Road Trip [#Wattys2015]

Chapter 5

The grandpa's name was George, and it turned out we were going at the same place. He jumped in the car without hesitation and Maia made some space for him by taking her cardigan from the set and placing it on her thighs.

"Here to see your grandchildren?" Jackson asked while taking an illegal U turn.

"No, well the opposite actually. My grandchildren are staying at my house today."

"So, why are you hear then?" Maia asked and I loosened my seatbelt to turn to look at him.

"You see kids, my grandchildren are the most annoying people in the world." We all tried not to laugh and failed miserably. What a refreshing change from all the other old people we've met.

"I mean, don't get me wrong I love my daughter. And her husband is just the nicest guy. But did they have to give birth to such... freaks" He continued and we laughed again.

"They can't be that bad" Maia said while giggling.

"Oh, wait till you meat 'em." Grandpa George was laughing to now.

"Tell us about them." I said exited for our new source of entertainment.

"Well okay, there are the twins. John and Michael they are 6 and they are the kind of kids who make fart jokes and run around screaming."

"Oh, come on! That's everyone at 6!" Jackson laughed.

"I wasn't like that at 6." I argued and tried to remember if I had ever laughed at a fart joke.

"And then there's Lilly who is still a baby and cries all the damn time!" Grandpa George spoke so freshly as if he had just found out how to use words and was really excited to do so.

"So you just left the house?" Maia asked. Also astonished with the freshness he brought in the car.

"Yeah, I couldn't take it anymore! Everybody is allowed to break sometimes; some do it at 17 and some at 77."

"But what are you gonna say when you get back?" I asked.

"I guess I'll just figure this out when I get back. A man can't worry about the problems of his present and his future at the same time, he'll go mad." And I thought, what problems could he have? He was married with children, he had his life all figured out. I didn't know a person could have problems even then.

"What are the problems of the present? Besides your annoying grandchildren I mean."

"I'm worried about my wife, for starters." He looked outside the window. "We met when we were about your age, you know, teenagers. And we were together since then. And I think we're getting bore of each other." He looked out the window.

"Don't you love her?" Maia asked. Maia was living too much in her head to face the reality. There is no love and there are no vampires.

"Oh, love." He said and the smile returned to his face. "The truth is, there comes a time, when you get bored of love to." Now it was Maia's turn to look miserably out the window.

"So you're gonna get divorced?" Jackson asked him.

"No, it's too late."

"It's never too late!" Maia tuned to face him. "Maybe she wasn't the one! You could find someone else!" She was more excited now than when she got the idea for that song game. She thought she had the answer. She always did.

"No, I don't think so."

"Maybe you're gay." She said, her excitement had turned into persuasion and he laughed.

"No, not possible either."

"I give up." She threw her arms up hopelessly and looked down at her feet.

"You gave up quite fast, young lady." He scolded her. "What is your goal in life?"

Maia thought about it for a second.

"I wanna get a job, get married and have kids. But I wanna be in love and I don't want to get bored." She said the last word with disgust. I bet she didn't even think it was possible.

"Then let me tell ya, that'll be kind of hard. But that's only 'cause, your aiming low." Said Grandpa George.

"What do you mean?"

"You're aiming for a routine; I know you're better than that. Everyone hates routines. They are really easy to get bored of" He said and I agreed silently.

"What about you boys?" He turned to us. Maia was looking out the window again, clearly revaluating her life.

"I wanna be a pilot like my father." Jackson said and Maia cringed.

"Nice one, piloting. You never know what's gonna happen. And you, Tom is it?"

"Yes." I said. "I want to be a journalist." I informed him and his face lit up.

"Would you look at that?" He said, "I am a journalist."

"Really?" I asked, Maia wasn't looking out the window anymore. She was looking at him and then me, and then him, and then me. I could see myself in this man. He hates routines, he is a journalist, he hates children and he is exactly where I didn't want to end up at, a boring life. I felt sympathetic towards him, like I wanted to help him get out of this lifestyle.

"I think you should do something about your life." I said.

"Any ideas?" His tone was sarcastic.

"You could get divorced, move out and start from scratch." I suggested.

"I don't know. It's not that simple. Don't you think I'm a little too old to start from scratch?"

"No." Said both Jackson and Maia.

"No offence sir, but your life sounds terrible." Jackson told him and he laughed.

"None taken kid." He looked like he was actually considering it.

"We're almost there." Maia informed us, who was now looking at the road. Five minutes later, we pulled up in front of the hotel.