find a keepsake,” my grandmother calls over her shoulder.
“You don’t need your lighter to go to the restroom,” Tali calls after her pointedly. I shrug and yawn again as Tali quickly digs into her bag for her headset.
Mare decided that we should buy something from every single place we stop, so we have one of those little bobbing birds from the hotel where we stayed last night, a cornhusk doll from Bartlett’s Fruit Stand, where we stopped an hour ago and bought plums, and this gas station has a little gift shop, too. I can’t see why we need to look at another piece of junk just because we need to use the bathrooms, but Mare seems to have an insatiable need to shop.
Before I can pry my reluctant body away from the car, my phone rings.
“Hi, honey! Haven’t heard from you girls for a while, so I wanted to check in. I got your postcard.” Mom’s voice on my cell sounds tinny and too cheerful. “Where are you?”
“We’re at a gas station. Everything’s fine.” I know better than to say anything different. “I tried calling you this morning, but I couldn’t get reception.” It’s kind of a lie—I did open my phone and think about calling my mother, but it was too early to make that kind of effort.
“So, are you having fun?” my mother presses. “And is Mare … Is everything going all right?”
“Mare’s fine,” I repeat, raising my voice over the crackle of static. “We’re just stopping at a gas station for a little, um … to get some snacks.”
I don’t want to worry my mother, but Mare’s stomach hasn’t been right since last night. She says it’s nothing, and she took the keys from Tali this morning as usual, but she’s been really quiet. I’m afraid she doesn’t feel well enough to finish her story.
“Tell your mama you’re at a gas station because her mother-in-law ate a bag of plums for breakfast and nothing else,” Mare says loudly, emerging from the bathroom in a cloud of perfume and breath spray. “Tell the truth and shame the devil, Octavia.”
Tali quickly pulls out her earphones. “Nobody wants to know
that
kind of truth,” she objects. “’Tavia, ask Mom if I got a catalog in the mail from Cal-Berkeley yet. And tell her not to throw away my magazines!”
I hold out the phone. “Did you want to maybe talk to her instead of screaming in my ear?”
Tali complains about her a lot, but she and Mom are just alike. They even laugh alike, and listening to Tali while she tells our mother about our day so far makes me miss her a little. Not that I’m homesick or anything like that; it’s just that I wish Mom were here. If nothing else, she’d at least be kind of an ally … someone on my side. Now that Mare and Tali aren’t spending as much time on each other’s nerves, they’re ganging up and getting on mine. I feel kind of outnumbered.
The more time we spend with Mare, the more ways I see how Tali and Mare are alike, too. They both get into their little moods, they both like confrontation, and they both like to have the last word. Dad’s like that, too, and I always thought Tali got her attitude from him.
Now I find that Tali’s like Mom, Dad,
and
Mare.
I can’t figure out how I got born into this family.
I think Mare likes Tali better than me, and it’s not fair. It’s not my fault I’m not like anyone else in this family. And shouldn’t Mare understand? She wasn’t like her mother or her sister.
Sometimes I feel so different from Tali it feels like I was adopted.
And sometimes I wish I really were.
“Okay, Mom,” Tali says. “Right. Bye.”
“Wait!” I shriek as she hangs up. “Tali! I wasn’t done.”
“Sorry.” Tali hands me the phone, unconcerned. “Mom’s at work, you know.”
“Well, she called on
my
phone,” I snap, furious.
“You’re the one who gave it to me!” Tali exclaims. “What’s your problem?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” I slam the door and stalk across the parking lot toward the shop.
“Find a
“You don’t need your lighter to go to the restroom,” Tali calls after her pointedly. I shrug and yawn again as Tali quickly digs into her bag for her headset.
Mare decided that we should buy something from every single place we stop, so we have one of those little bobbing birds from the hotel where we stayed last night, a cornhusk doll from Bartlett’s Fruit Stand, where we stopped an hour ago and bought plums, and this gas station has a little gift shop, too. I can’t see why we need to look at another piece of junk just because we need to use the bathrooms, but Mare seems to have an insatiable need to shop.
Before I can pry my reluctant body away from the car, my phone rings.
“Hi, honey! Haven’t heard from you girls for a while, so I wanted to check in. I got your postcard.” Mom’s voice on my cell sounds tinny and too cheerful. “Where are you?”
“We’re at a gas station. Everything’s fine.” I know better than to say anything different. “I tried calling you this morning, but I couldn’t get reception.” It’s kind of a lie—I did open my phone and think about calling my mother, but it was too early to make that kind of effort.
“So, are you having fun?” my mother presses. “And is Mare … Is everything going all right?”
“Mare’s fine,” I repeat, raising my voice over the crackle of static. “We’re just stopping at a gas station for a little, um … to get some snacks.”
I don’t want to worry my mother, but Mare’s stomach hasn’t been right since last night. She says it’s nothing, and she took the keys from Tali this morning as usual, but she’s been really quiet. I’m afraid she doesn’t feel well enough to finish her story.
“Tell your mama you’re at a gas station because her mother-in-law ate a bag of plums for breakfast and nothing else,” Mare says loudly, emerging from the bathroom in a cloud of perfume and breath spray. “Tell the truth and shame the devil, Octavia.”
Tali quickly pulls out her earphones. “Nobody wants to know
that
kind of truth,” she objects. “’Tavia, ask Mom if I got a catalog in the mail from Cal-Berkeley yet. And tell her not to throw away my magazines!”
I hold out the phone. “Did you want to maybe talk to her instead of screaming in my ear?”
Tali complains about her a lot, but she and Mom are just alike. They even laugh alike, and listening to Tali while she tells our mother about our day so far makes me miss her a little. Not that I’m homesick or anything like that; it’s just that I wish Mom were here. If nothing else, she’d at least be kind of an ally … someone on my side. Now that Mare and Tali aren’t spending as much time on each other’s nerves, they’re ganging up and getting on mine. I feel kind of outnumbered.
The more time we spend with Mare, the more ways I see how Tali and Mare are alike, too. They both get into their little moods, they both like confrontation, and they both like to have the last word. Dad’s like that, too, and I always thought Tali got her attitude from him.
Now I find that Tali’s like Mom, Dad,
and
Mare.
I can’t figure out how I got born into this family.
I think Mare likes Tali better than me, and it’s not fair. It’s not my fault I’m not like anyone else in this family. And shouldn’t Mare understand? She wasn’t like her mother or her sister.
Sometimes I feel so different from Tali it feels like I was adopted.
And sometimes I wish I really were.
“Okay, Mom,” Tali says. “Right. Bye.”
“Wait!” I shriek as she hangs up. “Tali! I wasn’t done.”
“Sorry.” Tali hands me the phone, unconcerned. “Mom’s at work, you know.”
“Well, she called on
my
phone,” I snap, furious.
“You’re the one who gave it to me!” Tali exclaims. “What’s your problem?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” I slam the door and stalk across the parking lot toward the shop.
“Find a
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