A Glass Of Champagne

Chapter Six

SOLANA

"You have to get the Polynesian sauce it's the best sauce on the menu, and it goes well with the fries and nuggets." I advise Jimea as I pass the bag of food to her. We've been driving on the road to California for six hours now and wanted to stop to get food, so we settled on Chick-Fil a. This is Jimea's first time trying Chick-Fil-a, so I suggested the 8ct nugget meal.

"What does it taste like?" Jimea asks as she reaches inside the bag for the sauce.

"It's sweet and sour, has a little tang to it as well." I tell her, reaching for my Sunjoy drink.

"The Chick-Fil-a sauce is better." Lupe argues, biting into her spicy deluxe sandwich.

"I'll try both." Jimea says, opening both sauces.

We're currently parked in the parking lot of the restaurant; I can't drive and eat. That's  an accident waiting to happen.

We only have an hour left until we reach California. The traffic hasn't been too bad. I expected the nine hour drive to be a drag because I started the drive at 4am. But when your in the car with people you vibe with, a great music playlist, and loads of snacks, time goes by fast.

"I like the Chick Fil-A sauce better." Jimea declares after having her taste of the two. Lupe smirks at me, to which I roll my eyes. Something has to be seriously wrong with their taste buds if they think Chick-Fil-A sauce is better than the Polynesian.

We finish eating our food before throwing the garbage into a nearby trash can.

"Here." I take out my hand sanitizer and squirt a drop into both Jimea's and Lupe's hands.

We simultaneously rub the sanitizer in our hands before I pull out of the parking lot.

"How much longer until we're there. I hate being in the car for long." Jimea whines from the backseat.

"Three more hours." I respond.

"Ughh..." She moans in annoyance, causing me to snap my head at her.

"Do you want to drive? Oh that's right you don't have a license so hush." I tell her before turning my head back to the road.

"Why don't you have a license? You don't know how to drive?" Lupe asks her.

"It's not that I don't know how, theirs just no need to have one in Haiti when we have tap-tap everywhere to help us get around." Jimea says.

"Tap-tap?" Lupe questions, not understanding the term.

"Their buses, more specifically... painted buses. They can come as buses or pick up trucks. I love riding them." Jimea smiles at the thought.

I have no remembrance of riding a tap-tap since I was so young when I lived in Haiti. I plan on visiting again; I just don't know when.

"Why do you call them tap-tap instead of bus?" Lupe asks.

"Because when we want to get on or off the bus we have to tap our coins on the bus to alert the driver." Jimea informs her.

"And what if you don't have a coin?" Lupe laughs.

"Then you get someone to tap for you or your out of luck." Jimea shrugs.

Lupe turns around in her seat and I can feel her eyes on me while I'm driving.

"Yes Lupe?" I tiredly ask. I hate being stared at.

She chuckles. "Do you miss Haiti?"

"Yes, even though I don't remember much of it. Being on the phone with papa or Jimea, talking in my native tongue, it makes me miss the island." I say, sighing at the thought.