"Get up," my mother said. A pair of khaki pants I normally only wore for photos and formal occasions flew over the edge of the bunk and landed with one leg across my face. A nice shirt similar to the ones I had seen my high school peers wearing followed. Previously I didn't think I owned such an item.
"Put these on," my mother said.
"Wha..." I said, picking up the shirt by the collar in one hand and holding it in front of me gingerly as if it might be roadkill, "what's going on, are we going someplace special?"
"We're going to a neurologist," my mother responded, flicking on the lights and causing me to cease to regard the shirt as wholly undesirable, as it now made an excellent cover for my face to block the light. It still smelled like a store.
"So, why do I have to wear these?" I asked, but my mother was already gone.
I repeated the question shortly after as I wandered out the front door and pulled open the dented hubcapless minivan which was my family's primary mode of transportation during highschool.
My mother put the car into reverse and looked backwards between the seats to back out of the driveway, "We have to convince the neurologist to take your case, he's very important and doesn't have to. I want him to like you, so you have to remind him of his daughter. Better yet, if his daughter is a brat, I want you to remind him of who he wishes his daughter was."
"And this?" I pulled at the back of my shirt so it came around to let me see the tag. It read 'Abercronbie and Fitch.'
"Neurologists are rich."
There was a long pause interrupted only by the jostling of the car over the bumps in the road. My mother broke it, "What shoes are you wearing today, Pika?"
"My sneakers," I replied, fairly aware that if that question was asked this answer wouldn't be right. It hadn't seemed too unrealistic at the time, I had seen girls who wore shirts like this also wear sneakers.
"You're incorrigible," my mother sighed, reaching into the back seat to grab another pair of shoes and put them on my lap, "put these on."
The neurologist was definitely of my mother's generation. I sat with my hands folded and ankles crossed that day on the exam table. I spoke when spoken to, and I smiled the whole time. This was not the model of a modern teenager, but this was something that looked like a modern teenager and acted exactly the way the baby-boomers had been expected to behave as children.
"Seems a shame," the neurologist said, "you seem to be a nice girl. Lets see what we can can do to help you." He reached out and patted me on the head and smiled. I obediently widened my smile and looked up at him with big eyes.
***
The eight and a half mile trail Panorama trail had taken considerably more time than we had anticipated between the elevation changes and the fact that we weren't use to the elevation yet. Dusk was falling and we had four miles to go with an elevation change of 3,200 feet to get back to the cars. Pacem and had run ahead and tried to hitchhike a ride while Joker did the same thing nearby, both to no avail. The whole time the sky was getting darker.
"We're going it anyway," Bobby said. Five of them piled into a shuttle bus and I turned to follow them.
"Pika, stay here," Joker said. I scowled at him. Arguably I was not as strong as the boys and might slow them down, but any reminder of this made me more than slightly cranky. If an adventure was afoot, I sure as hell wanted to be part of it.
I watched the doors shut and the bus pull away.
"FUCK!"
Bane tried not to roll his eyes, "Calm down Pika."
"It doesn't bother you, to be left behind, when they are going to have an adventure?"
"If by adventure you mean pretty shitty time," Duckling replied. The words were not meant to be a challenge or overly sarcastic, he simply stated his opinion calmly through half-open eyes.
"Lets try another path...Bane, you have a spare set of keys?"
"In my glove compartment."
"Lets break into your car."
The four of us were on the next shuttle. In my hand I held a stray bobby pin I had picked up from the platform. Now all I had to do was convince somebody to drive us an hour out to the car.
Two grimy men were sitting in the seat of the shuttle in front of us wearing backpacking gear. They were in their late 50s and chatted idly with one another. I could see the wedding band on the one sitting to the right as he braced himself against a pole. Men that age either have children or adopt strange people often treating them like children.
"Ok," I said as if already mid conversation with Bane, "we're going to be alright, all we have to do is get to the car. I still can't believe this happened..."
It wasn't terribly long before the two men were sucked into our imaginary conversation and it wasn't too long after that before they made arrangements to take us to our destination.
"Call Bobby," I told Bane, "bring them all back."
Its fully dark two hours later. Pacem and Joker are up with our new friend Bob getting the car and the rest of the group is waiting by a bus stop. Drummer walks back with a bag full of s'mores in his arms. I'm carrying beer for our new friend Bob and a chocolate bar.
"I thought you didn't have your ID," Bobby looked up and asked as we approached the group.
"I don't," I replied, shoving a flashlight and some water bottles aside to find a place to sit.
"And they didn't card you?"
"No," Drummer said, "they did. They gave it to her anyway."
Bobby shook his head, "How the fuck do you do this?"
"We're going it anyway," Bobby said. Five of them piled into a shuttle bus and I turned to follow them.
"Pika, stay here," Joker said. I scowled at him. Arguably I was not as strong as the boys and might slow them down, but any reminder of this made me more than slightly cranky. If an adventure was afoot, I sure as hell wanted to be part of it.
I watched the doors shut and the bus pull away.
"FUCK!"
Bane tried not to roll his eyes, "Calm down Pika."
"It doesn't bother you, to be left behind, when they are going to have an adventure?"
"If by adventure you mean pretty shitty time," Duckling replied. The words were not meant to be a challenge or overly sarcastic, he simply stated his opinion calmly through half-open eyes.
"Lets try another path...Bane, you have a spare set of keys?"
"In my glove compartment."
"Lets break into your car."
The four of us were on the next shuttle. In my hand I held a stray bobby pin I had picked up from the platform. Now all I had to do was convince somebody to drive us an hour out to the car.
Two grimy men were sitting in the seat of the shuttle in front of us wearing backpacking gear. They were in their late 50s and chatted idly with one another. I could see the wedding band on the one sitting to the right as he braced himself against a pole. Men that age either have children or adopt strange people often treating them like children.
"Ok," I said as if already mid conversation with Bane, "we're going to be alright, all we have to do is get to the car. I still can't believe this happened..."
It wasn't terribly long before the two men were sucked into our imaginary conversation and it wasn't too long after that before they made arrangements to take us to our destination.
"Call Bobby," I told Bane, "bring them all back."
Its fully dark two hours later. Pacem and Joker are up with our new friend Bob getting the car and the rest of the group is waiting by a bus stop. Drummer walks back with a bag full of s'mores in his arms. I'm carrying beer for our new friend Bob and a chocolate bar.
"I thought you didn't have your ID," Bobby looked up and asked as we approached the group.
"I don't," I replied, shoving a flashlight and some water bottles aside to find a place to sit.
"And they didn't card you?"
"No," Drummer said, "they did. They gave it to her anyway."
Bobby shook his head, "How the fuck do you do this?"
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