Typical

Walt and Peridot continue on their trip with their mother.

   Walt's mother was going to fall asleep while she was driving. The long night must've finally caught up with her body. He knew it was illegal, but he offered to swap.

   She nodded gratefully, "Thanks. I could use a break. We'll switch at the next rest stop." Walt was 15 and had taken a driving class, but he was still hesitant to try to drive a car on his own, especially since he hadn't gotten his license yet. He noticed his mother didn't think anything of it, though. He figured he thought she imagined it as just one more illegal thing; if they caught them, underage driving wasn't what they would be worried about.

   He glanced back at his sleeping sister. She tossed and turned as though she couldn't sleep, and he knew she must've been having bad dreams. Her restlessness had tangled her bright red hair, but it didn't look so out of place with her cow pajamas. Even when she was sitting, you could tell she was very small. From what Walt remembered of his father he knew she couldn't have gotten it from him, but he and Mother towered over the average person, so he wasn't sure where she had gotten it from. Though she was halfway through fifth grade, people often mistook her for a first grader. Peridot was like no one else in the family had been. Mother thought that was unfortunate. Walt thought it might be a good thing.

   Her height wasn't the only way she differed from the rest of the family, though. Her skin was incredibly pale, which only made her freckles stand out more. Her eyes were hazel, a mixture of green and brown and gray, though sometimes he could swear they looked orange.

   He would wake her at the rest stop. From her tossing and turning, he could tell she was having a bad dream. She looked so normal when she slept. Well, she looked out of place in this family, but in another family, if she were younger, she could look downright typical. You wouldn't think she belonged in a class for the disabled.

   Mother pulled into the rest stop. "Well, as long as we're here, we may as well get breakfast. Wake your sister." Walt gently shook Peridot's shoulder. Her eyes were slightly unfocused as she gazed up at him. She had desperately needed the rest that dream had taken away from her.

   "We're gonna go get breakfast. You want something?" She nodded, and the two hurried across the parking lot to keep up with their mother.

---

   Peridot was exhausted. She stared around the parking lot and saw only a few people there, but she doubted any of them were on the run from the law. She doubted any of them couldn't talk. Normal. That was the word she was looking for. These people weren't special, and maybe that was better, because all her life she had been called special, and she couldn't remember when it was a good thing.

   For fall the air was icy, and it cut straight through her cow pajamas and chilled her straight through to the bone. Walt saw that she was cold and wrapped her in his jacket. She smiled at him, trying to silently convey her thanks.

   The rest stop didn't have anything different about it, except that it was big enough that it had a Starbucks, which was good because she had been doubting there would be food in there at all. In her experience, rest stops tended just to contain bathrooms and maybe some road maps. They wouldn't have food unless they were a gas station, which this one wasn't. She was glad to be proven wrong, because her stomach was grumbling.

   Peridot split the muffin Mother had bought between her and Walt. She couldn't believe they actually thought they had convinced her this was just a fun road trip. Did they think she was totally clueless? She knew about Mother's debt and that people would come to collect on it, and probably send her to prison or do something worse. Then again, maybe Mother deserved prison. She had spent more money than she had and she couldn't pay it back. That was a crime. Trying to escape arrest was definitely a crime.

   She could understand Mother trying to protect her from things. That was what mothers do. But even Walt was pretending she didn't know what was going on, no matter how obvious it was that it had already fallen down around them.

   She imagined Mother's protecting the information came from more than just a motherly stance. Sometimes she wondered if Mother convinced herself that what the school said was true. That she couldn't retain any of the information they gave her? That was silly; she remembered things better than Mother most of the time. And how could anyone who saw her sitting around reading the big books Mother left lying around believe that she would benefit from learning the alphabet every day?

   Walt had been driving for the last dozen miles, and Peridot wished she could comment on how illegal it was for him to be driving underage, especially when he was so tired. Even if she could talk, she doubted she would've commented. This would get them away from the people who wanted to capture Mother, and, much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, she cared about Mother and didn't want that to happen. No matter how illegal what they were doing was.

   How many more laws would they have to break to get to Mexico? How many more once they were in Mexico? Why would it even matter whether they were in debt in Mexico or in the United States?

   Walt drove till lunchtime, and Mother continued after that, which made Peridot feel a bit better.

   Walt woke her up again. She must have fallen asleep. It was night, and Walt lead her into a cheap motel. She glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight. She looked at Walt, trying to get him to understand what she was trying to ask.

---

   Walt studied his little sister's eyes. They were questioning, and he knew just what she was asking.

   "We're just barely in Texas. Very much the northern side. We should be down in Mexico by the end of tomorrow if we don't stop too many times along the way." She nodded. He could read the darkness and worry on her face. It was useless to try to protect her; he knew that. She probably hated how they tried. He had promised Mother, though, and he had to do what she said, no matter how silly or useless he thought it was.

   In a way, she was the smartest person he knew. She had asked a lot of questions and still did, but either people couldn't understand them, or they thought she couldn't understand the answers. They had forced her to find out her own answers. Somehow, she had made it out of that clever and intelligent.

   Walt sat down on the bed he and Peridot would have to share -- Mother had taken the other -- and wondered what they would do once they got to Mexico. He looked beside him and saw that Peridot was also gazing off into space. He wondered if they were asking the same questions.

   Walt knew they weren't just your typical family anymore. He wished they could go back to being just that, but in a way he was glad that they could get away from bullies and teachers and parents who couldn't understand Peridot. He wanted her to have a normal life more than anything else.

Reviews

[Terra Hart]

Hmph, I don't like the mother so much. Walt seems nice, I hope he gets a nice, understanding girlfriend. Hmm, and Peridot (weird, but cool name) should find a mother figure in a teacher or neighbor of some sort....

OH! And before I forget, is Peridot NOT part of their family? Like, what if it was Peridot's real family coming for her.... but that wouldn't make much sense because the Mother doesn't seem to like Peridot and would probably just giver her up, as bad as it seems....