I leaned my head against the window of Zee's SUV, allowing my thoughts to wander about, trying to focus on anything other than everything.
The ride to West River was silent and mundane 'at the moment'. Barely about an hour ago, stuff was going down in the car as
Cami for some reason,had decided to give Zee hell during the ride, resulting to lots of screaming and... you know the rest.
Zee drove silently, occasionally tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, probably to a beat in his head or something.
He looked like he was holding himself back from stopping the car and throwing Cami out, before proceeding to burn her body and flush the ashes.
Carl who called the shotgun, was playing fruit ninja on his phone, something he always did when he was nervous.
Cami was asleep next to me,at the back, after the heated argument with Zee earlier on how he was driving,in her own words,"like a pregnant turtle with AIDS"
She had fallen asleep, probably drained after all the screaming.
But come to think of it,who wasn't drained?
Zee,as tired as he was, however still managed to drive some how.
Carl had even suggested that he drove,but for some reason,Zee refused.
I cleared my throat, catching both Zee and Carl's attention.
"Uh...uhm...this person we're going to see, how exactly do you know him?"
This was the first proper question someone had asked since we begin this drive,and we had been in this car for about 3 hours.
Zee brushed his fingers through his hair and twitched his lips.
"Yh...uh...well he...he is an old friend of mine. We...we knew each other back when I lived in Ohio with my family."
His explained.
Although,it sounded really really made up,I didn't push the topic.
Carl and I shared a glance, letting me know that he too, didn't believe an ounce of what Zee was saying.
I just shrugged and lay my head back against the window, counting my teeth with my tongue.
I was currently at 37, which wasn't right at all when Cami woke up, and let out a small scream.
"What is it Cam?!"
Zee,Carl and I screamed at the same time.
"Can't you go any faster,you slow piece of..."
Oh God...why's this journey so long?
*
*
*
After a hectic 5 hour journey,two homicide attempts,and a mini war,we finally arrived at a small motel at the outskirts of West River which I must say,looked like actual bull.
The motel itself,looked like something that was brought straight out of a horror movie.
The front gate was broken,and a part of the roof as missing.
There was a large hole at the left wall of the building, with two large bamboos across it with an X shape. There were hedges which were supposed to look attractive, but they were overgrown,and did nothing to ease the eerie atmosphere of the place.
I was hoping that when Zee said something about a motel,and we drove close to this one,that we'd drive past or something.
But when he drove into the yard and parked, I knew he was serious.
"Uh...ok...Zee,if you brought us here to kill us and use us for some kind of ritual,then I guess this is the perfect place."
Zee let out a dry laugh.
"Af...after all that has happened,can we not talk about killing for now?"
Cami's eyes widened in realisation.
"Oh...sorry."
I didn't have any strength to make any comments and I guess neither did Carl,so we just shut our mouths and minded our business.
I leaned tiredly against the car, while waiting for Zee to lead the way.
"So...what are we doing here?"
Carl asked, holding back a yawn.
It was about 9 o'clock at night,and this part of the city,as I had said before,was bull.
It was really dark and there were no lights at all, apart from the faint ones that we saw coming from the motel.
We had to use the flashlights we brought along,to be able to see.
"We'll move out tomorrow. This is the cheapest motel around,and the closest one we can find.And by the way,we could really use some food and a bath."
He began to move in with Carl behind him.
I was about to get my small back pack from the trunk when...
"Wait!"
Cami screamed.
He froze on his tracks.
"What's the problem again, Cami?"
"We don't have the time to...to... to rest or anything! We need to move fast! Every single second we spend 'resting'...dad gets..."
"Just stop it, Cami!"
Zee ordered in a really hard voice.His voice was usually feminish,so hearing this one was really weird for me.
Cami must have really pushed some buttons.
"I honestly don't know what has gotten into you, but I'm freaking sick of your annoying whining throughout this ride. It's easy for you to say because you spent more than half the ride, snoring off to lala land. I was the one who had to still keep on driving,even after dealing with all your load of crap. So... SUCK.IT UP!"
I sucked in a sharp breath.
"Let's all calm down ok?
We've all had a rough day,so let's just..."
"Just stop ok? You all are the most selfish people I have ever seen!"
Zee yelled.
We were all taken aback by his statement.
"Have you ever considered that...'oh hey... this dude's dad got killed,and his mentally tired mom,is out there, somewhere?"
I let my eyes wander, feeling really guilty as the weight of what he said hit me.
I saw Carl walk up to him, but he took a step back.
"I know that I try to act like I'm not bothered because he was a douchebag,but maybe...just maybe, I wished he was here. Maybe,I wished he was ok! Maybe!"
His voice was cracking into a sob, but he didn't let tears fall.
"I'm trying to help you find your dad, knowing that abuser or not, mine's never coming back.
So...so please..."
He threw his hands in the air, before clasping his head together with them in anger.
"...give me a break!"
He turned slowly to walk, but in the opposite direction,out of the broken gates.
"Zee...Zee...Z..."
Carl called and walked after him.
"Carl..."
Cami walked to him,and placed her palm on his shoulder.
"Leave him be."
Carl slapped her hand off and glared hard at her.
"This...this is all your fault!"
He spat out!
"How's it my fault? He...he...he..."
"He what? If he had not been dealing with your..."
I ruffled my hair in frustration and let out a loud groan.
"CAN YOU GUYS PLEASE JUST SHUT UP!! LET'S JUST GO INSIDE AND PRETEND TODAY NEVER HAPPENED!"
I screamed.
Carl pushed passed me, while Cami sank to her knees on the hard ground.
"What have I done?"
I heard her whisper to herself.
Honestly,I was tired and hungry.
We had only one lunch break during our journey,and the road side restaurant was selling some kind of rice with potatoes that smelt like...puke.
Bottom line, it was awful!
So,I left her to deal with her self, and walked into the ground floor of the motel, fighting some cobwebs that had made themselves really comfortable at the door post.
Ok Zee...I know we're all worked up but c'mon, couldn't you find somewhere more...human?"
Spotting who I assumed to be the receptionist, sitting professionally behind a table,I walked up to her.
The lady looked to be in her mid-twenties,and surprisingly had a professional outlook, clearly contradictory to the environment she was working in.
You could definitely mistake her to be an Emirate air hostess,with her well tied pony tail,her lights make up,and her well tailored suit.
(Yes... she was wearing a suit. Sue me)
"Hello how can I help you? Do you need a room?"
Honestly,I wanted to say something along the lines of...'oh no, we're just going around giving out toilet paper' but,I was too tired to even say yes.
Instead,I just nodded my head slowly.
The lady seemed to understand my situation,and turned to Carl who looked more energetic.
"Sir...we have just one room left,I assume that you and your girlfriend don't mind."
I internally puked.
Screw that...I literally gagged myself.
"We're siblings."
Carl stated matter-of-factly without batting an eye.
"And even if we weren't, I doubt that anyone would want to spend a romantic night in this kind of place."
The lady frowned a bit.
"Sorry sir...but you have no idea."
I let out a shamelessly big yawn.
"Can you just tell us our price before I blow my organs out with air."
Just then,a very worn out Cami walked in.
The lady made a motion to reach to her.
"She's with us."
I said.
"Oh...well,since you guys are three,I'll be giving you the room at a discount of about 16%. Instead of $12 dollars,I'll...be..."
"Leave the math hun."
Carl gave her a $10 dollar bill.
"We need a room."
She nodded,and began to bring out some keys.
"So...it's just you three right?"
Carl scratched his head.
"Well... technically,no. We may have someone coming later on.
Thin,tall,dirty blonde with really blue eyes."
The lady nodded, paying half attention to what he was saying.
"Are you guys on a road trip or something?"
I rolled my eyes and snatched the key with #21 written on it.
"Something."
"Please can you send room service to us,we need to order some pizza and we're new here."
Carl asked calmly.
"Uh...well we don't have room service here,at the moment."
"Wow...that's really surprising."
Carl said with sarcasm literally dripping from his voice.
"But I can call the pizza guy here,he knows this place really well."
"Thank you."
I whispered a bit, before marching up the stairs with Carl and Cami following closely behind me.
The room we booked wasn't that bad.
There was a fairly big bed, which could contain about three people comfortably.
The room was lit up,and the electric fan made it cool.
The window of the room was large,and fresh breeze passed through freely.
Frankly,I was quite surprised.
Carl excused himself to have a bath in the room's bathroom,while Cami went through her small bag, looking for a toothbrush.
Taking a long sigh,I decided that I really had to talk to Cami about what was happening with her.
She hated heart-to-heart talks,but she better be ready.
"Hey Cami!"
I called softly.
She turned with a raised brow at me.
I motioned towards the small balcony of our room.
"Let's talk."