Summary: Yami, Bakura, and Marik have completely worn their hikaris out. Luckily, a friend is there to help. She is going on a road trip in America and she wants the yamis to tag along. What happens when Bakura sets off fireworks at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC on the Fourth of July? When Marik nearly gets his head decapitated by a trolley in San Francisco. How about Mardi Gras in New Orleans? If you want to find out, you'll just have to read because I'm sure as hell not going to tell you.
A/N: OMG I am soooooooooooooo sorry you guys! When was the last time I updated? Like a year ago? Naw it was MORE than a year ago! I feel so bad. And I wasn't even having writer's block! Okay, I was for a while. I wrote this chapter probably 3 times, and I didn't like the results. I lost this version, and I was just looking through a box of crap I have in my room, and I found it in there. I have no idea what it was doing in there, but there it was. I wasn't finished, though, but I finished it on the computer. And I've just been busy with school, JROTC, orchestra (which I dropped out of because I hate the teacher's guts, the ground she walks on, and the air she breathes), and other stuffs.
And I had just sorta tossed this story aside because I had been wanting to start writing my first book. I had been creating characters, and then another idea for a book popped into my head. And then another idea. And then another. So now I have like 4 book ideas flying around through my head right now. It's crazy!
And I have been reading this story at school during lunch numerous times. I would actually get on the school computers, get on this website, and read my story. And I'm amazed that I never realized this before, but I made a bunch of mistakes! Not only a couple grammar and spelling, but other MAJOR mistakes. And it's not just the whole airport thing. Don't you think it's strange that in chapter 5 they're going swimming on a cruise ship... in January? And I realize these things NOW. It's crazy stuffs. So heed my advice: if you write stories, re-read them and check and make sure that you don't make elementary mistakes like I did, because it's quite embarrassing after you notice them. Anyway, this chapter is for BakurasQueen because she asked me to keep writing this story (although I have a feeling that this will happen a lot in the future...). Not only that, she favorited this story and me! I feel loved! XD Oh, and the conversation that Ari's dad has with the Yamis is a Bill Engvall joke.
Chapter 7 Back Home & On the Road
"Ahh... it's good to be home." Ari said inhaling deeply.
"You live here? This place is HUGE!" Bakura said, opening his arms wide.
"Yeah." Marik agreed.
"Well, of course it's big. My parents work and all of my brothers, except for one, are in the military."
"Ari! You're back!" A young boy with brown hair and innocent blue eyes yelled latching onto his sister.
"Hey, squirt. It's good to see you. This is my younger brother, Nathan. He's twelve."
"Ari, welcome home!" A woman in her mid-thirties said waving in the doorway. She had wavy red hair and emerald-green eyes.
"Mom! Hey!" Ari said hugging her mother.
"Marik, what is wrong with you?" Yami asked when he looked over at the Egyptian who was wiping a tear from his eyes.
"I wish I could d-do that with m-my mom, bu-but I would g-get slapped."
"Marik, your mother is dead." Bakura said rolling his eyes."
"Nuh-uh, Bakura! Malik isn't DEAD!" Marik yelled with his hands on his hips.
"Well, Malik would technically be his mother." Bakura said bringing his index finger to his chin in a thinking manner.
"I don't even wanna think about that." Yami said grimacing.
"Guys! Come on! We're going inside! And no stealing anything Bakura!" Ari yelled.
"Dad, Ari's here."
"Hey, kiddo." A tall man with brown hair and brown eyes said sternly. He was in his late thirties and stood at around 6' 5".
"That's her dad?" Marik whispered to no one in particular.
"Damn..." Bakura said.
"So, are these your traveling companions?" Her mother asked.
"Yes. Mom, Dad, Nathan, these are Yami, Marik, and Bakura. They all go to school with me."
"This guy's in high school? Did he skip a grade or is he naturally this short?"
"He's a midget." Bakura said smugly.
"I am not a midget!"
"Anyway, are the others here?" Ari asked holding her brother in an angry headlock.
"No. They're still overseas. They really did want to be here." Ari's mother answered.
"Oh, okay. Good for them."
"How long will you be here?"
"We'll just be loading everything into my van and then we'll be leaving."
"Aww. You're not staying the night?" Nathan asked rubbing his abused neck.
"Sorry, but no. We need to leave as soon as we can."
"But you just got here." Nathan said pouting.
"That pout of yours won't work. I have grown immune to it. I'll call you every day and ask you how you're doing. Okay?"
"Alright."
"Okay, we're heading out."
"Take these. I made you some snacks to take with you."
"Thanks, Mom. Yami, I'm entrusting you with these because Bakura and Marik will eat them all."
"Sure."
"You wouldn't happen to have a booster seat, by any chance, would you?" Bakura asked.
"Umm, yes. What for?" Her mother asked.
"Yami still hasn't reached the height limit for normal seats, so we'll be needing it."
"Bakura, shut it!" Yelled a steaming Pharaoh.
"What? I was only taking everyone's safety into consideration."
"Well, what about Marik?"
"What about him?"
"Yeah, what about him? Er... me?"
"Marik won't be allowed to sit in the front seat because he's still not old enough. You have to be twelve don't you? Let's see, you are how old again? Oh yeah... six?"
"Oh, just wait until I get my hands on you, you smug son of a bitch!" Marik yelled clawing at the Pharaoh while being restrained by Bakura.
"Marik, calm yourself. We can get him in his sleep." Bakura whispered in his ear, automatically resulting in Marik jerking to a stop, his arms and legs falling limp like a rag-doll.
"Fair enough."
"Boys, come 'ere." Ari's dad said pulling all three into him with his arm.
"Yes?" Yami asked.
"Boys, look at me. You see that little girl over there? That's my only little girl. She's my life. Now if you have any thoughts about huggin' or kissin', you remember these words, boys: I have no problem with going back to prison." All three guys gulped in unison.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Ari asked with her arms crossed.
"Guy talk."
"Uh huh. Well, come on, you three. Let's go before my dad asks to hear your sap stories."
"Have a safe trip." Ari's mom said.
"I will."
"Oh yeah, Ari? Could you do me a favor? When you see the guys, tell 'em I said 'Hey'."
"Sure, Dad."
"Are you talking about those truck drivers?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure she'll see them?"
"They're always there."
"Okay. Bye, hun."
"I'll call you guys later."
"Remember what I said, boys." The three yamis jerked their heads away from her dad.
They were finally at ease when they lost sight of the large house.
"Don't worry. My dad's like that to all of my guy friends. So, do you guys wanna watch something? You can just look in the compartment and pick out something you like. You won't be able to see anything, Yami. Unless you wanna sit in the back seat with them."
"I'm fine up here."
"You have hentai?" Marik blurted out.
"I have seven brothers."
"The twelve-year-old watches it?"
"He's a guy, of course he does."
"Yeah, I'm definitely staying up here." Yami said.
"Good. You can be my navigator."
"Your what?"
"You look at the map and tell me where things are when I ask you for them."
"Oh, okay."
"Just make sure you hold the map the right way, Pharaoh." Bakura said.
"If you guys are gonna watch those hentais, wear headphones so we don't have to hear it; keep your mouths shut; and try to hold it until we get to a rest stop." Ari said in a sarcastic about 3 hours, someone finally broke the silence: a certain tomb robber.
"I'm hungry. When are we stopping for lunch?"
"Bakura, look out the window and tell me what you see."
"Uh... mountains."
"That's right. We are in the middle of nowhere. Where could we possibly stop to eat lunch?"
"Meh..."
"We have food. Eat it. Just don't eat it all or else I'll kill you."
"The idiot Pharaoh has it."
"Yami, give them my mom's snacks."
"Okay. Do you need anything else?"
"Nope."
"I just feel like I haven't been doing my job. I haven't told you where to go."
"Your job is to be the only one who isn't an asshole. Being my navigator is a way to kill time."
"But before you said my job was to be your navigator."
"Pharaoh, stop being so technical."
"Yeah. Look where your 'technical nature' got you." Bakura said.
"I'm going to regret this: where did it get me?"
"Stuck with us." Marik was around 9:00 when they finally stopped. A/N: they had bathroom breaks, don't worry. I'm not that cruel.
Ari got out of the car and dialed her parents' number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Bro. How are you?"
"Ari! Where are you?"
"About fifteen minutes from San Jose. We're parked in a Wal-Mart parking lot where we'll stay the night."
"Where are you headed?"
"We're on our way to San Fran."
"Cool. I'll let you talk to Mom and Dad."
"Okay."
"Ari?"
"Hey, Mom."
"Hey, sweetie. How are things going so far?"
"They're going fine."
"Where are you now?"
"We're about fifteen minutes from San Jose"
"Okay. Where are you spending the night?"
"We're in a Wal-Mart parking lot right now. We're gonna sleep in the car. The guys don't know it yet."
"I see. Where's your first stop?"
"San Fran."
"Oh, okay. Well, I hope you enjoy your visit."
"I know I will. I'm sure the guys will like the trollies." (Hint, hint)
"Yes. That was always your favorite part when you were little."
"Yeah I know. They like your snacks, by the way. I told them that I'd kill them if they ate them all today, though. We need them still. Of course I could always go into the Wal-Mart and buy stuff."
"I'm glad to hear that they like my food. I always knew I was a good cook."
"You and your ego."
"I'll let you talk to your father." Ari could just see her mother's pout on the other line.
"Okay. Bye, Mom."
"Bye, sweetie. Here's your father." "Hey, kiddo."
"Hi, Dad."
"Where are you?"
"About fifteen minutes from San Jose."
"Ahh, okay. Are those boys behaving?"
"Yes. You don't have to worry, Dad."
"Just making sure. So where are you staying tonight?"
"In a Wal-Mart parking lot. We're sleeping in the car, but the guys don't know yet."
"That'll be a shock."
"Yeah, I know. Especially for Bakura."
"Who's Bakura again? Was he the girly-lookin' one?"
"Yeah. That's the one."
"Okay. Well, I'll let you go and break the bad news to the boys. Hehehe."
"Okay. Bye, Dad."
"Bye."When Ari walked back over she saw Marik, who looked like he was having a crisis, Bakura watching him boredly, and Yami still sitting in the car wanting nothing to do with it. Ari just couldn't help herself.
"Okay, what's going on?"
"Marik has to go to the bathroom." Bakura stated.
"I gotta go potty! Real bad!" Marik yelled tugging on Ari's sleeve.
"Okay, everyone. We're all going potty. Let's go." Ari said taking Marik's hand.
Obviously Yami heard her because he got out of the car and started following her.
"But I don't have to go." Bakura said.
"YOU'RE GOING POTTY!" Ari shouted.
"Yes, Ma'am!" Bakura squeaked.
"And bring some money with you in case you wanna buy a soda or something while we're inside. No alcohol or else your ass is mine."
"I wouldn't mind that..." Bakura muttered under his everyone went potty... er... to the bathroom, they returned to the car with their stuff. Ari bought a Barq's rootbeer, a dark chocolate Hershey bar, and mint gum, because she knew they'd need it, as well as ear plugs; Yami bought a Mountain Dew; Bakura bought two Dr. Peppers, a Lucas, Hot Cheetos, and Beef Jerky; and Marik bought a Cherry Coke, Funyuns, sour Skittles, and Nerds. Ari knew it would be a while before those two would fall asleep.
"Okay, so what hotel are we staying at?" Bakura asked when they got back to the car.
"What hotel?" Ari asked.
"What do you mean 'What hotel'?" Marik asked.
"Just what I said."
"You mean we're staying here?" Bakura asked.
"Uh... yeah."
"You mean, like, the Wal-Mart people are gonna let us rent out the bedding section of their store, right?" Marik asked, receiving annoyed glares from the others.
"Yeah, that's it exactly, Marik." Bakura said sarcastically.
"Where are we staying?" Yami asked.
"In the van, of course."
"'Of course' she says." Bakura muttered under his breath.
"We're sleeping in the car? That's bullshit!" Marik yelled.
"It's free." Ari said raising an eyebrow.
"Fine, so who's sleeping where?" Bakura asked.
"Well, I'm sleeping in the driver's seat of course. And the other three spots will be decided by doing 'Rock-Paper-Scissors'."
"Are you serious?"
"Does this look unserious?" Ari asked pointing at her face.
"Uh... no?"
"Correct answer. The loser out of the three of you sleeps in the front seat."
"Rock... paper... scissors!" Yami and Bakura had scissors while Marik had paper. Marik had his fists clenched at his sides and his teeth were grinding together.
"Aww don't fret, Marik. You'll be uncomfortable, but you'll be next to Ari." Bakura said.
"Oh yeah."
"Yes, but if you try anything, I swear to fish I will murder you."
"Meep!"
"The loser has to sleep in the middle."
"What's so bad about that?" Yami asked.
"The middle seat's shorter since it only seats two people, while the back seat seats three."
"Oh."
"Looks like it's just you and me, Pharaoh."
"Yes."
"Rock... paper... scissors!" Yami had rock and Bakura had scissors again.
"Dammit!"
"I even own at 'Rock-Paper-Scissors'." Yami said smirking. Ari just rolled her eyes.
"We're leaving at 7:00. I'll wake you to go pot... I mean go to the bathroom, and go buy something if you want. If you have to get up in the middle of the night, the Wal-Mart is open 24 hours. Just let me know you're leaving and hurry up. No pranking each other. And here's a stick of gum for each of you, because I know that by tomorrow your breath will be rancid. Especially you two. And be sure to get rid of it before you go to sleep. I don't want to have to cut any hair. Good night all."
