Viva

Part 1.3

Unedited

***

"I called you a million times. What took you so long?" Magnolia quizzed as she hopped inside my car. Like a hungry hawk that had just discovered its next prey, Magnolia's brown eyes instantly focused in on the bucket placed in between our two seats. "Is that fried chicken?" Magnolia grabbed the container of chicken and opened it. She gave a blissful moan, clearly pleased by my choice for her dinner. "It took you almost two hours to get some fried chicken?" Magnolia reached in a pulled out a leg. Tilting the bucket in my direction, Magnolia offered me some.

I shook my head, declining, "I bought some sour worms for my dinner. That's all yours."

Magnolia rolled her eyes, "you and your damn sour worms. I swear you keep eating those things and you'll get diabetes."

"Says the one that's eating fried chicken like it's an apple. You're not exactly the pick for the cover of Healthy Choice Magazine this year."

"Fight me," Magnolia replied with a mouthful of chicken.

"Name the day and time, Hun," I told her with a smirk.

"So, where did you get this? I think I would have noticed a chicken place around the square."

"I drove back down Parkside to the gas station about thirty minutes away. That's where I got my worms, your chicken, and a full tank of gas. I also found the perfect place for us to stay the night at."

Magnolia dropped her half eaten leg in the bucket. "We are driving down Parkside now, headed home, Viv. We agreed on this. All the stores have closed — thanks, by the way, I was standing outside for at least twenty to thirty minutes."

"Sorry, I had to get us some food and secure a place for us to stay at tonight."

"Viv, we're already headed in the direction of home. Let's continue that way," Magnolia whined as she placed the bucket of chicken back in between us.

"I can take you home," I honestly told her, knowing I could do the rest of the trip on my own. I did not need her.

"What hotel are we staying at?" Magnolia spoke after a minute of silence.

"It's not a hotel."

I could feel Magnolia's eyes on me, "Okay, where are we staying?"

I kept my attention on the road, attempting to stay strong under her hard stare. "You'll see . . . so, how was shopping?"

". . .Uhhh, it was okay. I didn't buy anything, just looked around," Magnolia explained, distracted and willing, for the moment, to leave our previous conversation in the dust. "I did have a chat with Sonia, the girl who knocked on your window earlier. She was really weird; kept asking questions about us. When she picked up that I didn't want to talk, she offered to pay for a cab to get me back to Greensburg. I told her you were on your way to get me. After a minute she left me alone but, man, she was persistent."

"They're curious about who's on their land. It's normal, they're are territorial after all."

"Of course, and knowing this you still want to stay."

"What's your excuse for staying? I can take you back to our apartment or our parents' house if you don't want to be alone."

"That's not it. It's just with your track record and me being your sister, I feel obligated to keep you alive and out of jail."

"Jail? Oh, come on, that was once and not my fault."

"You tackled a guy to the ground, Viv. You assaulted him and took his wallet," Magnolia tried to justify her point.