Hey, guys. So I did a bit of writing on this cite, took a break, and now I'm back. This is just an idea that I'm playing with right now and it could go in a couple different directions. Please let me know if y'll want more, or if it isn't worth it. I do have plans to elaborate the story-line, and as I continue the story I'll elaborate on Mamie's character (which, for anybody who hasn't heard that name before, is a southern name pronounced May-me).
We were driving in the hot sun, down the highway, out, out, out. I shut my eyes. Behind my eyelids sparked bright fireworks. I opened my eyes again, just in time to see the Florida state welcome sign fall away behind us, already growing smaller with the miles we claimed on this God-forsaken highway.
Lord knows where we were going. I sure didn't know. Mama, who was driving, sure as hell had no idea where we were going. At least, that's what she told me. But it seemed to me like she had a destination in mind. Maybe it wasn't apparent to her now, but somewhere inside her she knew where she was going, just like she always did.
Florida was the place we've stayed in the longest, which was fine by me. I had no problem with the heat or the orange groves. I certainly had no problem with the ocean being so close. My younger sister, Susie, hated Florida. She had allergies that got aggravated by that perpetually sunny state so she stayed indoors most of the time. She didn't have many friends, either - she preferred to be among her Barbies and the cartoons on the television and the Beatles records she kept in her room.
Susie snored, a soft chainsaw right in my ear. Her blonde head was resting on my shoulder, her arm interlocked with mine in a way that should have made her slumber uncomfortable except for the inevitable truth that Susie could sleep anywhere.
We were all together - Mama, Susie, and me - in the cab of a blue Ford that used to belong to Susie's father, Damon. I hated Damon. Mama hated Damon. Susie might be the only person on earth who likes Damon, and I wouldn't understand it except for that he's her father and she still looks at him like he's God himself. My father was back in Mexico somewhere and I never had the chance to look at him the way Susie looks at Damon, but I don't mind it so much anymore.
I looked past Susie, over at Mama. Her hair was flying all in her eyes because the windows were open, but she didn't seem to care. She just kept on driving, lips drawn and eyes squinting against the sun bouncing off the asphalt. She hated sunglasses and all that squinting had left lines at the corners of her eyes, but I like the way they look on her. She must have noticed me staring, because she looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back, even though I didn't want to.
I always hated leaving, which we usually had to do every couple years to avoid Damon. Damon had some kind of vendetta against Mama, even though he had loved her a long time ago. I think he had cheated on Mama once, and then Mama shot him, and now he wants Susie to stay with him, which would never happen. I think that's why we're running now - because Damon got word from Mama's sister, Julie, that we were in Miami. To be truthful, I'm never certain of why we have to leave, except that we do, and Mama always makes it sound important.
I didn't like to think about it too much, because if I did I never came up with any answers. I looked back out the window.