“Inkpop?”
“Yeah, baby?” I asked, looking behind me for a second to Angel, who was sitting next to her baby sister.
“I gotta use the bathroom.”
I looked around the desolate road, for any signs of a bathroom, but I hadn’t seen one since our last stop. We were heading to Archer but decided to stay off the main highways with such a large convoy. It had very little traffic, but it was a very scenic route with cliffs, valleys, and wooded areas. “You’re gonna have to go on the side of the road, I don’t know when's the next time we’re going to get to a rest stop.”
“Whatever, just hurry.” She bobbed her leg, her feet bumping impatiently against my chair.
I pressed activated the Bluetooth that connected the cars and my brothers. “Pulling off for a second, we’ll catch up.”
Wire’s voice came back immediately, “You good, Ink?”
“Yeah, nature calling for some of the ladies back here.”
“Alright, step on it.”
I pulled over, Jazmine blew me a kiss as they passed us by.
“Thank god,” Vida said as all the women got out of the car and found a bush to pee in. I shook my head and walked to the cliff. I stood there thinking about why, when on long road trips, women need to take thirty-seven pee breaks. I’d never know the answer. The landscape was gorgeous. I know Jazmine would have had a great time painting something like this. After they’d all relived themselves, Mikki took a second to clean up Loralie. She’d been asleep for the majority of the trip but had just wet her diaper, so she woke up fussing a bit. Suddenly that quick stop had become a full rest.
“Ladies, you ready to go?”
“Yup, all set.” Mikki strapped the content baby back into her car seat, and we all got settled in.
I drove off, not concerned about losing the rest of them. There was only one road for a long while, and I knew I’d catch up to the guys eventually. The rumble of the car was relaxing.
“Inkpop?”
“Angel, you just went to the bathroom. You can’t have to go again.” I said. I wasn’t pulling over again. She would just have to hold it. I never understood how parents did this all the time.
“Didn’t Storm take his bike?” She asked, her voice shaking slightly.
“Yeah, he’s with Wire and Prez.”
“Oh, no.” She cried out, “Inkpop, Vale!”
My eyes darted everywhere, in that one second. I was trying to keep my vision on the dangerous road ahead of us and looking to the sides for a bike.
“What are you talking about?” Vida asked, turning around to look at Angel. I watched her eyes get wide before Angel could even answer. “Ink, he’s behind us. He’s in the car.”
I looked in my side mirror. It was Vale. Fuck.
“You think he knows it’s us?”Mikki asked her voice panicked now too.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I banged my head on the steering wheel and tried to keep the same pace. If he didn’t know it was us, me speeding up would just tip him off. I waited for a second to see what he’d do; it was all the time he needed.
I heard his car rev, and before I could move, he was ramming us hard.
The girls screamed, and Lorelie began to wail. The jolt of the crash startling her.
“Motherfucker!” I roared as I put my foot down, the heavy truck switching gears fast as I picked up speed. I hit the Bluetooth, but I didn’t hear anything but static. We were too fucking far away.
He rammed us again, the back wheels of the truck lifting off the pavement for a second before dropping back down to the road.
“Inkpop!” Angel screamed as she fell hard against the back of my seat.
“Put your fucking seatbelts on!” I yelled.
“Oh shit! What the fuck?” Vida cried from the front seat.
“Mikayla, make sure you know where the release is for the fucking seat.” If we had to get out of the truck fast, I didn’t want her to have to fiddle with the car seat. “Hold on guys, just fucking hold on!” The truck was already going upwards of seventy miles per hour, but Vale was tight on our tail. He was in a smaller car, and it didn’t take much to keep up with us.
I kept both my hands on the wheel and used every fucking bit of driving skills I owned to keep the heavy beast on all four wheels on the winding fucking road. He hit us again, and my back tires drifted just peeking over the edge, I felt the wheels shudder as they tried to gain traction again to pull us in the opposite direction.
“You piece of shit! Oh, you dead fuck. Motherfucker!” We righted on the road and continued to gain speed. I reached down again to press the Bluetooth.
“Inkpop, make him stop, please.” Angel cried to me.
“Shh, it’s okay, my baby. It’s okay, shhh.” Mikki cried as she leaned over a hysterical Loralie. “Lora, baby, momma’s here.”
“Ink….almost…for…” The intercom started to fade in and out; we were getting closer. I pressed it furiously, hoping they would hear the beeping and realize that something was wrong.
“Ink? Why are you leaning on the com like
