Chapter 2

"On the road again," sang Mark, "I can't wait to get on the road again."

The Flinn family were driving up Highway 400 heading to Orchard Park. There was a lot of traffic on the highway and so right now they weren't moving. It didn't help that they were stuck behind a large white truck.

            Mark hated slow traffic and never enjoyed being behind large vehicles either. When the opportunity came, he was always changing lanes just to avoid them. He had always worried about trucks or buses colliding into the small blue Mazda 5, so was very paranoid of them. And it wasn't like car accidents never had trucks or buses in them, he'd seen one that toppled over cars, ones that ran into cars, trucks that jackknifed into cars, and ones that even blew up. Of course, he had never witnessed one of these accidents, just in the news or on the television or in the movies. That was why he was singing to himself, to try to get the paranoia out of him. He really hoped this damn traffic moved soon.

            "Honey, I think I forgot something," said Alice, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

            "Really Alice, we're on the highway and stuck behind this stupid truck, surely we don't have to turn around. What did you forget?" asked Mark, a bit annoyed.

            "This," said Alice, as she slapped Mark in the face.

            "Ow!" cried Mark, as his left hand instinctively clutched his face. "What was that for?"

            "For telling our son my age."

            "Oh," said Mark, rubbing his cheek to soothe the pain. "Well I deserved that."

            "Yes you did," said Alice, satisfied.

            "Well you don't have to rub it in. But seriously, did you have to slap me so hard?"

            "I can't help it; it came with me when you purchased me."

            "Very funny."

            That's when the truck began to move.

            "Well it's about time!" cried Mark, as he started up the car again.

            He had turned it off to not waste gas.

            "Dear isn't that a bit dangerous?"

            "What's dangerous, Alice?" asked Mark, as he changed lanes and drove past the big white vehicle.

            "Turning off the engine."

            "It's not when you've got a stupid truck that won't move his a*s because of all the slow traffic on the road. Why waste gas?"

            "Mark, don't use that language in front of your son."

            "He's actually behind me, Alice."

            "Don't make me slap you again."

            "My parents, ladies and gentleman," moaned Richard from the back seat.

            "Hey, that's good. Who taught you that line?" asked Mark, as he looked into his rear view mirror so he could see his son."

            "It's an old line, Mark," stated Alice, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

            "Well I never heard it."

            "Maybe it's because you didn't hang out with anyone except yourself and me."

            "Now that's very good Alice. Hey Richard, don't you think your mother deserves a medal for her sense of humour?"

            "Dear, why don't you focus on driving?" asked Alice, changing the subject.

            "Alice, I've been driving ever since I got my licence at sixteen and once you keep driving, you don't exactly lose the talent. I can even sing. I'm singing in the rain."

            Consequently, it began to pour.

            "Well would you look at that, I should have been a meteorologist," cried Mark, as he turned on his window wipers.

            "Mark, the Globe and Mail said it was going to rain in the afternoon anyway. It said sixty-percent change of rain, and knowing the Globe, that usually means about ninety percent or no rain at all. Besides, the sky was already getting pretty dark."

            "Usually it means no rain at all. The Globe always lies. But the point is, it's raining now so I'm singin’"No, you see�"""

            "Please don't sing again Mark, you're not exactly the next Seal or Sting," Alice interrupted again.

            "Well it's a good thing you married me for my looks and not my voice."

            It was true though, Mark was a very handsome 45-year-old man. He had short spiky black hair, which stood up without gel, a charming smile, and sparkling bright blue eyes. Mark was always smiling and cracking jokes, and Alice loved him because he was such a fun-loving guy and didn't really let anything bad stand in his way. She had never asked, but she wouldn't have been surprised if Mark had, had many girlfriends in high school because of his good looks and charming attitude.

            "Don't make me slap you again," threatened Alice. "My bite is worse than my bark."

            "Mom, you've got the saying backwards," stated Richard.

            "No actually, Richard, I think your mother's completely mixed up because slapping someone has nothing to do with biting or barking," corrected Mark.

            "Your hand is not even that close to your face," said Richard.

            "Unless you slap yourself," pointed out Mark.

            "Oh stop it you two," said Alice. "Richard, I think one Mark Flinn in the family is enough."

            Richard and Mark grinned.

            Richard had short spiky black hair just like his father but had green eyes and a small nose just like his mother. His smile was his own though. He didn't smile or grin as much as his father did but sometimes enjoyed cracking jokes�"which also involved teasing his mother�"with this father. He would sometimes joke around when girls like Clarabelle weren't being mentioned in conversation and when his parents weren't acting too silly that he thought that he was born into a madhouse.

            Alice had always wondered what would've happened if Mark and her had, had a girl. She assumed that she wouldn't be as humorous as Richard or Mark, and that she might have more in common with her daughter than her son. But she still loved Richard. Mark and Alice had never decided to have another child because they felt one was enough. They weren't worried, but Alice had four sisters growing up and Mark had two elderly brothers, and they thought it would be nice to have Richard experience being an only child because they had never had got the chance. Also if Alice got pregnant again, who knew that the outcome would be one child, it could be twins, or triplets, or something worse and Alice didn't want to become the reality of "Cheaper by the Dozen". They had been taking a risk with Richard, but they had both always wanted a child.

            But Alice had wished that Richard had brown hair, like her, since all her sisters were blonde.

            And even with the nose and eyes, Richard really looked like his father and she was surprised that Mark hadn't wanted to name him Mark Junior. She had never mentioned the name to Mark, but she assumed Mark never liked naming his son after his name and then sticking a "Junior" in front of it.

* * *

 

            "Alright who wants Webers?" asked Mark, as they neared the large orange bridge.

            "Dad, you're already turning into the parking lot," stated Richard.

            "Am I? Well I can easily turn around," said Mark, as he parked in between a blue Honda Odyssey and a black Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, and turned off the car.

            He then shook his wife awake.

            "Honey, we're at Webers," whispered Mark, gently into her ear.

            "Already? That didn't seem like an hour and fifteen minutes."

            "Time flies when you shut your eyes."

            "Dad I think you should quit your day job and become a poet," said Richard, sarcastically.

            "Too bad the saying says, to not quit your day job, wouldn't want to go against that."

            Alice moaned as she rubbed her eyes.

            "What's wrong honey?" asked Mark, as he leaned over and kissed Alice on the cheek.

            "Do you two ever shut up?"

            "No Alice, and that's all the fun of it," said Mark, as he opened the driver door and accidentally banged it into the Chevrolet's dark side. A small blue line was now left on the black door. "Oh well," said Mark, noticing the mark, "maybe that'll be a lesson to all truckers to avoid me."

            Alice moaned again.