Re: In the car: Amy/Si
[Si glanced over again at Amy, curled up like she was, and he again tried to ground himself. He focused on feeling the steering wheel pressing against his palms, his fingers flexing on time-smoothed grip. The chair coming up under him. The way the car reacted to his foot on the pedals. He made himself notice the lingering scent of cigarette ash that clung to everything. The grime on the dash, on the volume button of the cassette player. He bit the inside of his bottom lip until he could taste the tang of copper blood. Amy's touch didn't register much. Another glance, this one more unseeing than the last. Why did he have to feel like he couldn't breathe?] Okay, [was what he told his sister. Eyes back on the road, fingers releasing and re-gripping on the wheel. He wanted to ask if something happened, if the man had done something to make her not recall, but he couldn't. Staying on the road was important and Si focused on that like it was a lifeline.
He was quiet, save for endless, ragged breaths, for the rest of the ride, and unless Amy said anything, he didn't speak, until the car bumped up onto the grassy parking area of the carnival. Si killed the engine, then sat back. He rubbed a hand over his face, holding it there a second, over his eyes, to fucking pull himself together. Then, he got out of the car, leaving Amy's phone in the cupholder he'd stuck it in. He was busy repeating to himself not to look back.—Si came around to open his sister's door, but he didn't drag her out. He didn't like the carnival very much, but it was better than going back to Audrey and it was better than a motel room. Si held his hand out to be taken.]