"Are we there yet?"
"Jesus Peter. We've been on the road for 20 minutes." sounds a little more annoyed than I should but he is worst after five minutes in the car than Luci on long car rides.
We turn right and I turn my attention back to the map.
"3 streets up take a left."
"Zel is there anything, in particular, we are looking for?" Vic askes.
"Luc asked for new board games. I think she's getting tired of Monopoly and Clue."
"In all seriousness, our meds are running a bit low. We need any kind of pain meds. Tomas is running low on his allergy pills. I could use an inhaler now that it's getting hot again, you know just in case we have to hall ass from a hoard or something. And antibiotics are on the list. We are still a little ways off from having the new system set up. Doc said it's taking a little longer than expected. He said the incubator isn't staying warm enough. I guess that's what we get for making it ourselves."
Charlie turns left.
"Pain meds, allergy meds, inhaler, antibiotics. Anything else?" Vic asks as she scribbles in her little notebook.
"Rubbing alcohol is always a good one. Disinfection and all that. Oh, and Deliah wants us to look for cocoa butter." Do I sound tired? I think that was far too monotone for normal conversation. I should have had more than 2 cups of coffee. Even though they were oversized, it wasn't enough.
I glance back down at the map. "8 miles on this road take a left."
"8 miles! How much farther?!"
"Seriously Peter? You're worse than a 5-year old that has to pee on a road trip." Martin took the words right out of my mouth.
"You guys know I get bored really fast. Let's play a game."
"Like what? The license place game? Oh, wait we are the only car on the road. Maybe the alphabet game? No wait, no we can't play that one either. All the road signs are almost completely covered by vines and plants."
"Geez Vic. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"
"No, the floor actually Martin. I fell out of bed and was so tired I didn't even wake up."
"Alright, grumpus. How about 2 truths and a lie?"
"We've known each other for a decade, Peter. I pretty sure that game won't do us any good."
"Sounds like you got something to hide Char." I say as I nudge Charlie's arm.
"If you wanna play so bad then you go first Zel." She nudges me back.
"Fine. But if you know the answer let the others guess. It's practically impossible to find things you don't know about me."
"Try me."
"Alright. Give me a sec..."
After a solid 45 seconds of silence, Pete chirps in. "Come on Zel!"
"Damn Pete. I need a second to think of a lie... Ok, when I was 6 I broke my arm on a ski trip. When I was 3 I had an imaginary friend that I swear to this day was a ghost. And I had my first kiss when I was 12."
"Who has their first kiss at 12? Like a peck kiss or like a kiss kiss?"
"Wow, judgey much Mart? It was a kiss kiss."
Charlie is trying to hold in a giggle. She knows the answer.
"How long—"
"Hey," I cut him off. "You know the rules. One question per person."
He leans over and whispers in Vic's ear.
"Cheating" Charlie mumbles under her breath.
"How long did you have this imaginary friend?" Vic asks.
"One day when I was 6 I just woke up and couldn't see her anymore."
"Alright, my turn for a question! How did you break your arm?"
"I was coming in from my 'kids fun' ski class and slipped on an ice patch in front of the lodge. Wiped right out on my arm... Charlie any questions or do you know the lie?"
"No questions. Let them have a guess."
"The first one," Peter says " No wait! The 2nd. You really want us to believe a ghost story?"
"I say it's the 3rd one." Vic says.
"I agree with Pete." Martin sounds the most confidence in his choice.
"Charlie, what's the answer?" I ask in a teasing tone.
"You're such a cheater. weren't friends with the ghost. Well not really. It was your grandmother who died before you were born and came over for tea parties. The arm wasn't a ski lodge, you wiped out on the ice during hockey practice, and the kiss is true but your 'first' kiss was a peck in 2nd grade when your crushed kissed you during recess on Valentine's day."
"Zelda you cheater!" Vic says and playfully hits my arm.
"I can't believe you!" Pete says with a fake tone of betrayal in his voice.
"You are an amazing liar." Matin added. Slight amaziment in his voice.
"Hey, I didn't lie. I am just an amazing bluffer... Never play poker with me... Charlie is a much better target." I say jokingly. " I kept it entertaining, didn't I? Pete. It's your turn. It was your idea after all."
I glance over to a passing street sign and then down at the map. "4 miles Char."
I look into the back seat and see Peter has a look on his face that looks like he's having a brain aneurysm. "You ok there Peter?"
"Yeah, yeah... Ok, I'm ready." Then he shouts "When I was a young boy my father‒‒‒"
"Peter" we all groan in unison.
"Really Pete MCR? You're so original and funny." I say in a sarcastic annoyed tone.
"Peter you're cancelled." Vic chimes in matching my tone.
"You're in a timeout, Peter." Charlie adds.
"Fine..."
"Charlie you're up." I nudge her arm.
"Ok, ok ok. I lived in New York City. I lived in Paris. I lived in Sydney... Zelda no guessing."
"Paris is a lie." Vic guess.
"Sydney" Martin says.
...
"Oh am I allowed to guess? I thought I was in time out" Pete says jokingly.
"Yeah you can guess smart ass" I say rolling my eyes.
"umm... Paris"
"And the answer is....." Charlie says tapping her fingers on the steering wheel like a drum roll. "Zelda?"
"New York! Your family visited on business trips a lot but you never permanently lived there. You have lived just about everywhere else though."
"Damnit!" They say in unison. Charlie and I laugh manically laugh together.
I look out at the road signs and back to the map. "Take the next left... Ok, Vic, it's your turn."
"Ok... umm.... when I was 5 my cousins convinced me our black cat was a witch and was sentenced to 100 years as a cat, like Salem from Sabrina. I stole a Muse CD when I was 12 and was never caught. and when I was 15 I lost my shoe down a storm drain grate.
"The cat thing is believable. 5-year-olds can be dumb. I think you were caught stealing the CD" Martin says.
"I think it's the cat thing." Pete says.
"I say it was the CD. You're a badass now but I bet you were a timid kid." Charlie says.
"You're all wrong. It's the shoe. Vic, I've seen that episode of Supernatural."
"Damn! I was banking on you all being oblivious."
We turn left. I look down at the map. Ok, it should be up here on the right. About half a mile.