Where the Wind Blows

Chapter 5

"We're on the HIGHway to HELL! We're on the HIGH way to HELL!" I sing along with the radio. David tugs on my pants and tries to get me to sit down while still driving. "Taylor, sit down. So help me, if you mess up the interior of this car and it has to be fixed, the money is coming out of your pocket and I refuse to help you pay for it!" I step down off of the seats and start pouting. "Killjoy!" I say as I stick my tongue out at him. "I'd let you keep singing, but it's making my ears bleed. So if you could actually sing next time, instead of trying to kill me with your voice, that would be great." he says. "Simon Cowell, I presume." I bow and sit down in the seat finally. For the past hour, I've been standing up and singing along with the radio while letting the wind whirl around me and carry us to our destination. Wherever that may be. "Have we decided where we are going yet?" I ask. David doesn't reply immediately. "I thought we could head south first and get into warmer weather, then head east until either you get bored or we hit the Atlantic." "WHOOO HOO!!!!" I throw my fist into the air. "California, here we come!" * * * * * * * * * * * Five long hours later and we're still driving. "It's so hot!!!" I complain. I then take the closest pile of papers and begin fanning myself with them. "We're nearing Red Bluff. We can stop there and get something to eat and relax." Right on cue my stomach growled. David laughs and pats it. "There, there. Is Taylor neglecting to feed you?" And just to prove his point, it seems to growl even more! David is laughing so hard that the car is slightly swerving. I glare at him and hit my belly, hoping to make it stop all of the noises. It's quiet until he turns off the freeway and heads to a chinese fast food restaurant called Eggroll King. "Chinese?" I ask. "Duh. You love asian foods. Besides, I need to talk to someone." he replies mysteriously. David gets out of the car and walks in. I quickly follow and wonder what he meant by needing to talk to someone. As we wait in line, we play a mathematical finger game that we learned in elementary school. It's quick and hard to win if you are going second. "Are you going to order, or hit each other's fingers all day?" the lady behind the counter says to us eventually. David turns to her and speaks gibberish. She looks stunned and talks back in the same gibberish, then goes into the back. I gape at David. "What was that?" "That was Mandarin. I know the people who own this place." he said with a wink. Before I have a chance to reply a older chinese woman comes out and screeches then runs with open arms toward David. He lifts her up and spins her then they speak in gibberish... I mean in Orange again. After a bit of talking, he finally turns and points to me. The old lady scrunches her face at me then walks all around me, inspecting me. She 'tsk's while shaking her head, then speaks to David in that language some more. "Umm... Hello! American here, only know English!" I say. "Don't be idiotic, Taylor. I'm American and know Mandarin--" David begins. "Barely!" the old lady interrupts. "You know as much Mandarin as a four year old!" she laughs. "Only because you had me for so little time." David says with a smile. "Come, come! Food is ready. Eat!" she says. "We haven't paid yet Mei." The old lady waved her hand. "You family. Eat, eat!" She grabbed a tray piled high with food. I drooled. She corralled us into a table and put the tray down along with two pair of chopsticks. I looked for a fork but couldn't find any nearby. "Where are the forks?" I asked her. She scowled at me then started saying something in Mand-- whatever, that language again. David gave a hearty laugh and replied in the same tongue. As they chatted in a language I can't understand, and I have a hunch they are doing it on purpose, I got up and went over to where the condiments and napkins were. Sure enough, they had forks! Thanks the goddess above! I snatched one and proudly walked back to the table. The old lady saw me returning, rolled her eyes, said something quick to David, and walked off. He had a giant smile on his face and was watching me. "Do I have a zit on my forehead?!" I start to panic and touch my face to see if I can feel any blemishes. "No. Now come over here and eat." he said. After eating for a little bit my curiosity got the better of me. "What were you and that old lady talking about?" David eats for a bit longer. "We were catching up." "Then why did she look me over and 'tsk' me." "Because she doesn't approve of the company that I keep." He said, chuckling. "Really! I don't find a darn thing wrong with the company you keep. Now the company I keep is another matter...." I shovel some food in my mouth. "And pray tell, what is wrong with my company?" David had a smirk on his face. I take a deep breath "You befriend a guy, then years later kidnap him instead of letting him run away. You keep him handcuffed until he agrees not to run away from you, then you say things that confuse him." I then take several more breaths to regain oxygen to my system. "If what I say confuses you, then maybe you should have paid attention in school. And as for the rest, well I can't deny them--" "AHA!! So you admit it!!" I exclaim. "Sit down, shut up, and behave. I did those with your best interest at heart, Ty. You should know by now that I wouldn't hurt you unless it was to protect you." "Uh huh...." I could barely keep up with him so I just nodded and pretended to know what he was prattling on about. "And what did the old lady say about me?" "Will you quit calling Mei that? She isn't old." he said. His eyes flicked above me, but I wasn't concerned about where his eyes wander. I wanted to figure out what about me they said in that Man... Mand... Mandy.. or whatever language it was. "Fine, whatever. What did she say?" Suddenly a tray hits the top of my head. "OW!!!!" "She say that you need more meat on your bones if you to stay around my little David." the old lady says from behind me. So that was why he looked behind me. "More meat on my bones?! Then I'd be fat!!!" I squeal with a frown. The old lady raised the tray again and I flinch. "Nothing wrong with healthy curves. You all bones." She shakes her head while making that tsk'ing sound again. "Now eat. You fatten up. Good food." I grumbled, but started eating for fear of being hit with her tray again. I do have to admit, her food was delicious! While I eat, David and the old woman catch up while speaking that gibberish language again. Once I finish I just sit there watching David as he talks to her. His dark brown hair actually looks brown instead of black with the light shining on it and his smile is so genuine that I can't help but smile too. He notices me staring and stares back, but continues to talk to her. The old lady sighs. "You two stay at my house tonight. Go have good day and I'll see you then." She gets up and leaves us alone. I look at David. "We're staying with her tonight? She doesn't keep trays at her house, does she?" David laughs. "No, but she does keep a few swords around though." I spit out my mouthful of food and stare at him while he calmly eats. "WHAT?!?!" I'm starting to panic. One wrong mistake at this lady's house and she'll cut me up into sushi! "Relax, she won't hit you with her swords. They are old and your blood would ruin their value. She'll hit you with her fan though." David chuckles and keeps eating. Since I just finished, I just frown at him until he is done. "Ready to go, Grumpy?" He asks. I just stare at him a bit longer. "Ty, c'mon. I want to show you somewhere." He extends his hand for me and I take it. We get in the car and drive to a park by the river. There are trees towering above us and even though the day is hot, the shade around here is cool. David gets out and opens my door for me, then leads me by the hand around on a path. The path is surrounded by beautiful and exotic flowers. We stop and read the little plaques that say what each flower are and where they originate. We also smell each one. We finally get to a giant white rose that David says is his favorite called the William Rose. I bend over and smell it.... dish soap. "Blech! How can you like something that smells so disgusting!" I exclaim. "It doesn't smell disgusting. It smells clean. I like clean things." David says while gently holding one of the flowers and taking a deep whiff. "Careful, David. Your OCD is showing." I say. "Let it show. Someone needs to know how to clean up your messes." he replies. "Whatever." I grab his hand and continue to walk around. We finally reach the river and sit down on the side, watching the people buzzing by on their boats and jetskis. "I spy with my little eye..." I begin. "The guy on the blue jetski." David cuts in. "Dammit! How do you always know before I give you a hint?" "Ty, you only say that when a cute guy is around." "Do not!" "Hmmm..." David just looks out onto the water. "That's what you are going to say? 'Hmmm...'?" I'm getting a little irked. "Better than fighting with you. So, you're right. You don't only play Eye Spy when a cute guy is around and you've been staring at him for a while." I decide to shove David, but he only sways a couple inches. David slowly looks at me. "Do you really want to do that?" I shoved him again. Suddenly I could feel the air whoosh around me and I was pinned on the ground. David had this intense look in his eyes that sent goosebumps down my arms. Like staring into the center of a storm and seeing only calm, but the storm is about to crash all around you. His face was inches from mine and he just sat there on top of me, not letting me move. "What was your plan now, Taylor." he asked quietly. I attempt to shrug. "Dunno," I reply. "I just wanted to push you." David lets out a long sigh and lets me up. "Of course that was it." He gets up and starts to walk away.