Strangely Beautiful, Chapter 3

This drive is beginning to kill me. Thirty hours in the drive, thirty minutes into my Mom's favorite country CD and sleep is failing me. We'd stopped a few hours ago to get roughly three hours of sleep. All of which David stayed awake talking to himself. As he's finally falling asleep, Mom turns down her music, and looks at me. I can see the worry in her eye as I turn away and look out my window. What are my problems to her? I'd gotten over her rash decision. But I haven't gotten over her choice of location. Why with family? Why with people that I have openly hated all my life? Why couldn't we just settle down somewhere in Florida and take the short drive to Georgia a week before Christmas?

"Violet, please. Talk to me." She pleads, place a hand on my shoulder.

"Eyes on the road. I don't wanna die before we get to my deathbed." I didn't realize how heavy my words were when I said them. I could see visible hurt on my Mother's face now.

"Don't you think you're over reacting? It's just family. Who knows, you may just like them! Georgia isn't the end of the world! For all you know it's the beginning of it! So could you stop acting like this is a bad decision?" I'd never heard my Mother yell like this. My brother began to stir awake.

"I don't want to have this conversation right now. David's trying to sleep and it's not like I'll convince you to change your mind. Because we're moving to perfect Avera. Where all of our problems are gonna be solved, right? We're gonna find happiness here. Our lives are gonna be fixed. What problems did we have that couldn't be fixed in California?" I snap back. I feel like she thinks Avera is going to turn our lives into some magical fairy tale. But I know better. Life never turns out like that. Once an outcast, always an outcast, and things weren't going to get any better than California. Though I am sure there will be a pull back.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about this. It's not like this will kill us, Violet. We'll be around people that love us! Or have you forgotten what that's like. I swear you push me away so much, I'm surprised you still know what any kind of relationship is. You'll have friends here. Even if it is family. Things will work out Violet, just please give it a shot." I sighed. I know she's right. Why am I so stubborn?

"How much longer til we get there?" I ask, warming up--slowly--to the idea of us living in the farmlands.

"Six, maybe seven more hours. Are you gonna be okay? Do you understand why I want this for us? I'm not trying to hurt us, really. I just want something better than broken glass and blood-stained floors. And maybe this won't be that. Maybe it will take another move. But at least then I can say I tried. You should get some sleep, Violet. You've been awake this whole time." My mom is really great when it comes down to it. I'm pretty optimistic now--At least for the moment.

"Yeah... I should. But don't let me sleep too long. I don't wanna miss the sights. I might not be happy about the move, but that doesn't mean I want to miss the sights." I love sight seeing. Though I hate driving or riding in a car for too long, I'm fascinated by the visual  wonders of the world.

"Alright. I'll wake you up in an hour." She laughs pushing the button that turns the radio off, effectively ending my irritation altogether.