English Is Flammable (Student/Teacher)

Chapter 18

(Shay’s Point of View) (Sunday morning around 11:00)

“Alright, Shay, are you driving first or am I?”  Dad asked me as we started towards his silver BMW m3.  Yeah, we’re a BMW family.  My mom has one too, the 5 series.  I like mine (the 5 station wagon) the best though, then again, it’s mine, I’m a little bias.  

“I’m driving first then we’ll stop, I’ll go grab snacks somewhere along the way and you’ll get into the driver’s seat and mom, you can decide if you want to get in the front or stay in the back.  Sound right?”  I asked.

I was bursting at the seams, we were going into the city to pick up the whippet puppy.  I can’t believe this is finally happening.  I’ve been begging since I was a little kid and they finally caved, maybe they should’ve gone to San Francisco sooner.  We all agreed that that was a proficient plan and got on the road, talking about the whole moving situation, (we’ll have an apartment in San Francisco and we’ll keep the house that we currently live in in the Hamptons) my grades, (mostly Bs and A-s with the exception of my A+ in Will’s class) which they were very happy with, more about cheer, (I gave my breakdown on how the freshmen were doing and who I was thinking for as captain next year) and some random stuff.  My dad and I played the Counting Game (we counted how many silver cars we saw.  We got 127 before we stopped).  

We got into the city and stopped at a Walmart.  I got out with $20 in my hand and went in to get some snacks.  I got myself and my dad Pepsis and my mom a Diet Coke, a box of Sour Patch Watermelons, a box of Milk Duds, and a box of Hot Tamales (I’m aware that they’ve been discontinued at least until further notice but it’s my story and I like them so suck it), paid for them, then jogged back to the car.  Mom decided to just stay in the backseat so I sat shotgun.  I put the bag by my feet, distributed the sodas, and opened the Milk Duds.  Dad and I switched to the License Plate Game.  

“Rowdy Flying Monkeys!”  Dad yelled out, referring to the license plate on the Audi Q7 in front of us.

“Oh, okay, I got one: White Plastic Barbies!”  I shouted out, the maroon Lexus is250 off to the right and a little ahead of us displaying the letters ‘W, P, and B’.  

“Good one, Melinda dear, how much farther until we’ll be coming up on the turn?”  My dad asked my mom who was reading off directions from her place in the backseat.

“Uh, oh shit, right here.  Turn left, turn left!”  Mom said, her voice starting to crescendo by the end of the last sentence.”  Dad made as smooth of a turn as he could, only one person honking at him and one flipping him off.  We started driving down another busy street and my phone buzzed.

‘How’s the dog hunt coming?’ - Will

‘It’s coming along.  I think we’re almost there.  I drove the first half so I’m not really sure.’ - Me

‘That’s good.  The drive been bearable?’ - Will

‘It’s been good, actually.  My dad and I played car games the whole time so it was pretty fun.  I think we’re driving my mom crazy though...’ - Me

‘I love that you and your dad are so close.’ - Will

‘Yeah, he’s my rock.  Why?’ - Me

‘My dad and I had a bit of a rough patch during my teen years and are have only recently patched things up.  My mom and I are super close though.’ - Will                

‘That’s too bad.  Don’t you think it’s kind of wrong to be having this conversation via text?’ - Me.  I hate having really personal conversations without uttering a single word.