SISTER EATS BROTHER

8

When we're back in Adam's truck, I turn to look at her as she types away on her phone. "You were flirting with that waitress."

    "Uh-huh."

    "You got her number."

    "Obviously."

    "Why? You don't even live here."

    "I do now, bro."

    "What?" I ask, shocked and a little appalled. "Where? Why?"

    "Don't look so excited," she mutters, shoving her key into the ignition, cranking the engine with a sharp twist of her wrist. "I'm staying with my ex for a few months before I go traveling again. Mmmm-kay?"

    I blink at her, then turn back toward the front. My stomach hurts, I'm dead tired, and I just want to go home and sit in my office chair. "Take me back."

    "No, not yet," Adam says cheerily.

    I slump back in the seat, rubbing a hand down my face, stubble scratching over my palms. "This is kidnapping."

    "Brother-napping, you mean."

    "I'm gonna get fired because of you."

    Adam pulls the truck out of the parking spot, looking over her shoulder with her hand behind my seat. "Is that...a bad thing?"

    "Yes." I shift in discomfort. "I need this job, you...you terrorist."

    Adam sighs. "You know what you should do, bro? You should think before you talk. Everything that's coming out of your mouth is just bloody diarrhea - just like the shit you pushed out in that cafe. All of it."

    "Excuse me?"

    Adam ignores me as she pushes harder on the gas pedal, merging into highway traffic. If she won't take me home... I scowl and reach for her phone on the dashboard, but she grabs it before I can. And then...she throws it out her open window without missing a beat. I gape, twisting around in my seat, watching as it gets run over by the semi truck behind us. It's effortlessly crushed into the asphalt, splintered pieces scattering.

    "Are you stupid?" I ask, completely dumbfounded. "That was your phone-"

    "Don't need it."

    I turn back, blinking dumbly as I press my back against the seat, quickly reaching for my seat belt. Adam's hair whips around in the cab, and I lean to the side to escape the grasping tendrils. She hums, her left arm stretched out of her window, fingers dancing in the wind.

    "What about that waitress-"

    "I'll go back later and tell her what happened."

    "You'll tell her that you threw your phone out of the window?"

    "Why not? It's the truth."

    Shaking my head, I lean my head back against the headrest. "You're a mess." This whole time, I've been right about her. I knew I was right.

I KNEW it.

    Adam just grins at me as she reaches for the radio, settling on the Christian station with a mischievous glimmer in her eyes. "God loves you, Ben," she sings. "God is good. God is great. God is...a raging lesbian!"

    Wow. She really is insane. Our dad would be rolling over in his grave if he heard her talking like that. And...I'm probably gonna get fired. I slump down into my seat, staring numbly out the window as we drive.