Hey, guys. This story is the follow-up of the previous story, "Some Assembly Is Required." Andy and Leyley have decided to take a trip. The question is will the trip be filled with memories, nostalgia, or a dead end? Read as our characters explore the deep ties between legacy, loyalty, and love, even as it asks the question: how far is going too far?
It was at the gas station when Leyley reached into his brother's pocket and pulled out something that she didn't expect to see on his person.
"What in the hell is this?" Leyley held the item, flicking it as if she was a cop and she caught the criminal red handed. It irked her to think that as long as their relationship was going, there wasn't any point in using protection.
Considering that she was expecting.
Andy displayed no sense of reaction. For starters, he didn't want to cause a scene in front of others. Secondly, he grew tired of repeating himself of the circumstances of using protection with her.
Ashley missed her period less than two months ago. Andy knew something was amok the day after he stepped back from a smoke and found that pineapple pizza trailing from the living room to the toilet.
"Do you want sour cream or bacon ranch potato chips?" Andy said to her as he was browsing for snacks. He was more of a sour cream kind of guy but they needed to ration out their funds as they were already limited as it was.
"Screw you!" Leyley kicked his knee, causing him to fall backward to the ground. She then stood over him and snatched the potato chip bag from his hand. "Bacon ranch, duh!" She proceeded to the cash register and while she did, he stood up and managed to swipe the sour cream potato chips with a five-finger discount. A great distraction as Leyley sported thigh-high tempo shorts and loose white t-shirt toward the stud clerk with the piercing in her nose. Leyley knew how to woo and swoop anyone off their feet, even against their benefit.
Which suited Andy as he swiped a chocolate bar or two for the road.
There was gas in the tank and a few snacks to hold them down for the road. Leyley shouted 'shotgun' as she jumped into the front passenger seat. It didn't make any sense, it was only the two of them.
Well for the fundamentalist, three.
Andy got into the car and put on his seatbelt. The radio didn't work so his mother's boombox from yesteryear was in the backseat. The tape deck was jammed, only admitted to play Slayer's South of Heaven as their personal soundtrack.
"Mom has great taste in music." Leyley said as she opened up the chips. "If only it came in her cooking."
"Oi! What did we say earlier," he interjected as he put the car in drive. "We won't mention Mom, Dad, or anyone that we feel that gives us problems."
"Does that include the bitch and Julie?" The bitch she was referencing was none other than his now ex-girlfriend, Nina.
"Them too."
"Even…"
"Yes…my boss."
"Good!" Leyley smiled, tapping her knees as she was anticipating this little trip together as brother and sister.
It was a trip to the desert. He wasn't quite sure which one came up with the idea but he wasn't going to complain. A couple of days away from the hellhole would do him some good. His boss was cutting hours, his mother was picking up extra shifts, and Leyley recently got into some cash by pulling favors with men online through OnlyFans.
Initially against it, the green-eyed brother was just grateful that his sister was being productive. If she was going to be a pot-smoking, opioid-abusing, chronic masturbating plant, at least she could get paid for it. Plus, the kinks she provided online to these tricks were things that most, if not normal people wouldn't do.
"Do you think they may have Indian gift shops out there?" Ashley asked.
"Don't know. Haven't been out there in a while. Maybe."
"You think we might see a dead body."
"Macabre as always." Andy let out a chuckle.
"Why not? Deserts are literal hot spots for dead bodies." She chuckled. "Homicide, suicides, drug deals gone bad, people getting lost."
"If you're getting hot, go in the back seat and hump yourself."
"That's getting boring, Andy," she retorted. "Plus, you're running out of clean spots."
"Right~!" He rolled his eyes.
"Plus, anything that gets touched by me gets polluted," she said in a soft whisper. "Including you." She chuckled as she touched her stomach. "I wonder what she would think about her mother and father? Fucked up beings of God's creation."
"Why is it a she? Why not a he?"
"I would prefer it to be a girl. There aren't enough serial killers that are girls."
"You think our child might be a serial killer."
"Not might, will be."
"Sort of a fucked up resume to wish on our child," he said.
"She won't be normal," she said as she rubbed her stomach. "What's fun without a little death?"
"As if you know what it's like to kill." Andy chuckled.
"And you think I haven't?"
"Birds, missing pets, and strays don't count, Leyley," responded Andy as he changed lanes. "Taking a human life is a whole different paramount."
"Why paramount?"
"When someone is dying, their heartbeat and blood circulation slow down. The brain and organs receive less oxygen than they need and so work less well," he said. "It's paramount because you're the one that has the control and you watch their entire being fade away out of your own eyes.
"It has been described as euphoric, even better than receiving an orgasm. Ironically speaking, when one takes a life and sees that life fade away, they have never felt so alive."
Leyley's pink eyes glowed when hearing those words coming from her brother. As she wrapped the bag of chips and put them on the floor, she asked, "Is that how you felt when you took Dad's life?"
Andy lowered the window as he reached for a cigarette to smoke. As he flicked the lighter, he saw the sign that showcased their destination.
"A hundred miles, huh?" Andy responded as he inhaled the carcinogen into his lungs.
Meanwhile….
Rain was in the forecast on this gloomy autumn night, yet that wasn't a cloud in the sky. He tightened his jacket as he scurried across the parking lot to get to his vehicle. He was fortunate to park near the front row of the complex. A blessing of exchanging shifts with a fellow co-worker. It wasn't often that he worked nights, but he needed the money and funds were quite short during this time of year. His 1989 Pontiac Grand Am was his prized possession. In fact, it was the only possession that was worth valuable to him; amongst other things. He hung the ID that he called his burden on the console below the mirror. He put his car into park and made his way out of the complex and onto the highway.
He made it to the uneven roads of the one-laned highway that was going to carry him over 15 minutes until he made the interstate of his route home. The same road he has traveled to work for many years. The same uneven road that the Department of Transportation promised that they were going to fix. The same uneven road that had a crooked forked tree that curved into the highway. The same uneven road that becomes uneasy when rain makes contact with the road. The same uneven road that he had his first wreck because of its asymmetry. Yet that was the only road to get to his job. The only job that he was qualified to work. Even with its subservient pay, he had no choice but to work until better opportunities come his way.
He had been saying that over the last few years with no results.
Rain was in the forecast. It was an instinct he picked during his early childhood days on the farm. It was a simpler time for the boy. He scratched his nose at the thought of his childhood. He rubbed his face as he looked for a decent radio station with proper reception. The fallacy of working in the sticks, he thought to himself.
A talk show had to suffice until he made it to the city limits. NPR was not his cup of tea, but it had to do. He listened to it every now and again if he wanted to be informed. Nowadays, he would rather be naive and keep himself hidden from anything occurring. Life hasn't been so grand for the man, but he was making the best of what life had given him.
Rain was in the forecast. He picked up the instinct when he felt a tinge in his stomach. The pores exposed his skin and his skin became sensitive. When he felt that uneasy feeling, he told his parents that rain was approaching. When seeing the rain for the first time, his parents were appreciative of his whimsicalness. They even gave him the nickname, the human barometer.
Those were good times back then, he thought. Those were times when the family was at peace. Their name showed modesty when he came from. However, there wasn't much holding the family back since they lost the farm. There wasn't much holding the family back when his father died. There wasn't much holding the family back when his mother was killed. There wasn't much holding the family back after he and his sister went their separate ways.
He turned on the air conditioner. The coolness was soothing to his skin. Although it was cold outside, the feeling of it calmed him down. He felt uneven. He knew it was hot flashes or maybe it was menopause. Be it as it may, he wanted to be cool. His thoughts were still on the days of his life and what direction led him to where he was today.
A flash of lightning brightened the car like a camera flash. The flash of lightning showed his ID. He was smiling. Who was he smiling for? Why was he smiling? Those were the questions as he took that picture. He didn't like his co-workers. He could hardly stand his boss. He even didn't like the woman who gave him the picture. He would admit she was quite attractive, reminding him of Farrah Fawcett in the '70s, but when mistakes of past life happen, he had to take what he could get.
He gritted his teeth at the thought of his past mistakes. And whenever he looked in the mirror, it made him angry. It frustrated him to the core to hate himself. He wished he could look different. He wished he could change faces for a day to not look like himself.
He felt that way because his face reminded him of a person he hadn't seen in many years. A person that he felt was responsible for setting the motion of his demise. A person who paved the way for him to become where he was today. He didn't like how he looked. No matter how much hair dye he purchased; cutting his hair; and paying for rhinoplasty, there was no replacing that face.
For the rest of his life, he had to don the look of his mother, his father, and overall, his sister.
"Catherine Graves."
Back to Andy and Leyley….
"Do you think our daughter might become one of those hippies if I wanted to try acid?" Leyley asked as she was squatting on the ground to relieve herself. There wasn't a rest area for miles and she really needed to go. Andy took the nearest exit and parked the car on the side of the road.
"Sure and maybe she'll become a struggling, racist musician that would form a family that would incite a war between the Panthers and the police by killing an actress and her friends at her manor." Andy said, chuckling as he lit a cigarette. He sat on the car's hood, watching the road and keeping an eye on his sister.
"Charlie is an unisex name, you know," she said as she almost finished urinating. "Charlie Graves. Kinda has a nice ring to it."
"Of course overlook everything else." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Charlie does have a nice ring, does it?!" Of course he couldn't tell her that.
"How far is this motel?" Leyley asked.
"Not that far. We should be there in the next thirty, forty minutes."
"Do you think we could grab something to eat on the way?"
"We're on a limited budget."
"Must we forget that I'm eating for two? A woman can't live on bread and Spam alone."
"Jesus, fine!" Andy flicked the cigarette away. He looked at his phone. "No bars, great!" Thankfully, he did save the directions to the motel offline. Hopefully, there would be a diner somewhere on the way to the inn.
To be continued….