Protection

This Girl Is On FIREEEEE,

This Girl Is On FIREEEEEEEEE...OH!

Screaming at the very top of his lungs, Kyle sang-(Or in this case), hollered the lyrics of Alicia keys 'Girl on Fire', earning himself several surprised glances from passing motorists and pedestrians.

"Shut up!"

A frustrated Sarah groaned, pressing her sweaty palms against her ears. Her small brown eyes stung with tears of frustration, and her face flushed red as the terrible notes Kyle sang forced it's way into her ears.

"Please make him stop," she pleaded, turning to me, the voice of sanity, and only one that could save her from her brothers terrible singing.

" Hey Kyle, that's enough for one evening," I said, tapping Kyle's shoulder with my free right hand.

"Oh come on, am just setting the mood," Kyle's jovial response was expected, his voice was chipper and sweet, a pleasant tenor that betrayed his words completely, by telling just how much fun he had teasing his baby sister.

"Yeah right," I said, "More like adding fuel to fire."

"Exactly! This Girl is on Fir..."

"Another word and I will slap you in the head with this," I

threatened, grabbing the magazine on the seat beside my purse for emphasis, and Kyle, who had been a victim of mine several times, decided it was best not to ignore this threat.

"Geez...so much violence, relax will you,"

"Be quiet and I will,"

"Ok, ok, people don't know how to appreciate talent these days," Kyle muttered bitterly, feigning dissapoitment.

Sarah on the other hand could finally relax. She smiled relieved and whispered a thank you to me, but my attention almost immediately went back to her phone, my head clouded with several worrying thoughts.

'She probably lost her phone,' I thought.

This was very possible and much easier to accept. The idea that Caroline had simply misplaced another cell phone went down well with me, rather than what I had been thinking all day.

Besides it was always better to ponder over a misplaced item, than a misplaced person.

"Still no call from Carol?" Kyle asked, glancing at the back seat from the rearview mirror, his bright brown eyes held mine for a moment before he turned his attention back the road.

Letting out a lengthy breath, I pushed all the troubling thoughts of my sister to the back of her mind, mustered a smile and said.

"She probably left her phone at the hotel again,"

However my words sounded rehearsed, like I was hiding my growing anxiety with the plaster smile and reassuring myself, rather than the two siblings who sat in front of me.

"But it's Caroline we're talking about," Sarah frowned, voicing her own thoughts, the finger's on her right hand drummed quietly against the seats armrest, something she did quite often these days.

"She like...goes everywhere with her phone,"

"Not everyone is a comic addict like you baby cheeks," Kyle teased, cutting off her sentence.

"But am serious," she added, her frown morphing to an upset pout.

" Plus it's called manga, NOT comic!"

She hissed, upset over the issue of comics and manga's (that, or the annoying nickname Kyle had called her), just before swatting away his free hand that reached for her cheeks.

"And stop calling me that, am not a baby anymore"

'Thought so.'

"I hear you loud and clear baby cheeks,"

"Kylllee!"

"Whaaat?"

And somehow they're at it again.

Shaking my head at the childish behavior of both my cousins, I redialed the number I'd been calling all morning, and like earlier it went straight to voicemail.

'Just wonderful.'

Both siblings seemed to notice my anxiety, because they quietly stopped arguing and pulled me into a much more pleasant conversation.

"Have you got any advice to give baby cheeks over here Carrie?" Kyle asked, working his hands on the steering wheel.

With a quick change of gears, he turned off the main road which was lined with multiple streetlights that gleamed brightly, and did a sudden, possibly illegal U-turn, almost ramming into the side of a black sedan driving past us.

"Watch where you're going ya bloody plonker!" Screamed the terribly angry and likely british driver, whose car we had nearly hit.

Kyle winced at the string of curses that followed, then hollered back an apology while waving his free hand.

Unfortunately, the black sedan drove by us on the same lane, since we were probably heading in the same direction, and the driver, an adult man looking to be in his forties, who fostered aweful wrinkles, a near bald head and clearly many years of anger issues,

Would not hear a word of apology Kyle had to say.

"Don't be driving up here if you're a half twit, you fucking wanker!" He barked, his face morphed in anger as he spat endless insults at Kyle from his car.

And at that point, I had...had it.

"Shut your damn face you old bald idiot, we didn't hit you did we?!"

My question surprised him as he held my eyes for over five seconds. His eyes, a common black colour stared back at me, shocked that I had stuck half my torso out the window just to shout back at him.

"So mind your god-damned business, accept the blasted apology, and get off our freaking case!"

At this point I was straight outright screaming like a hooligan, and he didn't waste any time before doing the exact same thing to me, till the both of us were cursing at each other like sailors.

Seeing the opportunity to, Kyle hit the accelerator, and our car sped past the black sedan, while I stuck a finger at the old man, whose face was red from all the shouting--not that it stopped him.

His endless stream of insults was eventually drowned out by the sound of speeding cars, blaring horns and other members of the traffic family.

"Okay...that was totally unnecessary."

Sarah stated, looking at me in surprise as I retreated back into the comfort and safety of our BMW.

"But also very important."

I said with a smile, running my fingers through my suddenly messed up brown bangs, that I had spent a good amount of time on earlier that afternoon.

"Remember this Sarah, if a person curses at you first, then you have every right in this world to curse at them back."

"Very funny Carrie," Kyle said not looking away from the road.

" But please keep your terrible life advice away from my sister, I already have my hands full with you as it is."

"Says the police officer who made a stupid turn,"

I rolled my eyes at him. It wasn't always a bad thing to reprimand a person especially when they've done wrong, but only do it when you're not at fault... in other words Kyle was in no position to scold me.

Plus am a very respectful, disciplined person... sometimes.

I would probably never have given the old man a piece of my mind, if he had not gone too far by swearing.

And besides, I only attacked him like that because I had to let out the pent up anxiety that had been eating at me all day...plus baldy deserved every bit of it.

"Police detective," he corrected and I rolled my eyes a second time.

"AND...Am sorry for doing that, I'll be extremely careful when making turns from now on...okay," Kyle said, apologizing.

"Whatever you say officer," was my nochalant response, which he corrected a second time.

"Detective, try to remember it this time." He teased.

His voice was bright and cheerful like earlier, and I was glad he didn't take the man's insults to heart. And although he would never admit it, my outburst were exceptionally fun to watch.

"Yeah, am sorry too," I said smiling.

"And Sarah," I called turning to youngest of us three, though I was older than both of them. She turned to me expectantly and answered.

"Yeah..."

"Listen to what am about to say and never forget it,"

"Carrie please no more terrible life choices..." Kyle pleaded, cutting me off.

"Keep your eyes on the road will you,"

It was obvious how much he gushed over his little sister, and how he always wanted to protect her from the bad side of the world--especially my uniqueness #craziness, which he mostly described as *terrible life choices*.

And by caring a lot, I also meant that he could be excessively protective of Sarah at times. The three of us driving home together after her first date, rather than the date bringing her home himself, was clear proof of that.

" You're the one who asked me to give her advice on boys, weren't you?"

"Oh. That's what you want to talk about?" Kyle asked, surprised it was a completely unrelated topic.

"It is. Now listen Sarah," I said, only to be rudely cut short again.

"Can we...not talk about this in the car please,"

She begged, probably thinking I wanted to give her a speech on guys and whatnots.

"It's just a piece of advice darling," I reassured her, smiling at how she hid her face behind her hands in embarrassment.

To be honest, we had done a number (of teasing) on her today to last a lifetime, but it all came with having a boyfriend, so no harm no foul... right?

"Remember Sarah, with great power comes great responsibility..."

Both siblings instantly turned their attention to me after I said the legendary quote from spiderman, and although Kyle only eyed me from the rearview mirror, he listened intently to what I was about to say, as he made another bend towards the apartment complex where I lived.

"And..."

"Yeah?"

"Are you listening?"

"I am. But don't say anything dumb"

"I won't."

"Okay..."

"I want you to always remember... to ALWAYS use protection when you do it."

I stated, then leaned back into the seat as Kyle roared in laughter, and my little confused cousin fumbled for words.

Her ears carrot red.

"WHAT!..WHAT! I just... like...I just turned SIXTEEN!"