Chapter 5 - The Drive to Nowhere
The silence inside Andre's Ford F-150 was thick, broken only by the rhythmic hum of the V8 engine and the low hiss of the air conditioner.
Andre merged onto the I-5 South, his knuckles tight against the leather-wrapped steering wheel. In the passenger seat, Maya was staring straight out the side window, watching the suburban subdivisions blur into industrial parks and flat brown fields.
"We're not going to Grandma's, are we?" she asked after ten miles of silence.
"No," Andre said gently. "Your grandma loves you, but her hip's been acting up, and she doesn't need the drama Tanya's about to start blowing up her phone with."
"Where are we going?"
"First, we're going to the diner off exit 84 to get some burgers and real milkshakes. Then, we’re checking into the Marriott downtown while I figure out our next move."
Maya tucked her knees up against her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins. "Dad... you didn't have to rip those tickets. You could’ve just gone. I really would’ve been fine. I’m used to it."
That sentence felt like a serrated knife twisting in Andre’s gut. I’m used to it.
"That's the problem, baby," Andre said, his voice thick with emotion. "You shouldn't be used to being discarded. That’s my fault. I should have seen what was happening a long time ago. I let her handle the logistics because I was working sixty hours a week trying to pay down that massive mortgage, and I didn't pay attention to the little cuts she was making on you."
"She hates me because of Mom, doesn't she?" Maya asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Andre didn't sugarcoat it. He was done with pretty lies. "Your mother was irresponsible and she left us when you were a baby. But Tanya... Tanya is insecure. She wanted a fresh family with me and Devin, and she viewed you as a reminder of a past she couldn't control. That’s her sickness, Maya. It has nothing to do with who you are, how smart you are, or how much you are worth."
He reached across the center console and placed his heavy hand over her small, cold fingers. "You are my first priority. Always have been. Always will be. Nobody treats my kid like excess baggage."
Maya leaned her head against the headrest, a long, shuddering sigh escaping her lungs. For the first time in three years, the tension in her shoulders began to drop.
They pulled into the gravel lot of a classic roadside diner with neon signs buzzing in the late afternoon sun. Andre killed the engine.
"Double bacon cheeseburgers?" Andre asked, offering her a faint smile.
"With onion rings," Maya added, a tiny glimmer of light returning to her eyes.
"That's my girl."
They stepped out of the truck, the smell of fried onions and hot asphalt in the air. But as Andre reached into his pocket to lock the truck, his phone began to vibrate violently.
It wasn't Tanya.
The caller ID flashed: DEVIN.
Andre swiped the screen. "Devin? What's going on, son?"
May you like
On the other end of the line, Devin's voice was shaking, breathless and terrified.
"Dad... you need to come back. Mom just smashed your gun safe off the wall in the garage and she's throwing all your tax documents into the fire pit in the backyard."
