Alabama was in the rearview mirror and the cold November wind prevented them from opening the window to help with the overbearing cigarette smell in the seats. It stunk like Uncle Shane and he was tired of remembering him. They had to pass the exit to the mountain an hour ago and neither of them so much as looked at the exit sign as they drove by.
"When we're rich, we can get a new car and throw this one away. I hate it. I hate him. Even dead, I hate him."
Areli was looking out the window and kept her hands in the front pocket of new pink hoodie. There was no heat in the car and the four hour drive from Montgomery left his fingers cold on the steering wheel. He wanted a warm room and a place to sit down and eat but he wasn't stopping until they made it to Knoxville.
"How much longer until we get there? I really want to see Dara. I'm so scared something bad has happened."
Dara was put in a home for women per a court order after she'd been removed from the group (
It's a cult, Hez. Stop denying it
) and was pretty much stuck there until she turned 21, but they had a plan and an attorney to help.
"We're close to Chattanooga so just a few more hours to Knoxville. She's fine. Meredith called to check on her," Hez replied.
"Meredith sure did help us, uh? We have a place to stay for a while, a bank account, phones, and we can save Dara. She said Frank would have our IDs soon too. We'll be set, won't we, Hez?"
"Yea, the three of us. We'll be set. I'm going to make us a lot of money. I promise."
"I love you, Hez. We're going to be together forever. You and me and Dara." She moved over and wrapped her arms around his and kissed his cheek before she moved her braid over her shoulder and laid in her lap like a long blonde rope. She said something about cutting the split ends when they got some money but he didn't know what that meant. Her long hair was beautiful to him.
"I love you too. I can't wait for some more alone time tonight in the mountains. Frank said there was a hot tub there."
"Do we have to wear bathing suits since it's just us?"
"I don't guess, but we wouldn't be able to keep our hands off of each other."
"Like we can anyway." She bit his ear lobe. "Want to see something?"
"I'm driving so I'm not sure."
"Of course, you're sure. Look." She sat back against the door and pulled up her hoodie showing a skin toned see through bra. Her puffy nipples pressed against the mesh fabric and he was instantly hard.
"Stop or I'm going to get in a wreck."
She laughed and pulled her hoodie back down. "I'll let you look at them later then, but I thought my bra was pretty."
"Well, as much as I like seeing you in your underwear, we need to figure out how we handle this with Dara."
"That's easy, we tell her."
"You think that is a good idea?"
"Yea, I'm not hiding us from her or anybody anymore. She's one of the few people that even know we're twins. I'll talk to her. She is going to live with us and we'll be a family."
"Odd family."
"We're odd people. None of us have anyone else now. I'll worry about Dara. You worry about the cards."
"We're going to make it, Areli. I promise."
"Hez, this isn't just on your shoulders. We're together. You're my man now and I'm your girl. Once we get Dara, the world can fuck off."
That was new. Over the last few days she'd taken to fighting any pretext hinting that anyone could stop them and started being assertive. Her fear wasn't gone, but she was controlling it.
"What do you know about where the cabin is?" Hez asked.
She'd been playing on their new phones so she pulled it out to show him some pictures. The town was touristy and busy during the summer and Christmas season. Snow was a problem if he had to get out of the cabin to work but he didn't figure he would have a normal job and he didn't want Areli to have to work unless she wanted to. He didn't know about Dara.
"The towns are Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Lots of restaurants and there is a casino at the top of the mountain that we can go to once we get our ID's. If Frank can convince them we are 21."
"He will."
"I don't trust him, Hez."
"Me neither, but Meredith with beat his ass if he doesn't do us good."
"I know, but he is shady. We'll need to be careful."
"You need to learn to drive too so we can make sure you and Dara can have girl time together." He wanted to distract her from focusing on Frank. She really didn't like him.
She smiled at him and came back over to wrap her arms around his.
"Thank you for caring about Dara. I know you do it because it's important to me. That means a lot. You're the best."
He enjoyed her on his arm and focused his eyes on the road as they passed through Chattanooga on their way to Dara.
___________________________________________
Knoxville was a busy city. There was a football game coming up the next day so the roads were packed and the color orange was everywhere. The new phones helped them navigate better but the gameday traffic was a pain.
"What kind of game are they playing tomorrow, Hez?"
"Football. I saw it once. It looks fun."
"Can we go watch it?" She asked.
"I don't know. We can try but I don't know nothing about it. We'll try it on TV first."