The Guadeloupe Squadeloupe

Chapter XIX: Perry

"If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself." ~Rick Riordan

It's expected that Guad and Bob don't have a passport; I saw that coming. But I assumed both the twins had one. It makes me nervous having Alice, Bob, and Guad hiding under the seats of the van. I try to hide it for Janis and Bob's sake.

The border patrol agent says something that I can't understand, but I'm guessing it's something bad. Bob shifts uncomfortably in his seat, and Janis just looks terrified.

"He said he is going to check out car for illegal immigrants," Janis whispers, answering the question on my mind. The color drains from her face, giving her the look that she's about to throw up.

We have to get out of the car, just in case there's someone hiding under our seats. There technically are people under our seats, but he doesn't need to know that.

"It's okay," Diana says, slinging her arm around my shoulder. "Alice is smart. She won't have trouble hiding well."

"Who said that what I'm worried about?" I ask defensively, causing the girls to smile oddly.

Janis laughs lightly. "You're a terrible liar, Perry. Now shut up, and watch."

The driver's door is opened. He bends down, looking under the seat. Either there is no one there, of they're hidden very well. He moves onto the passenger's side. What I see when he opens the door sends a chill up my spine.

There is a piece of cardboard pushed against the tiny space below the glove box. That wasn't there before we got out of the car (I don't even know WHERE the cardboard came from), so someone must be hiding behind it. The border patrol agent knocks lightly on the cardboard, but doesn't inspect further than that.

He closes that door, and slides open the back door. I don't see anyone, which is good. I can't fathom where they're hiding though.

Mr. Border Patrol doesn't see anyone, so he asks something in Spanish, pointing to the trunk door (which isn't really a trunk, since this is a van). Janis nods, and he moves behind the van in order to open that door.
As he makes his way to the back of the car, I see two figures move out from behind the backseats and onto the floor of the front seats. If he opens the door, they will most definitely be caught.

The trunk door swings open, and the last leg of the inspection ends quickly; there isn't really anything in the trunk. The man motions for us that we can get back in the car, which I'm grateful for.

Diana, Janis, and I walk back to the car slowly, allowing whoever climbed into the front to be able to move to the back.
I open the driver's door, and to my surprise, Guad is sitting in the passenger's seat. He clearly was the one behind the cardboard, but I can't see how he fit.

"Perry, I can drive," My sister says, pushing me out of the way. "You've driven more than everyone combined. It's only fair that you get a break."

Diana has never volunteered to drive for me before, let alone do ANY chores for me before. Admittedly, I'm exhausted, so I choose to go along with it.

Janis and Bob sit in the trunk, and Alice rummages through the glove box for her geology book. She climbs into the trunk as well, so I follow.

I slump down in the corner beside Alice, who flips through pages of her book. Janis has her head on her twin's shoulder, and is holding Bob's hand.

"Rip this page out for me, please. I can't bare to do it myself," Alice whispers, handing me the book as the car starts. I rip out a page about rock formations of something, and hand it back to her. She rips it once, and folds it several times, then hands it back. "Here, it's an origami butterfly."

"Thanks," I whisper back, and place the butterfly in my lap. Taking the leftover paper, I roll it into a tube. "Here you go; it's an origami worm."

Alice giggles as she accepts my gift. I hear someone snoring, and see that Janis is indeed asleep. Maybe I should sleep, too; I WAS up the majority of the night.

Before I can decide what to do, sleep takes over, making the choice for me.

• • •

Someone shakes me awake. The first thing I see as I'm coming to my senses is Janis standing over me, while frantically poking my forehead.

"I thought you should know," she starts. "We're at a gas station. There's a bathroom inside."

"Thanks," I reply, but it unintentionally sounds sarcastic. "I guess I should go inside, then."

I glance to my side, and find that Alice must have already gone into the gas station, along with everyone else.

The afternoon sun blinds me as I climb out of the van, not having been exposed to windows in the trunk. Janis seems to have the same reaction, but shields her eyes from the sun with her hand. Maybe it would be wise for me to try that.

The inside of the building smells strongly of garbage. Bob and Guad are looking through the shelves for supplies, but I can't see Diana. She's probably just too short for me to see over the shelves.

I bumble from aisle to aisle, trying to find my sister or Alice. The twins laughter leads me to the latter.

"What'd you find?" I ask, joining them beside shelves packed with candy.

"We were just talking about the accuracy of a 3 Musketeers bar," Janis says as she lets another laugh escape her. "There were totally four of them."

"Wow, you guys are even nerdier than I thought."

I walk further down the aisle, and Alice trails some distance behind me, carefully observing the ceiling. Bob and Guad are at the register, so I head over there.

"We're the 10,000th consumers, apparently," Bob mutters as I join them. "He's getting our 'prize'."

The cashier holds out a small bucket of rings, and gestures for us to each take one. I feel as though we should be cautious, receiving a gift from a complete stranger, and it doesn't seem to bother anyone else.

I slip the ring on my finger, and admire the intercut details. It looks oddly familiar, in the sense that it is a circle with different types of line running throughout it, but I can't place my finger on where I've seen it before.

We thank the cashier, and pile back into the car.