Family Tradition

"Where exactally are we going? We don't know anything about them, other than the fact that they're Irish twins," I said as we drove through the night, leaving Massachusetts as quickly as possible.

"I don't know, I'm sure we can find something out eventually."

"We need something more defining than Irish and twins. It's not very uncommon to have someone Irish coming from South Boston," I said, looking out the dark window at the trees passing us by on the freeway.

"They had accents?" Alina suggested and I rolled my eyes.

"Again, not very defining. But I guess it's better than nothing, right?"

"Yeahh." I turned and looked at her. She was concentrating on the road, with only one hand on the wheel. The other hand was playing with the roseary she had around her neck. My mom had given us each a roseary, saying they had been our dads before they left. I looked away as I turned the station on the radio, seeing as it was getting some static.

As I leaned forward, I felt the roseary on my own neck move. However, mine wasn't in plain sight. It was hidden underneath my shirt, and I don't think Alina even knew I was wearing it. I smiled when I heard a familiar song playing and couldn't help but sing along, causing Alina to laugh before joining in.

"Gimme a "hell"
Gimme a "yeah"
Stand up right now
And gimme a "hell"
Gimme a "yeah"
Stand up right now
Get ready to go
She ain't movin' slow
She's takin' control
Pushin' the pedal to the floor
I'm beggin' for more
You better hold on tight"

After the song ended, I turned down the radio a little bit and looked back out the window.

"Hey Alina."

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember anything about them?" I asked slowly, not sure I wanted to know or not at the moment.

"No.."

"Nothing? At all?" I asked. Usually Alina was the one to remember things about people, small things that most people wouldn't notice, while I was the forgetful one.

"No, why? What makes you ask?"

"No reason.."

"You remember something, don't you?" She asked and I sighed.

"It's just something small, something stupid. It doesn't matter."

"What is it? You know I want to know. You can't suggest it and just leave me hanging." I chuckled, shaking my head a bit.

"It's dumb.."

"Oh for Christ sake, just tell me!"

"One of them had a mole," I said and she laughed softly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhm. Right here," I said, pointing above my lip and she glanced over before looking back at the road.

"Do you remember if it was your dad or mine?" She asked, and I could hear it in her voice that she was hoping I would.

"No, I've tried thinking about it, but got nothing," I said, leaning back into the seat. Deep down, I knew I wanted it to be my dad who had the mole, just so I could hold onto remembering even such a small detail about him, but once I realized what was running through my head I frowned, trying to push it from my mind. I didn't want to meet them. I didn't want to bond with them again. I didn't want to remember something like that. They left and I was pissed at them for it, that was it.

I sighed quietly as I touched the roseary around my neck. I couldn't help but be comforted slightly by the small wooden beads. Though, it was probably because I was religious, not because it was my fathers. At least, that's what I kept telling myself.

"So where are we going to go?" Alina asked and I shrugged, thinking about it.

"We gotta find some way to find them. But first we need to make a pit stop. Next exit you see, pull off and then we'll switch driving okay?"

"For what?" She asked and I just shook my head.

"Don't worry about it alright? Just trust me." I said and she groaned.

"So, I think we should go to California," She said after it had been quiet for a few minutes.

"What the fuck is in California?" I asked and she laughed.

"I don't know, but I wanna go there. Plus, Emily's out there." I nodded slightly, she had a point. One of our best friends lived out there now, so we could visit her if we had time. But I figured Alina would rather find our dads first and visit friends later.

"You gunna get off at this exit?" I asked and Alina nodded, making a rather dramatic lane change in order to get to the exit in time.