The Hours We Have

chapter thirty-two

"I call shotgun!" 

"No, you don't!" 

I found myself chuckling as I watched the twins shove each other and then try to squeeze through the front door at the same time. Julian tripped Roman, who went tumbling down the porch, and then Julian broke into a dead sprint across the yard towards the car. 

"Julian, you cheating little shit!" Roman ran after his twin but come face-to-face with the passenger door that had been slammed shut. Julian started making faces at him from the inside of the car. Roman visibly exhaled, I could only imagine the glare his twin was receiving.

"Be careful, okay?" Mikeal drew my attention back to him, we had been standing in the doorway, "If anything is suspicious, call me." 

"I will," I promised. 

After we realized we still had no food, that of which Ezra had reminded me this morning after everyone left the house and I finally decided to wake up. My knee was surprisingly a lot better, the swelling had gone down from icing it, and I could support my own weight. I figured I had just stunted it. 

When the twins came home from school, I had asked them if they wanted to go with me. Roman was acting completely normal, which irked me a bit because I figured he would be hating my guts by now. But then we waited for Mikeal to come home. He told us to take the car, and go across town to the other supermarket because we still didn't know about those boys. 

Roman was respectfully grounded, and would no longer associate with them, but Mikeal told us we could never be too careful. I wouldn't argue, especially with the wrong side of the law. I was hoping that this whole thing would blow over and none of us would get tangled up in the current.

Ezra had left later this morning for his job, and I was glad because I didn't think I could bear another shopping trip with him. 

Mikeal chuckled, nodding towards the car. "You better get going before those two tear my car apart."

My head swiveled around. Roman had gotten in the backseat behind Julian but I rolled my eyes when I saw them fighting. 

Julian was halfway turned around in the passenger seat and Roman had resorted to kicking, their limbs blurring as the entire car rocked. I could only assume the colorful words being thrown back and forth. I sighed, "This should be fun." 

"Try to be back before dark!" Mikeal called after me as I descended the front steps onto the yard. I gave him a thumbs up over my shoulder.

It went dead quiet in the car when I got in. I started the car and reversed out of the driveway. The twins were relatively quiet until Julian flicked on the radio. Hip-hop music filtered through the speakers, I didn't know the name of the song. 

"No, that station sucks," Roman said, "Change it." 

"Excuse you," Julian didn't change the station. "But I'm in the front seat and I control the radio." 

"That's not how it works!" 

Julian shot his twin a glare. "Yes, it is! That's what you told me last time. Or does that only apply when you are upfront?" He crossed his arms with a smug grin. "I'm not changing the station, backseat driver." 

"You're not even driving." I caught Roman's deadpanned look in the review mirror. I tried to hide the smile that curved my lips. Next thing I knew, Roman was leaning on the center console, and he changed the station. "Your taste in music so poor, I'm embarrassed to be your twin." 

Julian shoved Roman. "Dude, knock it off!" He changed the station back. "I was listening to that song!" 

"What? A fourteen-year-old girl's theme song?" Roman tried to reach the radio again, Julian was desperately shoving him, but Roman wouldn't sit back. "I can't believe you. I mean, I thought you would at least have some hair on your chest by now."