Ok, here is the second part:D Oh and guise, if this is Fourth of July when you are reading this, then happy fourth! Enjoy:)
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*Present day*
I think about the memory as I feel my fingers tapping against the dashboard as I sit in the front seat of the minivan, with the heat on full blast and country music playing softly on the radio. Beside me my mom drives through fields of nothing but dead grass. Lips pursed and she tensely grips the steering wheel with one hand and plays on her phone with the other. Beside me in the window the world whizzes by quickly. It’s just a blur.
Behind me I can hear the cooing of Adriana. She’s strapped into a car seat, even though she is eleven. She has my old Nintendo and is tapping franticly on the poor thing with her pen. Angrily she throws the DS down on the ground and screams. My mom makes no motion, not even a flinch, as the scream last for five seconds and nearly burst both my ear drums. It lands on the floor way away from her and she screeches and reaches for it. She kicks and throws a little fit when she realizes she can’t, and eventually settles back into the seat and plays with her stuffed hippo. All this, I should be used to it, but I’m not. She’s autistic, I tell myself. I’ve been living with her for eleven years, and I should be used to it. I start to judge her, and I block the thoughts with thoughts about soccer. Imagine, I talk to myself inside the comfort of my own head while I hear Adriana talking to her stuffed hippo. Just imagine, the score is tied in a soccer game. I cut through the wet blades of grass with the ball, and make the winning goal. The crowd goes wild.
I would rather be at soccer right now, but instead I’m stuck in here with my reterded little sister. Stop, I command myself. She just has autism, and possibly anything else.
Were headed to a special doctor about four hours away, and he is supposed to diagnose Adriana. We already know she has autism, we learned that from a regular therapist back in Northern California. Were headed to Southern California now.
Outside is a cold February day, a Saturday at about ten o’clock. Our appointment is at noon. We’re running a little late. Adriana refused to eat and go to the bathroom, so we thrust some crackers, a Sippy cup, and some diapers into a bag and left. On the interstate we got into major traffic to my mom reprogramed our GPS to go another direction and so here we are, as the talking of Adriana gets louder and I can hear distant thunder and little raindrops fall on the car. The rain begins to fall faster and faster, until the wipers go as fast as they can go and we still can’t see very well. The swooshing of the wipers calms down my tense body I didn’t even know was tense.
“Adriana,” I say looking behind me. I know it’s no use, she doesn’t even know her name. It’s kind of sad to think about it. She’s like a really dumb dog. Ugh, I’ve got to stop thinking these bad thoughts! I tell myself to think about what we learned in church yesterday. We learned about learning to love no matter how annoying the person can be. It’s no use. Sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop judging people.
Adriana looks at me with big blue eyes, not knowing what she is doing. She looks so innocent, so sad. I know she can’t help it, deep in my heart. I want to help her. She blinks and puts her thumb in her mouth. My heart sinks. I turn back around to keep from crying.
