Dirty Laundry [REPOSTED]

Chapter 21

12:27 P.M.

"How in the hell do tree farms even exist in Arizona? It's a desert, Daniel. A desert."

From the front seat of Jaime's ancient pickup truck sat Danny McClain, his hands holding tightly to the old fashioned wheel. Danny was on the brink of blowing his top, all from Benji's obnoxious and repetitive questions. The teenager sat in the front seat with his feet propped up against the dashboard. Despite being told several times to remove them they still remained, as that was the type of boy Benji was.

Sophia and Cleo sat in the backseat of the truck, Lance and Keith huddled next to the two girls with their long legs squished against Danny's seat. The car ride was awkward, that much was obvious. No one dared talk except for Benji, his questions mostly aimed at Danny for teasing purposes.

The trip out to Desert Tree Farms was, in every sense of the word, uncomfortable. It was a sibling trip after all, and every person in the car knew Abuela chose to send them together as part of her master plan. It was for bonding of course, especially between Sophia and the other siblings. Keith hated the fact that he'd tagged along. They weren't even his siblings, and still he was subjected to the torture. The silence was deafening, and fifteen solid minutes of nothing but Benji's puns was about to end them all.

"Trees can grow in the desert, Benjamin." Danny countered this back to his younger brother with spite, using the boy's full name just as Benji had done.

It was quiet again, the soft rumbling sound of the radio humming along with the engine. To break the silence Danny moved to turn the stereo up, the crackling static only growing louder. He skimmed through a few stations, skipping over a couple, and was just about to switch from another when Lance immediately stopped him.

"Danny, wait!"

Lance hadn't said a single word the whole car ride, so it surprised all of them when he'd yelped so suddenly. He'd been rather solemn since Abuela's family meeting; Keith wasn't sure what had bothered him so.

Moving forward in his seat, Lance reached for the radio and turned it up again. A crooked smile slowly grew on his cheeks, like he knew something the others didn't. That solemn look had somehow disappeared - all due to this song.

Keith didn't recognise the tune, but as the chorus came into repetition he finally realized.

"Oh my god," Daniel declared, probably having the same thoughts as Keith. "Lance I swear to God if you even start-"

It was too late. Lance had heard the song, the beat had played, the song was set, the volume was up. Keith banged his forehead against the seat in front of him, both Daniel, Cleo, and Sophia groaning in protest.

"¡Mamita yo se que tú no te me va' a quitar!"

Danny complained loudly into the steering wheel. "Gasolina is the worst. This isn't even the good version!"

As Danny moved to change the station, Lance whacked at his hand, a silent threat to not change the damn station. Lance continued to sing (or rap? Was it rapping? Keith wasn't fully aware of the logistics).

Lance turned to Cleo and began to wiggle his eyebrows, shaking his hips while sitting in place. "¡Mi gata no para de janguiar porque-! Come on Cleo be my backup singer when the chorus comes!"

Cleo forcefully pushed Lance's face out of her personal space, expression blank. "I might've said yes when I was like, six. I didn't even understand the lyrics then."

Lance made a pouty face and turned to Benji, poking his brother in the shoulder repeatedly. "Come on, Benji-Boo. You know you wanna."

Benji rolled his eyes, that familiar smile on his face. They all knew Benji wanted to join in, that much was obvious. He did just that when the chorus came, the two boys singing in time with each other.