She opened social media and started endlessly scrolling, more and more, so much so that her eyes felt heavier than usual, causing her to fall into a deep, deep sleep.
✧˖°.✧˖˚▹ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ༺༄ؘ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 3 ༄ؘ༻ₓ˚ .୧ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୭˚▹ₓ˚.✧˖°.✧
Ramona relaxed as her father started the car engine. She loved long car rides because of the feeling she got when the car accelerated. She especially loved the highway.
"So, you excited for our trip?"
Ramona grinned. "Definitely. I really miss Baby Yuri and Baby Joyce."
"They miss you, too," Mr. Edmenson replied. "When you left Jodele's house, the babies were crying."
"I know! I felt so bad for leaving but you said we had to go."
"If you want to, then live there next time." Mr. Edmenson said sarcastically.
"Um,... I'll pass on the offer, thanks," his daughter muttered. They both stayed silent for some time before Ramona thought of another topic to talk about.
"So,... Maryland is quite far from Georgia, right?"
"Definitely. According to the GPS, we'll be on the road for another four hours before we get to Jodele's house."
Ramona sighed an exasperated sigh. "Dang. That's far," she said. "I just don't understand why we couldn't take a plane here. I mean, you have the money for it. I just don't want to be stuck in this car for four more hours."
"No, you're mistaken. I 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 have the money for it."
"But you're a well-paid lawyer," Ramona said, "are you not?"
"Of course I am," Mr. Edmenson replied, "but I'm saving all my money for your college, for when you become both a computer scientist and a brain surgeon."
Ramona smiled and rolled her eyes. "That ain't exactly 𝘮𝘺 goal, is it?"
"It doesn't have to be." Her father put down the car's sun visor. "You're gonna become a computer scientist and a brain surgeon, whether you like that or not."
"I'm gonna quit that job the second you die, though."
"Try it, I'll haunt you!"
Even though Mr. Edmenson was serious, Ramona started laughing as if his comment was a joke.
The two stayed silent for a bit and just decided to listen to the radio. The songs were all hip-hop, a genre that Ramona didn't like too much; however, she kept quiet because she knew that hip-hop was her dad's favorite type of music.
Ramona watched the cars on the highway zoom by her, and every few minutes or so, she'd hear a loud engine followed by an expensive car bolting down the highway like it was immune to car accidents.
Suddenly, there was a loud, loud engine that sounded like it was coming closer and closer to Ramona's and her father's car. Ramona braced herself for the impact, resting her head on her knees and covering it with her arms. She waited for the accident to happen until the loud engine seemed like it had passed the car, the sound of it being more distant than before. Ramona lifted her head back up, confused. She'd expected her father to be in a hospital bed by now.
"What the hell are you doing? You're blocking my view!"
Ramona jumped at the sound of her father's voice. "Um, nothing, sorry," she said, staring at the motorcycle that had just whizzed by.
Her father exhaled deeply. "You need to stop playin' around. You could've got hurt."
"Okay," Ramona replied. She decided to change the topic of the conversation once again. "So, how was New York?"
Mr. Edmenson took a few seconds to stop staring at the road to glance at his daughter. "Ramona, if you want to speak, speak louder for me to hear. If you don't speak loud enough, I will not be able to hear you. You know that my ears are weakening; I cannot hear like I used to..."
Ramona exhaled deeply out of her nose as her father kept rambling about how she should talk louder because his ability to hear was diminishing.
𝘠𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘺𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘺𝘢𝘥𝘢... She thought. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?
Mr. Edmenson turned down the volume of the radio. "What did you say?"
Louder than before, Ramona said, "How was New York?!"
"OHHHHHH, that's what you wanted to say?" Mr. Edmenson replied. "Well, what part?"
Ramona paused for a bit. "Ummm, The Bronx, I guess?"
"Well, it's a nice place and it's affordable;" her father said, "however, it's FULL OF RATS."
Ramona drank some water from a plastic bottle. "Ew..."
"People just leave their leftover food on the street and the rats finish it for them," Mr. Edmenson told her. "You know they caught a dead THREE-FOOT rat there? It was eatin' GOOD to be that height."
"Three feet...?" Ramona mumbled. "Three feet... that's taller than Joyce..."
"What? Ramona, speak louder!"
"THREE FEET IS TALLER THAN JOYCE!"
"Oh, I know," Mr. Edmenson replied. "How tall is Joyce? Ain't she like, 2'7"?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Ramona answered. "That's a regular height for a two-year-old."
"She's two years? How old is your sister? Isn't she a little too old to have a two-year-old?"
"Jodele's like-"
"Jodele's like 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 sum' (something), ain't she?"
Ramona glared at her father after he interrupted her. "Thirty-seven."
Mr. Edmenson scoffed. "Yeah, whatever, she shoulda (should've) BEEN got pregnant!" he said. "Like, about ten years ago."
"Exactly," Ramona replied. She didn't agree with this comment, but she still pretended to side with her father to avoid judgment.
"I read somewhere that after you turn thirty-five, the baby can be born with a disability or whatever."
"Yeah, me too. Good thing Joyce and Yuri aren't disabled in any way."
"Right, 'cause if they were, Jodele wouldn't have took any of 'em!'"
Ramona laughed. "She wouldn't have!"
"Well, I would've," Mr. Edmenson stated. "If you were born disabled, I would've put you back in the stomach, hah!"
Ramona laughed again, but this one was forced. She drank some more water, but it was at the same time her father screeched to a slow speed, causing it to spill all over her shirt.
"RAMONA!"
"Dad, I'm sorry!"
"You need to stop playin' around!" he almost yelled.
"Okay."
"Y'know what, just stop talking."
"Okay," Ramona replied. "Oops."