Page 5 of Frenemies with a Player
No way am I eating that. I place it in a wrap in the back of the fridge. I spot a container of mac and cheese and pop that in the microwave instead. It’s a large plastic container and it’s full, which is good because I am hungry, and I have a hearty appetite.
My sister walks into the kitchen and stops dead in her tracks. “Did you just take that out of the fridge?” she asks wide-eyed.
I shovel another large bite in my mouth before answering. “Yeah, why?”
“I made that for my kids for the car ride,” she says, irritation lacing her tone.
“Shit. Sorry.”
“Now they’re going to be cranky the whole way.” She rolls her eyes.
“Where the fuck are we going anyway?” I ask.
“Language, Wyatt,” she chides.
I wince.
“We’re going to Grams’s old cottage to spend Christmas there,” she explains.
“You’re fucking with me,” I say to her. They could not have been that excited about going to a boring cabin in the middle of Bumfucking, Nowhere. Even if it does have a nice lake and scenery. In the winter there is nothing to do there except maybe snowmobile and I don’t even know if the thing is still working, it must be so old by now.
“Language again, and what do you mean? We loved going to visit Gram in the summers,” Casey says.
“Keyword summers,” I repeat to her. I continue to eat the mac and cheese and she gives me an incredulous look. “There’s a bologna and cheese sandwich ready in the fridge.”
“Gross. My kids won’t eat that.”
“Okay then, I’ll make them Nutella sandwiches,” I concede.
“Fine, but you get to drive with them to the cabin hyped on sugar,” Casey says.
“The mac and cheese was worth it,” I assure her.
She rolls her eyes again but this time she has a playful smile on her face.
“This is going to be so boring,” I say to Casey.
“My kids are excited about the hot tub and building a snowman. We’re also going to do a campfire and make smores, and the Montgomerys are having their famous Christmas party.”
“They still have those? I haven’t been to one of those since I was seventeen,” I say. They were always so boring. I’d steal booze with some friends, and we’d go drink outside in the cold and cause trouble.
I head to my room and pack my suitcase because as it turns out my parents want to stay at the cabin until after New Year’s. Fuck me. It’s worse than being at home unless some of the old crew will be there, which I doubt, because college seniors have better things to do over the holidays.
We head out in two cars. Mom drives with Dave and Casey. I head out with Dad and my sister’s two ninjas, Taylor and Kai.
Casey gave them her iPad to share and said they should be quiet most of the way.
About ten minutes into the drive, Taylor and Kai are fighting because they can’t agree on a movie to watch. Kai undoes his seat belt and puts his feet on the ceiling.
Dad chuckles heartily at this antic.
“Kai, put your feet down, you’re getting the roof dirty,” I explain, but he doesn’t listen. Instead, he tries to pull the iPadout of his sister’s hands. Taylor has a death grip on that thing and they are basically tumbling around the back seat. I turn around to try and separate them.
“Do we need to pull over?” I ask them.
No response. Just more fighting.
Dad is laughing.
