Bad Idea

The pickup truck rolled along the road beside vast wheat fields. A cool wind blew against the vehicle and the fields, the Idaho weather was kind enough to be on the warmer side, even if that was in only the high 60s. Veritas never minded the temperature despite how bad it could get. Grabbing the large thermos from the middle cup holder he brought it to his lips. Warm soup he had made the morning before flooded into his mouth. Placing the thermos back down he let the liquid sit in his mouth before gulping

“You want some” He asked his copilot

Next to him sat a blonde haired girl, in stark contrast to his jacket and sweats she wore a purple dress with white highlights. He didn’t much care for her sense of style but he’d rather not start another fight. Heterochromatic eyes swiveled over to stare at the soup container. All he got in response was a “hmph” for a moment his smile faltered but he quickly put it back on. Setting the thermos down he put his eyes back on the bare road. Nothing but the black road with the yellow lines.

The uncomfortable silence came back until he had offered neither of them had said a word since they left home. He felt like a failure. Shit he needed to stop thinking like that he had to focus on the road. C’mon man you need to not think about her being mad. She is always mad. Just gotta say something just gotta think of something.

“Your listing Veritas”

Snapping back to attention he chuckled and brought the car back to the straight position “Thanks Lyn”
“Madalyn”

“Thank you, Madalyn”

“I would just prefer not to die, I do not want my last memory to be of you”

“That is, understandable”

“Just shut up, don’t know why mom made me come with you on this”
“Can’t a dad bo-”
“You. Are. Not. My. Dad”

“Well legally I am”

Tapping of what he assumed to to be her foot punctuated her much more strained voice “And when have you ever cared about the law you overgrown child”

“Since the triplets, cause I don’t wanna get separated from y’all”

Another “hmph” was all he got. Now they were back to square one, silence and her still hating him

A few hours passed, not a peep came out of her as he continued on. It was for the best, considering that he didn’t wanna make this trip worse than it already was. A sign on the side of the road designated a rest stop ahead. 

He looked down at his watch, 1:37. Yeah they needed to rest. A low grumble sounded from beside him. Whether she liked it or not, she needed some rest too. 

“When we stop, would you like me to find a drive through? Or you want to sit down somewhere?”

“What do you think?” 

For a second he thought this over “sit down?” 

“Sure, just get us there fatso”

With a sigh he looked to Madalyn “Lyn-“

“Madalyn”

“Lyn, I don’t know what I did to make you hate me but I’m gonna do my damndest to fix it cause I’ll gonna keel over before I watch you send your entire life seeing me as a worthless piece of shit”

“Hard to to convince someone of something that isn't true”

“Can you just tell me what's wrong? I wanna have a nice trip with you” 

“Maybe the fact I was forced to ride along with someone like you”

“How else do you expect me to make up for whatever I did to you?” He asked a little more aggravated as he turned into the local town “‘sides, I promise this’ll be worth it” he finished trying to end things off with a happy spin rather than let his anger take hold. Happened way too much. Lyn didn’t reply thankfully, he assumed she didn’t have some sort of witty comeback. Or bratty. He never really cared much to try and differentiate between the two. Course Cass always tried to get him to be better with words. He had been trying but lots of the stuff he read or was told by others just slipped past his mind. Why did he have to know what the difference between their and there was. He did know the difference but it wasn’t like he was gonna write anything down- 

 His eyes snapped back to focus, seeing a great sign. Taking a hard right much to the dismay of the drivers behind him by the sound of how many people honked at him. Sticking hand out the window he gave a quick wave to the people behind him. Having been given a much different gesture he pulled into the parking lot of a small diner, the grey sign with red letters of just “Diner” got his hopes up to say the least.

“Really?” His daughter protested
“What’s wrong with a mom and pop place?”

Swiveling out of the seat he stood up and out of the truck. The soreness of his legs after mostly inactivity quickly faded as childlike excitement pumped through his veins. Closing the door Lyn was already at the front of the truck arms folded in very obvious annoyance. Her leaving the vehicle made him realize that she was rather hungry despite home much she would protest to the idea, especially to him. Flashing her another one of his large smiles he lead her in.

The actual building was small, built with brick that looked battered from age and weather. Other than that it was rather run of the mill reaching into one of his jackets inner pockets he pulled a pair of flip flops and slipped them onto his usually bare feet knowing his tendency to feel the ground wasn’t looked well upon by most eateries. Once they were on he opened up the glass door.

A smell he could only describe as dusty nostalgia, it smelt like the past hitting you in the face and then vanishing. It was odd. 

Behind the counter sat a darker skinned woman, reading a hard covered book with one of those weird book covers that he heard keeps the thing from getting too damaged. Weird. As the doorbell rang she looked up from the book and gave a welcoming smile “Hey there, take a seat and I’ll serve you two” turning to madalyn he saw that she had already sat down. With a huff he placed himself across from her in the booth. There were already 4 menus, on the one that was for him there was a water ring. Weird.

Madalyn gave the menu a once over and squinted “all this is sounds like something you’d find in a secluded town”
“Well Madalyn, diners are just nice places to have genuine food rather than that fancy stuff your always askin for”
“What’s that supposed to mean”
“Nothin, just saying you should try stuff you don’t like”

With a roll of her eyes, Madalyn raised an eyebrow. A chuckle escaped his lips as he asked “find somethin on the second go round?” looking over his own menu he found what he was looking for. Thankfully the woman from before came by “Sorry about that, what can I get y’all?” a small notebook in hand 

“Egg in basket with some water,” Lyn said almost immediately 

“Lemonade n’ home fries ma’am” 

Jotting down the orders the woman flashed a smile and walked off. V laid his head back and let out a sigh of relaxation. The constant tension of the truck left him slowly. Letting the warm feeling of the diner flood into him. But he could not feel only warmth. There was the ever present coldness he felt from his daughter. Recognizing he shook away the welcoming feeling and prepared for awkwardness.

Moving back to a normal sitting position he looked around for anything he could talk about. His eye landed on a small fly lazing about on the window. 

“Ya know when yer mom and I went to France, saw a large blue n’ black beetle. Guy said it was a very rare so I couldn’t bring it over seas”
Madalyn cocked an eyebrow at him “did it have some hair on it?”
“Think so, looked like a cat’s tongue where it did”
“That was Rosalia Alpina, the french man was right. It is very rare”
“Yeah I took his word for it, you're the expert in all things creepy and crawly”
“Entomology”

“Yes that, I’m just glad you found your passion long before I did?”
“And what’s yours? Being a scumbag?”

Now that made him chuckle, sounded like him in his younger years “Not exactly. Found out I loved fighting long after I could join professional rings. Then right as I started trying new things before I met your ma tried hunting. Now that's stuff I love”

“You just like violence huh?”
“In a way yeah, but only with purpose. Ain’t gonna solve nothin if there is nothing to solve. In professional fighting people like seeing people get the shit beat out of them. Then with hunting you get food for people. I know I bring back a lot of meat but hey, butcher’s gotta make money”

For once this entire trip Lyn leaned forward, he assumed in interest so he smirked a bit “Yes but do you ever think about the things you fight or kill”
“Of course, but sometimes you feel bad but most times you just gotta think about yourself”

“But what about their families”
“Well, would my boxing opponent care if he knocked a tooth out? Not likely. Bear wouldn’t think about you if you found me mauled.”
“But I would be happy if you were”
“Exactly, you never know if the damage you did was positive or bad. You just gotta wait n’ see”
“So if I euthanized a bully, it would probably be good then?”
“Well! Well that is not suggested-”
She folded her arms again “Hypocrisy then”

“No I-”
“I’ll give you that you’re consistently like this”

“There is a difference between killin a human and a deer”
“Like what”
“Fer one they ain’t got as much brain cells as us”

“Pretty sure everyone has more than you”

Before he could respond the lady from before placed two glasses down in front of them. V gave her a polite nod and a quiet “Thank you”. With his pointer and thumb, he rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He can’t have a god damn normal conversation with her. A whole whirlwind of insults came to his mind. Each of them more vulgar than the last. Most of them were directed at Lyn, others were more general. He wanted to slap whoever put it in his mind that this trip was a good idea.

I mean he knew this whole time she would just complain and try and derive as little enjoyment as possible. He could have given her everything she wanted and she would probably complain about how he gave her nothing. 

He took a deep breath, he would get way too worked up over this and it would lead to him actually saying something he might’ve meant but not wanted to say. Grabbing the lemonade he took a sip and let the sweet drink wash away the stress for a moment. Already drinking half of it he placed it back down on the table, the dull sweetness as he had heard it be called lingered for a moment. 

For a moment he locked eyes with Lyn, she had the blue of his eyes in one eye but the green in the other looked like algae of a lake. He quickly looked back down at his drink. In the moment it took him to lock eyes he really could see nothing but disdain in her eyes. Maybe this trip was useless. He wasn't really angry anymore about it, he just kinda felt like something was missing. Other than the obvious love he had heard so many times before that was required between a father and a daughter, he had felt this emptiness a few times before. Was odd. But more pressing matters came to mind 

Their plates of food were stacked high, at least his was. The home fries were generously seasoned, while he had heard it’s more of a side but he enjoyed this sort of food way too much. On Lyn’s plate it was naturally an egg over easy in the middle of toast with a side of bacon. He swore she hadn’t asked for any but that’s a problem for later. When the bill came, that is. 

Quickly he got to work, as per usual he grew hungrier when he had food in front of him. The home fries were pretty good. To him at least. After what felt like only a few minutes he took a closer look and found the plate half empty. God he felt his age now. Again he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He still felt empty so mindlessly he ate more of the fries. Which now that he thought about they should be called wedges. Cause the damn things were thick.

Kinda reminded him of his mother-in-law’s spices. Wonder what the in-laws were doin, probably the only good inlaws. Shaking his head he looked down at his plate again and like magic, it was clear with only a few remnants of the spices on the fries/wedges was dusting the plate. A bit relieved he saw that Lyn’s own plate was nearly empty as well. Meant she wasn’t being picky and she was actually eating. Compared to him she was a damn toothpick. 

“Now that wasn’t too bad now was it?”
Having swallowed the last of the bacon Lyn wiped her face with a napkin “Yes, I hate to admit it but the peasant food was good”
“We both know that was unnecessary”
“Yes but I don’t care”
A clearing of a throat alerted them to the waitress’ presence “Oh right” quickly V fished for his wallet “now how much do I owe ya?” he asked as he pulled out 3 10 dollar bills. All of them were more wrinkled than a nursing home patient. “Well it’s round 17.68” 

“Ah well already got the money out so feel free to keep the change ma’am” 

The waitress cocked an eyebrow, he assumed in suspicion but he didn’t really pay any mind to it. Reaching up a bit he handed the bills to her. Taking them from him she smiled a bit nervously and hurried off. Shit was he too nice? He had heard that if someone over tipped it could be taken as a dickish move. God how hated doing stuff like that. Comping off as a dick caused way to many problems 

“Well, you ready to head out kiddo”

“Don't call me that”

“Why?” 

“I’m 15, I’m not a kid”

“And yet you just as oblivious as one sometimes”

“The hell you mean by that?” 

“You’ll see Lyn”

“Madalyn”

“Fine, Madalyn” 

They had been on the road again for a while, the truck was going along fine but damn it was getting dark. Madalyn was asleep. So he was all by himself. Of course, he was. Hell, when she was awake he felt alone. No, he couldn’t think like this. Specially when he was struggling to stay awake. They were miles away from any town. He wished he was in the mountains, liked how high up he could be. Loved the air. He dreamt of spending his life up there. He would go huntin every day with the kids. Or at least set traps. Each day he could be with everyone, they could enjoy nature’s air. 

He brought himself back, he needed to focus on staying up, he didn’t wanna crash. Didn’t wanna lose Lyn.

He couldn’t keep goin. Not without getting some sleep at least. Pulling over on the side of the road, a soft groan was heard. She wasn’t awake, thank whatever the hell. Using the hand brake and putting the truck in park, quickly the lights went off as he turned off the truck. As he was about to fall asleep before the feeling of cold creepin in. Even through his heavy jacket, the cold was unbearable to most. With a sigh, he looked over to where he knew Lyn lay asleep. 

Without a second thought, he took off his jacket and laid it over her. Seeing it covered a good portion of her body he reached into the center console and rooted around for a small bag. Finally finding it he reached into the plastic and pulled out the last hand warmer he had brought. Moving whatever was inside these things about he felt the comforting warmth flood into his hands. For a moment he was tempted to keep it for himself. But he quickly slapped himself away from the thought. Slipping the warmer under the coat he sighed softly. Tonight was gonna be a long night. He could feel it. Looking out the window he saw the moon was shining down on his face.

It was around 8 when Veritas awoke, a sharp pain thrummed in his head. Glass wasn’t the best pillow he had to admit. Rubbing the side that hurt he didn’t allow himself a moment of hesitation. He turned the key and let the truck hum to life. Looking to his side he saw his coat folded neatly and placed on top of the center console. She was looking out the window “Did you sleep ok?” he asked softly. Gaining a nod in response he smiled softly. Progress, to him at least. 

As he pulled back on the road he asked “At the next town, would you like some food?”
“Why not now? You packed food right?”
“Of course I did, just thought you hated my cookin”

“Never said I didn’t”

“I packed some deer jerky in the glove box, go to town”

He didn’t look away from the road but he did hear the familiar click and rustle of a hungry teen he chuckled softly to himself. He did wonder why she never asked for food of his. Hell even home she always waited for Cass to make something for dinner. He never really thinks of it anymore, but this is odd. In a good way mind you. But either way it did make him think. No way she just had a random change of heart did she?

He couldn’t place down why, she didn’t know where they were heading right? Nah, he made sure to get the tickets long before this trip. He timed up how long it would take to get there and everything. A soft shaking could be heard next to him 

“All done?”
“Yeah, would you like the rest, Veritas?”
“Don’t mind if I do”
Reaching into the bag he pulled out a handful of the dried meat and shoved about half of it into his mouth. Letting the flavor calm him down a bit, he gave a muffled “Thksh” as he went back to focusing on the road. He had to admit things were kinda looking up. But if his many years taught him anything, it was not to count his chickens before they woke up. That was how the saying went right? Either way, he made sure to stay humble.

“Hey Lyn”
“Madalyn”
“Hey Madalyn, do you remember when I took ya to the school bus for the first time”
“Yes, take an adopted child to a school bus where they went alone”
“Hey now, you had Milo. You kept clinging to him when you weren’t huggin yer mom”

“Still, I didn’t like that school”
“Now just cause some snot-nosed kids didn’t like your dresses didn’t mean the whole school was bad” He shoved the rest of the jerky into his mouth

“I don’t know how mom convinced you to buy them”
He quickly chewed the meat and swallowed to speak a bit clearer “Well actually, you only liked to dress so I went shopping with Your grandma’s and they helped me out. Cause let’s be honest I don’t know the first thing about fashion”

Lyn took a moment before she spoke “Ah, well at least we agree you suck with clothing Mr. No shoes”

“Hey now that is cause they are way too damn expensive for what they are”
“Ah yes 40 dollars for feet protection is way to much”
“Alright well next time you ask for somethin over 40 I’ll have to do a double-take on it”
“Now your just bein an ass”
“It’s my job as a parent to be annoying you know”
“You’re not my parent”
“Legally I am” He couldn’t stop himself from laughing at the conversation
“What are you laughing about now?”
“Ah I just liked the fact that you are actually talking to me. This trip is the first time you treated me like a human” He laughed more

This made her go silent. Did he overdo it again? Typical. He just had to focus. It was gonna be ok. They were less than a day away from the place. They didn’t need to be talkative the entire time. It was gonna be boring, maybe. He just knew sooner or later the silence was gonna get too hi-

“Do you love mom?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean”
“Well of course I do”
“Then why do you leave for weeks on end?”
“Cause it’s a part of my job”

“And that is?” 

“Sorry, told ya the rule a couple of times”

“I’m gonna learn one day”

“Yeah I know, just not right now”

“C’mon Lyn”

“Madalyn

“C’mon Madalyn, we ain’t got many rules. Don’t ask about my job, show some respect, and don’t kill people. You are already breaking one” he chuckled at his joke

“I will likely break all 3 by the end of the month”
“Not if I have anything to say about it, say mind if we play a game while we drive?”

“What is the game?”
“Simple, I list some common bug name n you name the weird version”
“The scientific name?”
“Yeah”
“Hmmmm, fine”
“Alright, house fly”
“Musca Domestica”
“Stick bug”

“Phasmatodea”

“That can’t be an actual word”

“It is”
“Mmmmm, now I’m only thinking bout that word. Phatsmo”

“Phasmatodea”
“Yeah, that weird thing”
“Says the weird one”

“Yeah yeah I know, big news that is”

“Halyomorpha halys”
“What?”
“Stink bug”

“I said stick bug”
“Why are you this stupid?”
“Cause what else would I be? Does this face look smart?”

He could hear for the briefest of moments the exhalation of air through someone’s nose as if someone suppressed the smallest of laughs. He looked behind them. There were just the seats and the road. Strange, looking over at his daughter he asked “Did you hear that? Sounded like the tires mighta been cut”

“First you are stupid, now your hearing things” She snapped back rather rudely. Now that wasn’t necessary. To be fair when has anything she’s done been necessary? He wanted to at least get a compliment from her on this trip. Still what the hell was that noise? Odd odd odd. God he wished the air wasn’t so damn tense 

“Your listing”
“sorry “ He quickly moved the truck back to position. Running off the road was not ideal. They were so close to the destination too. He could swear they were. Maybe they were. Then a great idea sparked in his head. He pulled over to the side of the road and asked “You got yer permit right?”

“Yes. Unlike you”
“Oi long as I don’t crash, me havin a license don’t matter, but either way. You wanna drive a bit? It’s a straight shot to the next town over. I think”
“So your giving me the easy part? Cause you don’t think I can do it on harder parts huh?”
“No we are somewhere you’ve never been is all, if you don’t want to I can keep going”
“Move over you oversized tumor”

“Cmon Lyn-”

“Madalyn”
“Cmon Madalyn you gotta stop the jerky movements”
The ‘lesson’ was going well. Lyn was surprisingly nervous about the whole thing and inwardly he found it kinda funny. He wasn’t gonna let her know that though. She was surprisingly nervous despite how often she acted as if she were a god on earth. He wanted to say he missed her usual rudeness. But that would be a rather bald-faced lie. That is how the saying goes right? Either way, he was happy there was a moment of her not being high and mighty. 

“You just gotta relax”
“It’s hard to with you breathing down my neck”
“I’m in shotgun. The center console separates us”
“That is still having you breathing down my DAMN NECK”

He missed when he thought this was gonna involve her being rude “Well either way kiddo, relax everything is gonna be ok. I promise”

“I know that, I’m driving after all”
“That’s not what I meant”

“Just shut up, I’m good at driving”
“In the past hour, you have made multiple jerking movements”
“LIKE YOU’RE ANY BETTER?”
“Never said I was”

V pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation of all this. Was this a bad idea? Probably. “Take a left at the next sign of civilization, destination will be round there” he informed her. His heartbeat went up higher than he was used to. Not that it hasn’t gotten way beyond what it was like now. He just felt the familiar feeling. Something bad was gonna happen. Maybe? The feeling kept going on and off like a swirling whirlpool. Emotions grew to be more intense but they were always changing and swaying. 

A loud groan escaped his mouth in exasperation, earning him the stink eye from Madalyn “what did I do now brainlet?” she asked with her own sound of exasperation. He just gave her a wave of the hand. Finally learning from his past conversations he said nothing this time.

By now they could see buildings in the distance, hell yeah. Now having emotional whiplash he smiled broadly. Leaning forward he giggled like a mad man “WE ARE GETTIN CLOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!” 

“Close to what?”
“The destination”
“What’s the damn location”
“Surprise, and a gift”
“Oh great, prolly gonna be some sort of hunting range”
“It ain’t”
“Then what the hell is it?”
“Not a hunting range”
“Of course it’s not it’s in the city”

“Who said that”
“You did”
“When”
“You said it’s in the city earlier”
“Shush, just prepare yourself kiddo”
“For what?”

“The gift or surprise. Whichever will make ya happier”
“You are weird”
“Thanks”

Entering the city Lyn took the new traffic in stride. There was still the jerkiness with some of the adjustments. But still he was proud of her in a weird way. He was more focused however on making sure they got the right directions. Multiple times he used the traffic to determine whether they went right or left. This was one time where he was thankful for the slowness of a city. 

Looking over to Lyn he saw the usual annoyance on her face, which made him smile. He couldn’t wait till his surprise slapped her in the face and he could possibly see her have a good time with him. Maybe. That was an odd choice of words. He just wanted to have one halfway decent memory with her. Course this trip had some nice conversations. But he just wanted her to be happy.

“Your doin good” he quietly told her. If he spoke any louder he was afraid he was gonna shout. They took the final right. Electricity shocked him and he felt like he was shaking. Was he shaking? Maybe. He didn’t know. His inner child began to jump up and down “IT'S HERE” Pointing to a grand building.

‘Audubon Butterfly Garden And Insectarium’ It was humble, didn’t pretend to be more than a bug museum. But something about it felt almost magical. A metal sign was all there was for recognition. Lyn looked stunned for a moment. Silently she pulled into a parking spot near the front of the building. Both of them left the truck. Double-checking he has his wallet and tickets to the place Lyn just stood in front of the truck gazing up

“So, was it worth it?”
“I’m still deciding”
“I ain’t never been in here so I’m hoping it’s fun fer ya”

“I haven’t been in there yet you know”
“Course I do, I’m standin right next to ya”
“Sadly”
“Still gonna be rude huh?”

“Probably”
“Well least yer consistent”

“Thanks”
“For what?”
A moment of hesitation before she walked forward towards the museum “Lets go” a cackle escaped his lips. Oh man this was gonna be a great time. Maybe this was the turning point to...well everything. Right? Probably there was one thing he had to ask to check

“Hey Lyn”
“Yes?”

“I love ya”
“Alright”
Yeah this was a good idea