Red Popsicles and Fireworks

The sun beat through the window. The rest of my red popsicle dripped onto my knee-length jean shorts and my feet rested on the dashboard. Every so often I would duck my head below the passenger side window in hopes my siblings wouldn't notice me in the car. They'll want to come too and I want it to be just me and dad, I thought to myself. I squirmed in the heat as sweat beat down my forehead. Come on, dad.

I ducked once again below the window as people emerged from the house. I could just barely see over the door as I watched my siblings come out from the house with my grandmother trailing behind them. My sister wore a brightly colored halter top one-piece and her hair was pushed back from her face with a pair of bright green goggles that rested on her head. My brother wore his towel around his neck and sported a basic pair of swim shorts. His goggles hung off his arm and in his hands were diving sticks. I watched as they descended into the soft blue swimming pool, both taking turns diving for the sticks. Perched in her chair on the porch I watched my grandmother as she sipped her coffee and gradually flipped through pages in a book. She occasionally lifted her eyes to assure that no one had drowned in the seconds she had been turned away.

Finally, my dad emerged from the house. "Alright, mom. We will be back soon." I felt giddy with excitement. He had said we were just running errands but I wasn't sure what the errands were going to be, and the unknown was exciting.

"Don't be all day. Dad and I are going to start the grill in the next forty-five minutes. The plan is to be eating at three, so I would like to see the whites of your eyes back here by then." My grandmother was very punctual. When she had a time frame in mind that was it. Her plan was to eat at three so she would start preparing and cooking at exact times to ensure mouths were chewing at three o'clock. Unfortunately for her, my dad lacked her punctuality and had a tendency to run on his own time.

"Oh, give him a break will you Diane? If we have to eat a little later it won't be that big of a deal, let the man run his errands." He couldn't be seen but my grandfather's voice echoed from the back window looking out onto the porch.

"Did I ask you, Pete? If I say we are eating at three o'clock then that is when we will be eating, whether everyone is here or not." She called back. My grandfather mumbled and groaned something loud enough for only her to hear. My father had been ignoring their commentary and had made his way to his truck. I was no longer squirming from the heat but instead from excitement.

He pulled himself into his seat and turned the key, the truck roared to life. Cool air blasted out of the vents causing me to shiver briefly. He backed out of the driveway and as we passed the house I waved excitedly to my siblings and grandparents. "Can I pick the music?" I pulled a book of CDs out of the glove box and started flipping through them.

"Go for it, I think some of your favorites are already in." I shut the book and pressed the CD button on the dashboard. Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry filled the car. I watched my dad's head start to bob to the beat and he mouthed the words. I giggled and turned it up and began bobbing my head too. I stared out the window and watched as we passed through multiple traffic lights and by convenience stores. Occasionally I reached out and switched the song or messed with the air conditioning.

"What kind of errands do you have to run?" I asked. I watched him pull a cigarette out and light it. He shut the air conditioning off and rolled his window down, resting his arm on the door. We stopped at a red light and the smell from the cigarette lingered in the car. I rolled my window down to air it out.

He took a drag of his cigarette. "We are stopping at the grocery store, the liquor store, and the fireworks place." His voice was muffled by the smoke as he exhaled. As we drove I stuck my hand out the window and let it dance through the air.

The grocery store was packed with weekend shoppers bobbing and weaving through aisles trying to get in and out quickly. The lines at the registers were long and people kept shifting their spots so others could get past them. I groaned. It was cold and the air had a strange smell. Goosebumps formed on my bare arms and I wished I had brought a sweatshirt. We made our way down every aisle with my dad leading the way. Occasionally I stopped to ask, "Do we need this?" or "Can I get this?" The answer was usually no but he made the exception to my request for more popsicles.

Back in the car, I decided to leave the air conditioning off and the windows open. The warmth from the sun pierced my skin and warmed me from the outside in. It wasn't a long drive from the busy parking lot of the grocery store to the practically empty one of the liquor store. "Can I come in too?" I asked.

"Yeah, just don't touch anything." I nodded in agreement and jumped out of the passenger seat. I eagerly followed him inside. I felt like I was entering a forbidden place, like the coolers at convenience stores that are only for adults to go in. Colorful bottles in all shapes and sizes lined the walls and center shelves. I was mesmerized and in awe. I thought about what it would look like to use some of the bottles as sun catchers and how pretty they would be. Part of me wanted to take back my agreement and touch everything, but I didn't want to make it so he would never allow me back in there.

We left the store with a small box with different bottles inside. I checked the time on the dashboard and was impressed. At the moment we were making great timing and would be back by the time my grandparents had the food ready. It was still a couple of hours away and my stomach started grumbling. "Dad?"

"What is it, kiddo?" He was watching traffic waiting for the right time to pull out. I watched the cars pass and waited for him to turn onto the road before responding to make sure he was paying attention.

"I'm hungry." He looked at me and sighed in response. I sat quietly as we drove looking out the window. We passed the lake and I saw boats congregated together and jet skis skidding across the water. Motorcycles roared as they weaved in between lanes and flew past other cars. The music pumped through the speakers in the truck filling the silence. We pulled into the firework store and through the propped open doors I could see stacks of colorful boxes. For a moment I forgot my hunger and could only focus on the variety of explosives.

"Alright, you can pick out three different fireworks. Nothing too expensive though, and we can't forget sparklers." Boxes were piled high on shelves and in the middle of the aisles. I checked the prices of the ones that caught my eye the most and decided on three larger brightly colored boxes. I dropped them on the counter one by one and added some sparklers to the pile. I stood off to the side by the register watching my dad make his way down each aisle. We left with a couple of packs of sparklers and six boxes of fireworks. I couldn't wait to tell my brother and sister about getting to pick out fireworks and go into the liquor store all in one day. They were going to have so many questions about what the inside of the stores looked like.

It had been such a great day. I sat in the passenger seat again waiting for my dad to finish paying for the fireworks. My stomach still grumbled from hunger and I sighed. I didn't want to bring up being hungry again since it wouldn't be long before we ate at home. My dad got back in the car, "You still hungry, kiddo?" I nodded. I could've shrieked from excitement when he pulled into KFC right next door to the firework store.

"I'll get you something to eat, but you have to promise me you'll finish it before we get home and you won't tell your siblings you got food."

"I promise!"

When we got home I helped unload the car. Lunch wasn't quite ready yet, but I didn't mind because I was no longer hungry. My siblings were no longer in the pool and kept hounding me about what I did with dad. To keep my promise I just responded with a smile on my face, "I had the best day ever."