivan that came at us from the opposite direction.
...
Stay tunned for Part 2 :o)