Years of the Bus

16- A Holiday

“If you drink anything illegal, I will call off this whole trip,” My dad threatened via the cell phone.

“Dad, I don’t think that there are ‘illegal drinks’, so I think I’m safe,” I informed him as I sat in the back of the bus, trying to get as much privacy as I possibly could in this totally anti-private environment. Everybody was up at the front as we drove through Albuquerque, looking for a place to watch some fireworks. It was probably the hottest that it had been all summer since we were in New Mexico and whatnot, but we had good air conditioning on the bus, so I wasn’t perturbed too much by the heat.

“Alcohol is illegal until you’re twenty-one, Alaina,” He reminded me. “And for you, it’ll be illegal forever. Just don’t drink.”

“Right, Dad, I’ll never ever drink alcohol even after I’m twenty-one,” I agreed sarcastically. “You’re safe until then though, I won’t drink tonight. We’re just going to go find someplace to watch some fireworks and play with sparklers, that’s it.”

“It better be, young lady. I’m going to call you at midnight tonight and you better be as sober as the day you were born,” He informed me with that stern voice that he liked to use to intimidate me. Obviously, it didn’t work.

“I won’t answer,” I replied. “We’ll probably be out all night with the sparklers but I’ll call you next week and let you know how it goes.”

“Alaina, I have been more than flexible, even when you so bluntly decided to go against me while you were in California. The least you could do is just be on the phone at midnight tonight. That is all I’m asking,” He defended with a long, stressed out sigh.

“I didn’t ‘bluntly decide to go against you’ I told you that I wasn’t going to call you daily and I told you what I’m telling you now: I’m not a baby, I can take care of myself, so stop babying me,” I demanded, trying to one handedly put on my mascara with the mirror that was taped up on the wall in the back curtained of space. We were probably going to stop soon to crash some random party and I needed to look nice. Obviously, I wasn’t going to tell my dad about the party where I probably would be drinking, because he’d have a conniption or something, so I was lying for my sake and for his sake, really. Ross had seen a banner for a Fourth of July party by some river or lake, so that was probably what they were looking for, the lake party.

“I’m just worried about you,” He defended.

“Well, stop,” I huffed. “You didn’t worry about any of my brothers like this, did you?”

“I-“

“No, don’t answer that,” I interrupted him. “We have this argument every time I call you and you’ll never be able to understand how incredibly unfair and incredibly sexist you really are. Just stop trying to control what I do because we both know that I just won’t do it.”

“Just promise me that you’ll be careful,” He compromised.

“Yeah sure, I promise,” I assured him, looking through the curtain where Kenton was looking back at me, and then he waved me over to where he was sitting with everybody else. I guess they probably found the lake and it was time to go. It was eight at night, so the sun was just setting and if it really was a party, it was probably just now getting started. “I have to go now, we’re about to start with the sparklers.”

“Don’t burn yourself,” He warned.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” I muttered. “I’ll talk to you later, Dad, I love you.”

“I love you too, Lanie,” My dad assured me before I hung up, fixed my lumpy mascara and then slipped on my shoes which were these spiky wedges that I got in a shop in California because I thought that they were so cute. They didn’t really match my outfit- a floral corset and jean shorts- but it was worth it.