Hazel's Hitchhiker

37: Sister Time

Hazel

It was nearly the end of the afternoon when we all reached Denny's and got out of the car. The entire ride back to the restaurant, we listened to nothing but upbeat country music. The old man apparently loved singing along to the music. And just as mysterious as this old guy was, he had Joey get him an Uber. Just like that, he took off. Nobody learned of his name that day.

"Who's up for Denny's?" I asked once we said goodbye to the old dude. My stomach was growling and was in some serious need of food. The last real thing I had to munch on was Munchies.

"Eh," was Amber and Phillip's response. Joey just stood there quietly licking his lips.

"Dude, I have a perfect idea,' claimed Amber. "Since we haven't seen each other in a while and won't be seeing a lot of each other in the future, let's make it a big hurrah and find some open land to hang out at. We can make it a camping night. All that good shit."

It wasn't a terrible idea. Everyone seemed to be on board with the idea. Joey, Amber, and Phillip agreed to go looking for the available land while my sister and I agreed to go shopping for the food. And just like that, I would be getting one on one time with my sister. Once we had the plan, we all split up. Getting into Hannah's car, she turned down the volume on her radio and took off her hat only to throw it in the backseat.

"So where are we going?" I asked trying to start a conversation.

"There's a Walmart not too far from here. We'll go there."

For once, it was nice that I didn't have to drive. It was also nice that I didn't have to worry about the fact that Joey was driving. All I had to do was sit back, relax, and enjoy this time I had with my sister.

"So, how's mom and dad doing?" asked Hannah who put a lollipop stick in her mouth to suck on. There was no actual lollipop to suck on. 

"They're doing fine. They actually went on a two-week vacation to Italy."

"Really? After all these years, they finally went on their damn vacation to Italy. I swear, if they weren't on my damn case about the future, they were always talking about Italy and how amazing it would be to go there. It was Italy this and Italy that." After about thirty seconds, the window rolled open and the lollipop stick was thrown out only to be littered on the road. "So you're going to Austin huh? You planning on being a nurse like dad wanted?"

"I was, but I'm not so sure anymore. Last summer, he forced me to do this stupid internship at a hospital. Hated every minute of that damn internship. Hated everyone in that hospital. Honestly, I don't want to be a nurse. I'm thinking I might be interested In business or some shit like that."

"Damn it Hazel, major in business. Don't listen to dad." She took a moment to not say anything leaving me to stay quiet and unsure of what to say. "Seriously, don't listen to him. If you hated that internship, why the hell would you waste your time in Austin trying to be a nurse? Do whatever the hell you want to do."

"I know. I get it. But it's easier said than done. Shit, I don't want dad to hate me."

"I never gave a shit if dad hated me or not. Half the time, he was always pissed off at me. Literally every night he would talk to me about medical school and how amazing it would be for me in Tucson at the U of A. Deep down, there was no way in hell I wanted to be a doctor. And damn it, I told him that. But at the time, I had no damn clue what I actually wanted to do. And because of that, he told me I would be wasting my life If I didn't become a doctor." In a brief pause, it seemed like my own sister was about to cry. "I'll never forget that day I dropped out of school and had that fight with dad."

"Hannah, what are you doing here?" asked dad coming home from work.

Hannah sat on the porch with an unlit cigar in her mouth. She was dressed like a mafia person. Hell, she even had a fake mustache on her."

"Dropped out of school daddy." A fake puff left that cigar. "Decided not to become a doctor."

His face lit up in anger and he tried to catch his breath. "You what!? What the hell is wrong with you? What the hell!? You realize you're destroying your own future?"

Hannah just stood up and put the cigar in his mouth. "It's my own damn future and I can do whatever the damn hell I want with it. You ever watch 'Death of a Salesman?' No response from my father. He waited for his daughter to finish speaking. "It's a marvelous play. Full of wonder, intrigue, despair, and so much more. That poor Willy Loman. But I realized something. I'm an actress. Creativity is in my blood. Hell, it's knocking at the front door begging to be released. And I can't ignore it. Therefore, I'm going to LA to make something of my own damn life. It will be glorious."

My dad couldn't take any more of this and took a firm response. "Like hell you are! You're going to waste your own life! Not once have I seen you perform anything! Not once! What the hell makes you think you can do this? You're going to fail as an actress!"

"Well shit, let me fail as an actress if that's the case! Let me live my own damn life! Let me live! Let me learn!"  

In the heat of the moment, she received a slap on the face and was told never to come home again. My dad wanted nothing to do with her. He never wanted to see her.

"You know," continued Hannah. "Acting didn't necessarily work out. But I was glad I tried. Doors are always opening and closing. Right now, I'm a high school drama teacher. Let me just say, I love every minute of that job."

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