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After hearing her little sister whine about it all weekend and then hearing two cousins join in, Saan was volunteered for taking her sister and three cousins to the movies. The sun was shining, they had two hours time to get there... Nothing could go wrong. That is, until they loaded the screen for aunt into the car and the sister complained about it squashing her shoes and having no room to sit and it wasn't faaaaaaair. And pulled up for bread. And money. And had to actually feed the munchkins before going to the car. And then realised that, with the screen, the three additional people had very little room to spare in the car. And that Nan (two months older than the boy later referred to as Mini) wanted to go with us but wasn't allowed. But apart from that, nothing was raining on the kids' parade.
Our first real problem came in the shape of Saan's youngest cousin, hereafter referred to as 'The mini' or 'Mini'; a hyperactive, nine-year old, male, chauvinist pig who somehow got allowed to follow martial arts courses. How any instructor accepted the kid was still a mystery to Saan, but that's got nothing to do with today's story. So, after wrestling the kid to the car's trunk with his sister, they were off to the station. Saan's mother, the driver of the day, would drive on to the aunt who owned the screen, drop it off and go home. Leaving Saan with the horrors in the shape of four miniature monsters. Mini dragged her down the station stairs on her unstable shoes and nearly dragged her down. Starting from there, the mini got trapped between his sister and Saan. Kicking and screaming ensued. Checked for any run over cousins after crossing the single busiest street that one can cross in this particular city without seeing a traffic light. Needless to say, it has a rather notorious repuation. One of a tripled mortality rate in comparison to the rest of the city. They passed three kids younger than the mini who were making less of a fuss. Things got better in the movie complex.
"Which cue to do you choose?" asked Saan.
"Doesn't matter," said Eldest Cousin of The Pack of Midgets #1.
Saan went to the cue.
"But there's less people," pointed out Mini's sister, Eldest Cousin #2.
Saan went to the other cue.
"'Kay, I'll be needing the student cards before we get there."
What ensued was indescribable.
Cell phones. Pieces of paper. Change. Miniature Plushies. Tampons. More keychains than a bunch of kids with only two keys each need. Dangly cell phone things. The first student card to join Saan's and ten crumpled euros to sponsor the trip. More change. Candy wrappers. Foldable hair brush. Mangled photograph that apparently had been gone for a while. Biro. Chewed out pencil. Scented notepad with three crumpled papers. Second student card. Our turn, by then.
"Hi, three students, two kids. Pirate Movie, next showing. Here are the cards."
Saan shoves the three cards under the glass, they get inspected and shoved back. Ditzy intern gives us all a once over, focusing on Eldest Cousin #1. Note here that said girl is thirteen, looks it and acts it.
"You're all under eighteen, are you?" she asked.
"Yeah, we're all under."
The intern taps away on her keyboard.
"Thirty-five euros," she says us, bestowing us with a look that says she hates her job and is doing it for the money.
Saan gives up her forty euros and gets five back. Saan lets go of Mini, mini storms off. The four girls give chase up to the page-reader where Mini is scowling at a decidedly happier intern.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! I wanna do this! I wanna do this!" squealed Mini's sister. Saan gives up the paper, Mini's sister gives it to the second intern, Saan (who is sponsoring the trip with money of her mother and will have to report back to said mother with physical proof of her mission expenses to keep the familial peace), never sees it again. Oh, well. On to the snack stand.
Saan takes all cousins to the second cashier, who's just opening his place. Only three people in front of us. Mini disappears to the free PSP2s and proceeds to kick a guy older than Saan's virtual ass.
"Okay, so we want popcorn-right?-and a large coca cola-right?-and...Anything else?" Saan asked.
"Yeah. One mega-sized popcorn, cola and a smaller popcorn," said Eldest Cousin #1.
"I'm not sure, that's a lot of popcorn, girlie. Are you gonna eat it all?"
"Well, you're here now."
"I don't eat popcorn."
"Oh."
"One large popcorn. One large cola," glared Saan.
"If you want more, how about--Oi, where's your bro?"
"Still there," chirped Eldest Cousin #2.
"Okay."
Our mass of female activity moved to the counter.
"Hi, one large sugared popcorn menu with cola and a bag of potato chips, salt, please."
Guy shoves a tub of popcorn onto the counter.
"What was that drink ya wanted?" he asked fuzzily. You could've found the fur on his voice in the back of your fridge. On a sandwich you forgot about a few weeks back, to be precise.
"Coca cola."
Guy shoved a cup on the grid of the soda bar thing.
"And that chips?"
"Salt. Natural. Are you okay?"
"Muh."
Guy shoved drink and chips onto the counter and demanded nine euros and half. Saan shoved the popcorn into her sister's arms, the drink into mini's sis and the other one got the chips.
"Where's the mini? He was there just a minute ago!" squeaked Saan after paying. Mini popped up from behind a pillar. Saan, now seriously pissed, picked up the mini and dragged him trough the door marked with a seven. The two eldest cousins sat down, the mini got shoved into the seat next to them and Saan and sister followed. Saan chose the seat next to the stairs. It made for an easier escape route. After seven minutes of whining, ten minutes of brainwashing through commercials, another ten through trailers, the film began, the highlight of the day that they'd all been waiting for. An hour and half of sheer silence. Heavenly. Only six screams.
After wrapping everyone back into their respective coats and sweaters as the credirs rolled by, they exited. No one had to pee, despite having just consumed a large amount of carbonated, chemical color and taste. The window showed us a flooding rain. Ah, summer in Belgium. Like a bunch of cheap tourists, they were caught without coats. Or, in Saan's case caught without a coat with a hood attatched to shield her from the downpour. The cousins would catch a bus at the station. Saan would catch a train. But first, they had to get there. Across a square with stones that turned slick as ice with the slightest hint of rain, after a street with no chance on shelter until the station.
"Three. Two. One. Go!"
Like a bunch of madmen, the five stormed down the street, coming to a spectacular halt at the square, next to its first pub. The four cousins proceeded to the bus stops. Saan moved at a slower rate, preferring not to fall on her face in a city she'd probably have to find a university in. At this slower rate, she noticed a underground parking lot. The station's underground parking lot. Taking the stairs down, Storm felt the cool, dry air hit her at the clothes. Her new shoes were leaking. Her pants were soaked to the underwear. Her cell phone was nearly swimming.
And until this hour, she still does not know how much worse her cousins were off, who, unlike her, had dressed in jeans instead of quick-dry canvas trousers.
21-08-2006 om 21:22
geschreven door Saan 
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