Sisters, Part 7

"Sisters"
by Dromedary Joe

Part Seven

Ashley sat in the living room arguing with her parents. She would definitely
*not* do it.

She had been planning this spring break trip with her best friend Emily since
their sophomore year. She had saved up money and booked a nice hotel room on
the beach. Both girls had just turned eighteen and were ready to go. Then
Emily's grandmother died and she had to go across country to the funeral.
Ashley would need to take someone else. 

"I've tried finding another friend to go with me, but everyone else has plans
for spring break," said Ashley, "So I'm just going to take my boyfriend."

"Absolutely not," said her father, "I don't care if you are eighteen. We
don't trust your boyfriend. You're not going with him."

"Then I'll go alone," said Ashley.

"We're not letting you go on a six hour trip alone. Especially not to spring
break with a bunch of horny college boys around," said her father.

"Well then what do you want me to do? Cancel my reservations and lose my
deposit?"

"We've already discussed this. You're taking Brenda," said her mother.

Ashley had heard them the first time, but had ignored it.

"I am *not* taking The Dork to spring break," said Ashley, "I'd rather take
Danni if I have to take any sister. I'd even take Cindy before I'd take
Brenda."

"Don't call your sister a dork," warned her father.

"She is a dork," said Ashley.

Her father ignored it this time, instead giving her his final word, "You
either take your sister Brenda to spring break or you stay home. Bottom
line."

"I'll go alone," said Ashley defiantly, "Or I'll take my boyfriend Dave
because I'm eighteen and can if I want."

"Really?" said her father, "Remember that trust fund your grandfather left
you for when you turn nineteen, the one with $250,000? Well, maybe I'll
exercise the option in it which says I can hold it until you're thirty if I
see you haven't matured enough yet. It would really suck if your three
younger sisters got their money long before you did."

Ashley swallowed hard. Her father had played the trump card. She knew she
would have to take Brenda now, no questions asked.

***

Brenda and Ashley got into Ashley's convertible and headed out on the long
six hour drive to Panama City Beach, Florida. Both girls knew there wouldn't
be much talking on the way down to the beach since the girls had very little
in common.  Ashley wasn't the only one who was unhappy about this beach trip.
Brenda disliked her older sister with a passion but had gone along because
her parents had insisted. They figured Ashley couldn't get in trouble if she
had Brenda around to watch her. Brenda decided this might be a good time to
quit smoking, though, she knew there wouldn't be any good chances to smoke
with her very anti-smoking older sister around. She had smoked her last pack
of Newport 100's the night before and was preparing for the nicotine cravings
she would surely have over the next couple of days...

*** 

"Oh my God," said Danni, sitting in her father's den smoking a cigarette with
Cindy later that day, "Mom and Dad must really hate Ash and Bren to make them
stay in the same room for a whole week."

"No shit," said Cindy taking a drag off her Marlboro 100. "I bet you they'll
be home before the week's half over." What would no doubt complicate things
was that Brenda was trying to quit smoking. She probably wouldn't be too
pleasant to hang around even if she didn't have to deal with Ashley around.

Danni thought for a moment and then said, "Remember when we used to fight
like that?"

"Yeah, before we became smoking buddies," said Cindy.

"Maybe Brenda and Ashley could become smoking buddies."

Both girls started laughing hard. Of course Danni didn't yet know about
Brenda's smoking but the thought of the anti-smoking Ashley becoming a smoker
was funny to Cindy.  The image of the two of them, Ashley and Brenda, sitting
down and chain smoking while talking about life was funny.

"Well," said Cindy, "don't think that will happen. But I'd love to be a fly
on the wall of that hotel room this week."

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