Chapter 13:

"Are we there yet?" Kiara asked repeatedly, bouncing in her car seat with excitement. It had been three hours in the car, and she was starting to get a little spirited. 

"Settle down, we'll be there soon," I replied, strapping her back in because it looked like she might fall out.

"But I want to look out the window! I'm not a baby, I'm 10!" she cried.

"Calm down, Trish. She's just excited. No need to strap her in; she's 10," Dad guffawed.

"So? Ten-year-olds can still fall out of their car seats; it's not safe," I retorted.

"It is too!" Kiara protested, unstrapping her safety belt.

"Damn it, Ki, don't unstrap! You might get hurt. Remember when you started riding the bike and fell?" I reminded her.

"When I was 6? Yeah, I was learning!" she cried defensively.

"You don't need to chip your tooth to learn!" I argued back.

"Ugh, why do you have to be such a buzzkill?" she pouted, crossing her arms.

"It's for your safety, young lady," I said, trying to sound authoritative.

"Now you sound like Mom," she muttered, fiddling with the threads of her sweater. I had bought the sweater for her because she was wearing 'cool' ones without added layers, and I knew she needed something warmer.

I glanced over at Mom, who was sleeping soundly. She'd probably store this conversation in her subconscious and use it to praise herself later for how well Kiara is taken care of—thanks to me. Ugh, ridiculous.

"Trish, maybe you're going a little overboard with the whole 'safety' stuff? You know your sister is perfectly capable of handling herself, and we as her parents can look after her, you know? Just play a game with her and entertain yourselves. You don't need to do all this 'extra' work, son." Dad gazed over the GPS. The trees were caving in on us, their shadows long and dense.

'Extra work'? Is that how he felt as a parent? The 'extra' parent doing 'extra' things? How could he make such a bold statement knowing he let us down in the past already?

"It's not 'extra work' if it's necessary. It's for her own good." I swallowed the truth. The house brings us risks and I don't want to endanger another one of my sisters, it's better if I protect her deeply so she won't get hurt. That is my primary goal and my top priority. If no one else does it, I will, and I am ready to die on that path.

"Well, ok then," he replied bluntly and continued to drive. 

"Are we there now?"

"NO, Kiara, we're not there yet," I said, exasperated. "But I am willing to answer any questions you have while we're in the car."

The next hour was filled with an onslaught of questions: "Why is the sky blue?", "Why are there different birds, and why aren't they all the same?", "Why do buildings get smaller as we move farther away from town?" I answered them all, sometimes using Google, other times making up answers on the fly. Whatever, she'll learn when she's older—she's smart.

But the last question caught me off guard. I wasn't prepared to tell her the whole truth, it might push her to the path I was guarding her from.

"Trish, why are we moving?"