Chapter 36 - Differences

“Are we there yet?” No one answered. “Are we there yet?” Ignored. “Daddy, are we there yet?”

Something about her snotty tone made me look at Denise from the rearview mirror in disgust. “You’ve been asking the same question for the past eight hours. Can’t you just sit back quietly so we can get this over with?” I asked, distaste dripping from my voice.

In response, my so-called sister covered her ears with her hands. “I didn’t hear anything. Did you hear anything, daddy? A ghost seems to be talking beside you.” Our dad ignored her, as he had been doing for the last few hours that we had been driving on the road, going to heaven only knows where. Come to think of it, he had been ignoring me too, which was fine—except my sister was a loony.

“You’re so childish, Denise. I can’t believe I have a sister like you.”

“Who cares what you think?” she snapped. “You’re an illegitimate child, anyway.”

“Enough!” The car stopped abruptly, making me and Barbie—yes, I was calling her that for the time being—lurch in our seats. My eyes went to Dad’s face. Underneath his calm demeanor was irritation. He stared between Barbie and me. “We’re going to have this family camping trip, and whether you like it or not, you have to get along. Are we clear on that?” He was definitely not joking. I nodded while Barbie pursed her lips but remained silent. The car started moving forward again.

Two hours later, I was jolted awake when Dad touched my shoulder. The vehicle was parked in the middle of nowhere, and Barbie was already outside, groaning. “We’re here, cupcake,” he said. “Now help me get the camping gear out of the car so we can hike to the spot.”

As per his instructions, I got out with a heavy heart, taking the huge backpack and tent with me. Barbie was being all whiny and unreasonable. “But I don’t want to bring all those things. It’s heavy.”

“Would you rather that your sister and I leave you here?” Dad asked patiently. “Besides, you brought them, so you have to carry them.”

Upon hearing the word ‘leave,’ Barbie glanced around the area. I observed everything with her. All there were were trees, rocks, and nature. The place looked like the perfect set for a slasher movie. It made me wonder where we were, but if I had to take a guess, it was somewhere in Arizona based on the scenery and the hours we had traveled. Or maybe I was wrong.

Barbie doll made up her mind and picked up her things, shuddering as we followed Dad to the greeneries. Several kilometers into the hike, Dad finally stopped, dropping all his gear with a sigh. We were next to a river.

As I set my bag down on the ground and stared at the clear stream of water, I couldn’t help but think about Dulce and the time we went fishing. My heart protested at the thought of her lean arms as she tried to scoop up the catch we had made and the way her reddish hair had fluttered gently against the wind as she laughed at me with a twinkle in her soulful brown eyes. Everything about her warmed me, but now that she was a thousand miles away, I was as cold as the fish swimming in the river. Despite being the Hollywood celebrity I was, my life kind of sucked at the moment.

“You’re such a weirdo,” Barbie girl snickered. She was already beside me, glancing at my face like I had lost my mind. I guess I was so deep in thought that I hadn’t noticed her there. Of course I decided to ignore her catty remark. What else was there to do?

Turning around, I discovered that Dad had already set up the tent and was currently pitching it on the ground for support. Sweat lined his forehead as he stooped down, finishing the task that we were all supposed to do. I immediately took it upon myself to help him, bringing out the things we needed for the trip and tidying up the cooler and fishing poles.

“This is such a bore,” Barbie drawled. “I’ll take a look around.”

When she vanished among the trees, I glanced at Dad with a poker face. “Won’t she get lost?”

“I’m sure she won’t go far,” he said, continuing to pitch the tent. When he was done, he got up with a stretch. “Glace.”

“Yes, Dad?”

“I know your sister has been very—“He searched for the right term. “Difficult.” I nodded. “She’s also the reason why Dulce went to France.” At the sound of my girlfriend’s name, my stomach dipped low, but I retained a straight face, being the great actress I was. “Anyway, your sister won’t admit it, but I know that she’s sorry for what she did. Forgive her, Glace. It’s my fault that she’s like this.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed. “I was the one who spoiled her rotten. Being busy with work, I thought the only way to compensate her was to give her everything she wanted. Clearly, that was a bad move to make. I should have spent more time with her—with both of you, and I’m determined to do that from now on.” Dad stared at the afternoon sky, then back to me. “I’d appreciate it if you tried to get along with her. Be the bigger sister. She needs you.”

I laughed humorlessly. “I don’t think she needs me, Dad. What she needs is a thorough spanking.”

He gave me an amused look. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Before I could reply, Barbie was back, looking very irritated. “I’m hungry.” She pouted.

“Then let’s eat, princess.” Dad went to the cooler, taking out a slab of meat. “Let’s grill this.”

Barbie stuck her nose in the air. “I’m vegetarian. How do you think I maintain this figure, daddy?” She motioned to her body. If she weren’t such a crazy girl, I would have loved to introduce her to Eris. They would jive so well.

“We have nothing else here, princess. It’s either you eat the meal I’m going to cook, or you’re going to starve.” Barbie was going to protest that, but Dad hurriedly said, “Prepare the sleeping bags with your sister. It’s going to be dark soon, and it’s best to sleep under the stars.”

“Aren’t we going to use the tent?” she said with wide eyes.

“I only brought that in case it rains.” Dad motioned for us to get moving. “Now go along.”

With a huff, Barbie went to where the sleeping bags were situated and grabbed one. Selfish prick, I thought as I grabbed the other two. She placed hers near the river. “I don’t think we should be sleeping right next to the water, Denise.”

She glared at me. “What the hell do you know?”

“Oh, well… Do as you wish,” I said with a wave of my hand as I set the two sleeping bags a few meters away from the water. “It’s just that sometimes, there are water snakes. You know that fat brown thing that slithers?” I chuckled. “I heard it gets easily agitated at night. I also heard that it’s very venomous. But since you insist on sleeping there, go ahead.”

She glanced at me in horror, hurriedly grabbing the sleeping bag and putting it next to the other ones. Well, I lied. I had no idea about those snakes and whether there was one in the river. Who knew if it was venomous as well? But the look on her face was priceless.

Barbie went to her bag and got out a brown fluffy thing, which I could only describe as a stuffed toy with a pink ribbon. “You still play with that thing?” I snorted.

“It’s not a thing; it’s a bear. And she’s Dulce.”

The cocky smile vanished from my face. “You named your stuffed animal thing after my girlfriend? What the heck?” Not only was my half-sister insane, but she was also downright obsessed with what was mine. My hands curled into fists.

Instead of answering me, Barbie raised the bear and looked deep into its eyes. “Dulce is away in France right now, so bear Dulce will have to keep me company until she returns. Isn’t that right, Dulce?” she crooned.

“Your bear is not Dulce,” I said between clenched teeth. The whole idea was irritating me a lot. It was bad enough that she had caused this whole chaos, but did she have to dangle it in my face when I was missing my girl so badly? Not a chance. In a few steps, I was already beside her, swiping the bear from her hand and away from her reach.

“Give Dulce back to me!” she screeched, making a move so she’d be able to grab her bear. I took a step away from her.

“I said its name is not Dulce!”

Dad heard all the shouting, dropping the tongs he was using to cook the meat and leaving the slab on top of the griller in a hurry to get to us before we murdered each other. “What’s happening?” he said with a raised voice, looking panicked and frazzled. Barbie and I ignored him.

She took a step forward while I took another step back. My Converse felt cold and damp. That was when I realized that I had already stepped onto the edge of the river. Daring her to come nearer, I dangled the bear over my head and threatened to throw it in the middle of the water. “I hate you!” she yelled. “Give her back to me! She’s mine!”

“She wasn’t even yours to begin with,” I said in an eerily calm voice, not even sure if we were talking about the bear anymore.

Barbie went into the water, about ankle-deep—same as me. “If you hadn’t come into the picture, Dulce would have fallen in love with me. We would have been something great. But you ruined it, Frio. You ruin everything.”

Dad tried to reason with us. “Please get out of the water.”

I smelled something burning. “Dad, I think the meat is on fire.” He turned around and discovered that what I said was true. He must have done something wrong for the food to end up that way. Forgetting about Barbie and me, he ran to the griller and tried to salvage everything before we started a forest fire.

My so-called sister and I continued our staring match. “It’s not my fault that she doesn’t love you, Denise. If you weren’t so stupid, you would have had her already. But I doubt that you’ll last long with her because you’re a very selfish girl who only thinks about herself. Do you think Dulce could live with someone like you? Over my dead body.”

“Well, maybe you should really die,” she snarled, lunging at me.

We fell into the water, grabbing, scratching, and hurting each other as much as we could. We were now chest-deep in the water, both of us trying to keep afloat as we outlived, outlast, and out-conquered each other a lá Survivor, the ugly bear completely forgotten as it floated away from us down the stream.

“See?” she hollered, scratching my neck. “Bear Dulce is gone! Everything is gone because of you!”

I slapped her right cheek hard. “Wake up, Denise! This is reality. And quit blaming other people for your inadequacy.”

We grabbed each other, pulling down the water. I was gasping for air. She was sputtering and choking. Both of us were filled with hatred for one another. All of a sudden, my dad pulled us from the river, dragging us back to land. Like us, he was now soaking wet. But more than that, he was beet red and raging mad. We’d really done it.

“I cannot believe that such children exist!” he said. “But you’re not kids anymore. Both of you are 18, for crying out loud!” He squeezed his eyes shut, slumping on the ground. “All I wanted was to have a simple family trip. What happened to that?”

I didn’t even have the strength to apologize. He was right. We were messed up. And I blamed myself for it. I should have been the better sister, but Denise got to me because I let her, and I taunted her. To my right, my so-called sister was staring at the grass quietly. She looked as guilty as I felt.

Dad stood up, water dripping from his khaki pants and shirt. “Change your clothes. We will eat dinner after. And that’s final. No more arguments. No more nothing.” He turned around with a huff and went to his bag for a change of clothes.

About twenty minutes later, the three of us sat in front of a small fire that Dad had created, paper plates in our hands. It was a chilly night, and there was a large number of stars in the clear sky. Good thing we had changed our clothes already, or we would be freezing right now.

I stared sadly at the burned meat on the paper plate. Dad made it clear to finish everything he had cooked. It was our fault that it was burned. Denise and I forced ourselves to eat the sorry excuse for food, not even daring to steal evil glances at each other out of fear that Dad would snap and do something we would all regret.

When it was time to sleep, Denise positioned her sleeping bag as far away from me as possible. That would be good for us, I decided. Dad didn’t even say goodnight before he fell asleep, his loud snores filling the silent air. He was too mad at us, and I couldn’t blame him. I took a mournful glance at the stars, wondering what my girl was doing in France and hoping against hope that five years would pass quickly. Before long, I was fast asleep.

The next morning, I woke up with an aching back, a few scratches on my arms, and no doubt several bruises here and there from where Denise had gotten me good. I shivered in the cold morning air, wondering if the small fire we had left last night had already died out. Feeling the need to stretch my arms, I got up and took a good look around. My eyes fell to the empty spot where my dad’s sleeping bag used to be.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Everything was gone—the tent, the grill, our other things, and most importantly, Dad. In the corner, I spotted Denise curled up in her sleeping bag. Running to her side, I called out her name. “Denise! Denise! Wake up.” Her eyes fluttered open.

“What? I’m so sleepy,” she replied groggily.

“Dad is gone!”

“What do you mean? Maybe he’s peeing in the woods.”

“Wake up; he’s really gone. It’s just us two.”

At the mention of ‘us,’ Denise sat up and opened her eyes, glancing left and right to confirm what I said. Yup! He really was gone. “What’s happening?” She was alert now, standing up from the sleeping bag.

“I don’t know. When I woke up, he was just gone. So is the tent.” Panic lingered in my voice. Did something happen to him? No… Please, no. Denise scanned the area and ran in the direction where her eyes had locked on to. I followed her. There in the corner was her camping bag and mine and a note taped to them.

The note read: Glace and Denise, I’m sorry I had to do this. Both of you are very smart girls who need to reconcile your differences. With me in the way, it will never happen, so I left. My father taught me as a young man that a good adventure will teach you a thing or two, and I’m praying that the woods will impart something valuable to you. Don’t worry—there’s plenty of food and water inside the bag. Good luck finding your way home. P.S. Don’t kill each other.