Maria's first sleepover

"So, you never had a sleepover?" I asked incredulously. "My sister seemed to want to go out to one every month when I was growing up."

"Eh... Mom wouldn't let me. Never move back with your parents." Maria pointed at me with a warning finger. "It's been two weeks and I already want to kill her." She continued to drive the car south. "Hija De Tu Chingada Madre, I just wanted one night off from her shit!"

"Uhm.... no hab blah..."

"It's hablo. And if you want to polite, open it up with Perdon. and finish with pero no hablo espanol."

"I have no idea why, but I actually like hearing you speak Spanish." I admitted. There was a slight trill to her voice that seemed a bit more natural and happy, even though I didn't understand more than every fifth word at best.

"No manches! Well then, Mañana tengo que volver a mi chamba wey, o me despiden." She shrugged, rolling her eyes. "Used to be fun, you know? Felt like I was doing some good. Now... just feels like I'm driving around waiting to be shot at."

"I think that was my job description when I served." I noted.

"So... what did I say?" She asked, tossing her hair at me happily. "Wanna be bi... lingual?"

"I tried it a few times. Never took. I know how to say "Where is the Bathroom?" "One Beer, Please" and "Sorry, I don't speak blank language" in German, Russian, Japanese and Arabic."

"Donde esta el bano? Uno Cerveza, por favor. And I hope you were paying attention on the last one."

"Perdon... ah crap, now I just want to quote a dumb movie..."

"Ok, I've heard some crappy movie Spanish, what is it?"

"Vivir con miedo es como vivir a medias." I said as confidently as I could. I know I was doing a monkey see, monkey do on it, but I liked the phrase.

Maria didn't react for a moment. She continued to drive along the darkened twisting highway, slowing on each of the blind curves. The ocean drop off to our right combined with the cliff face to the left brought home exactly how narrow this highway actually was. I would occasionally note a short driveway that would descend to the shore, always accompanied by a nice big fence and keep out sign.

"I think we've got the turn coming up on the left here." I noted a tree that looked particularly familiar, and glanced forward in anticipation of the turn off. "Did... I'm sorry, did I say something rude?"

"Depends." Maria said. "I... like you, Brent. I'm a little scared, yeah. But I want this. Never did this as a kid, and it sounds fun. Just don't expect me to be too wild at the start."

Maria shook her head and a soft rustle of sand fell from her hair. The familiar dip in the road that marked the start of our ascent towards the cabin impacted on the tires, and we wound our way through the overhanging trees towards our destination.

"I just worry that we're going to walk into either an orgy or a catfight."

"It's not officially an orgy until it's an actual party. At least according to the criminal code." Maria commented.

"There's a legal definition for an Orgy?"

"Yep. Party characterized by sexual indulgence as well as ****, dancing and general shit that pisses off the neighbors." Maria shrugged.

"I've been having a week long orgy and I didn't even notice it because I was having too good a time, apparently." I commented, noting our turn off. "Right here, don't want to miss it again."

"Thanks." Maria acknowledged the direction and pulled the car to a halt beside the Scooby van which was parked in its customary location. She switched off the ignition, and looked over at the cabin.

"I uh..." She reached forward and pulled on the trunk control, causing the back end to open up and obscure the view. "I have my gym clothes in the back. Hope you don't mind if I go casual for this?"