HORNS (BoyXBoy)

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Getting to Wilmington turned out to be more of a challenge than I'd thought it was going to be.

For starters, we had our first problem after only about thirty five minutes on the road since there was a huge traffic jam along the highway that seemed to stretch on for miles. Honestly, I was shocked since I hadn't thought so many people would still be hanging around the area with the hurricane evacuations, but when I checked my phone to see if there was any news on why the roads were jammed, I learned that it was because people were evacuating. Last minute, of course.

As I sat there, moving at a snail pace along the road, I looked out the windows and saw trucks and cars full of suitcases, pets, and furniture.

"Uncle Horst?" Adam whined. "I'm hungry."

"I know kiddo," I sighed, drumming my fingers on the wheel. "I'm sorry. The traffic is awful."

"When can we have pancakes?" Kimberly sulked, kicking the chair of the car. "I want pancakes."

"I honestly don't know," I told her, casting a disheartened glance over my shoulder. "It might be a little while, but until then, how about we play 'I spy'?"

"Okay!" Adam exclaimed, glancing at his sister, who frowned and petulantly crossed her arms. He peered around, looking out the windows. "I spy with my little eye, something... blue!"

"The sky?" I asked, and he giggled and shook his head. "Okay... water?"

"No!" he laughed. "One more try!"

"Hmm, this is tough," I said, making a show of peering around even though there was a blue van literally right next to us. "Is iiit... oh! That lady's hair?"

"NO!" he squealed, kicking his legs in delight. "It's the car, Uncle Horst! Right there!"

"Where?" I gasped, pressing my nose against the glass of my window. "What car?"

"THERE!" Kimberly screeched, pointing excitedly. "SEE?!"

"Oh, that car!" I laughed, and the children giggled hysterically. "Wow, I'm bad at this!"

"My turn, my turn!" Kimberly exclaimed, then peeked around for a bit. "Oh! I spy with my little eye, something yellow!"

"Yellow, huh?" I murmured, looking around; I spotted a street sign and smirked. "Is it... a sign?"

"No!" Kimberly smugly said. "Not a sign!"

"Okay," I drawled, leaning down and looking a bit more. "Is it... a school bus?"

"Nope!" she chirped. "Not a school bus!"

"This is tough," I murmured, scratching my chin; traffic moved up a bit and I drove forward slowly until the vehicles stopped yet again. "I dunno... could it beee... a car?"

"Nope!" she laughed, puffing her freckled cheeks out. "It's the banana on that building!"

I followed her finger when she pointed and snorted when I saw that someone had literally painted a mural of a smoothie on what looked to me like an abandoned brick warehouse. A variety of fruits were hovering over the splashing pink liquid, including said banana.

"Wow, I honestly never would have got that," I muttered, amused... and then, as I opened my mouth to take my turn, my worst nightmare began to happen. A terrible smell, one that I immediately recognized as baby crap, began to fill the car. I groaned. "Oh, no... Rosie!"

"Unka Fuzzy!" she called back. "I poop!"

"Ewww," the twins immediately complained, clutching their faces and covering their noses as the fetid scent took over the entire vehicle. I hurriedly rolled down all the windows, holding my breath until they were completely down, and then I gasped for fresh air like a fish.