Natural Disaster

Chapter 47

They were the third day into their trip- January 28th, Launa noted- and Scott insisted on trying to put weight on his ankle. The bruising from the torn tendon had begun to dissipate, and he was impatient. He gave it a shot, that morning, gingerly easing his weight onto the foot and wincing after a moment of standing on it. "It's getting there," he said with a grin, almost triumphant, "I'll be back up on it within the week."

"We'll probably be in LA within the week," Esther called from across the camping area they'd laid out, "So Avi will still have to carry your gangly ass." Scott puffed up his cheeks in annoyance, and the only noise that could be heard was a long, drawn-out groan from the lump under the bedding that was Avi. 

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They continued on as they had been, with the women in front and Mitch close behind, and Avi and Scott bringing up the rear. Launa found herself trying to converse with Esther, but found any and all communication difficult. The woman was intimidating in and of herself, but the fact that she was Avi's family seemed to make it worse. Make a good impression. She felt the pressure to do so on the back of her head, weighing down on her shoulders and making it a little difficult to breathe.

"So," she started, grasping at straws to try to start a conversation, "Are you musical, too?"

Esther glanced over at her and shrugged as they trudged along. "Not really," she answered, her voice clipped, "It's just Avi."

Launa nodded. "Oh." A strained silence fell between the two. Gods, I suck at talking to girls. Why couldn't Esther be a dude? I mean, she'd still be scary, but at least I know how to talk with guys, better. She suddenly missed her guy friends back home, and her fingers itched to hold a console controller and play with them. She heaved a silent sigh and glanced over her shoulder at the men behind them.

Mitch looked exhausted- this sort of thing was definitely not something he was used to, and he seemed to struggle, somewhat, under the weight of his bags. Scott seemed bored and uncomfortable more than anything else, and Avi looked to be extremely agitated and weary. She sighed, again. This trip was not going well.

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They settled for the evening, in a little trailer park around the corner of a mountain- West Village Mobile Home Park, Launa thought the sign said. The five of them crammed into one that, luckily, had three bedrooms. Which was great, despite the rooms being tiny. Esther claimed the smallest one, cringing at a spider web on the ceiling, while the two other pairs piled into the bigger rooms.

After dropping Scott off his back, Avi trudged down the hall to the room Launa had laid claim on and collapsed onto the bed, sighing heavily. "You alright?" she asked. She got nothing but an exhausted grunt in response.

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Later in the evening, the siblings offered to make dinner for the group, going outside and making a fire to cook, and leaving Launa and the boys to hang out and log the progress on Scott's ankle. "I'm so sick of this," he grumbled, crossing his arms and wincing as she gingerly pressed at the tendon, "I hate being useless."

"You're not useless," Mitch assured him, rubbing his hand over his friend's back, "You're just gimpy!"

"Real comforting, Mitchie."

"Love you, too!"

Launa smiled and shook her head, her bad mood from failing at conversation with Esther dissipating. The two boys always put a smile on her face. "Just give it another day or two, okay?" she said, "And try rolling your foot around to strengthen the tendon. Trust me- you'll want to do that."

"Why?" Scott asked nasally, grinning at his own childishness.

"Because you'll have a weak-ass ankle for the rest of your life if you don't," she replied, pointing to her own ankle, "Like me."