“No. We’re going sightseeing, silly.”
“Where are we?” he asked, looking outside at the unfamiliar surroundings.
“We’re in Salt Lake City.”
“Utah? What the hell are we doing in Utah?” He seemed to be working it out geographically in his mind. “Shouldn’t we be in South Dakota…or Wyoming? Somewhere there?”
“We would, if we took the I-90 East, but we took the I-90 West. We’re not going straight down. We’re going around.”
Somehow she’d manage to piss him off again. “That’s thousands of miles off course, Jasmin! This is something you should have told me before I jumped into the fucking car!”
“You curse a lot…And, you know, you’re seeing this as a bad thing when it’s not. One often meets his destiny on the road he chose to avoid it.”
“Did you…” His eyes shut for a few seconds. He was seething, virtually foaming at the mouth. “Did you just quote Kung-Fu Panda to me?”
“I didn’t know you watched it. I…I thought it sounded kind of wise…and mystical.” Her attempt to calm him down had obviously backfired so she decided to be more serious. “I was trying to avoid the snow. If we went the other way, we would have gotten delayed by snow anyway…I think, but I read that Arizona, New Mexico, Texas—they don’t get snow. This route may be longer, but for someone who has never even seen snow, it’s safer. And for you, less snow means less delays.”
“It’s November. There wouldn’t be any snow.”
That sort of stumped her. “Well, how was I supposed to know that?”
He took a deep breath, sat back and placed his clasped hands over his forehead. He was calmer, but still annoyed. “But now you wanna go sightseeing. That’s a delay.”
“Kevin,” she said softly, “this is the first time I’ve ever done anything on my own. This is the first time I’ve ever felt like I was living my own life. I want to see everything. We skipped Idaho, but I want to explore every other state we go through. I didn’t tell you because I thought it was obvious. Who goes on a road trip and doesn’t take the time to experience what’s around them?”
Wariness and uncertainty played on his face. “How long are you expecting this trip to take?”
“Three, maybe four weeks.”
“Weeks?” he choked out. “Three to four weeks?! Fuck, Jazz!”
She didn’t know when her name had gone from Jasmintha to Jasmin to Jazz, but now wasn’t the time to bring it up. “Are you in a rush? Do you need to be there by a specific date?”
“No.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I got a girl waiting for me at home. I told her I’d be back in a couple days.”
Oh. So he had a girlfriend. It was something she hadn’t thought of when she was groping his biceps earlier. But it was only for a few seconds. Completely forgivable.
“And I’m on a tight budget, Jazz.”
“So maybe later we can sit down, look at both our finances and plan this thing properly. Okay?”
An irritable groan rumbled in his throat. “I just want to get to Florida! Is that so hard to understand?”
“Look,” she began with a heavy sigh, “let’s put this down as a case of miscommunication. Now we can fight about it, or accept it. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that we are in Utah right now and I’m going to explore. You can sit here and sulk in the car, or you can come with me. That’s up to you. I have been restricted my whole life and I’m tired of being dictated to. I am certainly not going to let you or anyone else tell me what I can and can’t do on this road trip. I’m willing to help you, Kevin, really I am, but on my terms. You won’t talk to me, so I can’t empathize with your situation, but you can empathize with mine. I don’t expect you to understand. Heck, I don’t even expect you to be nice to me, but for goodness sakes, can I just have a little fun without you trying to ruin it?”
There was silence for a long time and he just stared at her. He didn’t seem angry anymore. In fact, he seemed to be giving quite a bit of thought to what she’d said and, in a way, he did empathize.
“Are you coming or not?” she asked, opening her door.
“Quit nagging. I’m coming.” He got out and looked up at the sign on the building in front of them. “The Leonardo Museum? This is your idea offun?”
“To each their own,” she replied with a shrug.
They stepped onto the sidewalk and he stopped for a second, glancing back at the car. “I didn’t know you were part of the club.”
