Dabbling in Danger

Car Ride

The drive was silent for a while.

The radio stations were all fuzzy so Tiana kept exasperatingly turning the knob to find a new channel.

I settled for leaning against the door and staring out of the window at the mountains and clouds. It's pretty this time of day, the golden and peach tones in the sky seem the brightest around ten.

My ears perk when a familiar beat plays from the speakers.

Tiana gasps and turns the volume up, "you remember this song?!"

She looks between me and the road in front of us excitedly a few times then rolls her eyes again, going back to the knob, twisting it up some more.

Of course I remember this song.

Sade's deep and soft voice begins singing,

"I am in the wilderness, you are in the music in the man's car next to me..."

A small smile touches my lips and I close my eyes listening to the words. This song reminds me of childhood, it's a song that my mother would blast over the speakers often, filling the house with this wonderful woman's voice.

I start to sing, swept away in my thoughts, my sister sings along too.

"You are the lover's rock, the rock that I cling to."

Damn this song is perfect, I open my eyes to see my sister swaying side to side with the beat and her hand to her heart. I've missed seeing her like this, maybe this won't be too bad.

The song comes to an end and an ad starts blaring some spew about '411 Pain.' Tiana turns it down and glances over at me, notices I'm not pressed against the door anymore, but sitting upright and looking out at traffic.

"I always think of mom when I hear Sade," Tiana says.

For once I don't ignore her. I glance at her again and nod, "me too."

Tiana smiles then clears her throat, "Malina... This is gonna be hard to get adjusted to. And I'm gonna be honest, Adeen doesn't take any shit and I know how you like to give a lot of shit."

She puts heavy emphasis on, 'a lot' cutting her eyes to me, I roll mine but don't say anything.

Tiana continues, "I mean... You're not gonna be in need of anything anymore because whatever you want , if you're good, you can get."

'Oh, is that what you do? Are you extra good?' I think and scoff in my mind suddenly my mood turning sour.

"Adeen is retired from the military and he's not even that old, so I know for a fact he was high up in the ranks... He told me a couple times what his title was, but I can't remember. Anyway, the point I'm making is... Don't fuck this up for yourself. He wasn't too keen on allowing you to stay with us, but when I explained th-"

"Look, if ya'll don't want me to live with ya'll I won't," I snap. "I didn't call you, I didn't ask you for a damn thing!"

I know I'm growing defensive, but she doesn't have to act like I'm some beggar on the street asking for spare change.

Tiana smacks her teeth and shakes her head, "Imma let that slide, but make sure to put that in check because Adeen's not gonna have it."

I fold my arms against my chest and we return to the silence.

Sounds like me and this Adeen are going to have a lot of fun.