“You know I hate going to see your brother,” she mutters under her breath.

Daniel shifts in his seat and looks out the window. “Yeah, Em. I know.”

Lynell lets the silence settle for a moment and the driver reaches forward, turning the volume up a few notches. Spanish music with a quick beat fills the car, and she curls her right hand into a fist, nerves shaking.

“We never go see my sister,” she says, raising her voice just enough so the driver can still hear them over the music. She sees him purse his lips and look through the side mirror before merging onto the highway.

Daniel takes an overdramatic breath and turns to her. For a moment she sees amusement in his face before he hardens his expression. “That’s because your sister is certifiably insane.”

“She’s not.” Lynell fights the urge to look back at the driver. They planned for a twenty-five-minute drive, so she has time to escalate the fake argument and watch for a reaction.

“She is. She’s crazy. Everyone in your family is crazy,” Daniel says.

Lynell wants to agree, feeling the truth of his statement in every wound on her body. Every scar that she continues to hide. Instead, she grits her teeth and says, “Well, I’m so sorry that you married into such a crazy family.”

“I am too,” he says, biting the end of his words.

Lynell glances forward and sees how the driver’s shoulders tense. “It’s not like you ever try, Mark. You could make an effort with them.”

The irony in their fight is not lost on her. She could cry or laugh or scream. She lets the emotions fester, needing the conversation to sound as real as possible. Daniel doesn’t reply immediately, and the song changes. Lynell focuses on the piano and violin before Daniel finally replies.

“You want me to make an effort? Fine. I bet your sister would love me to make more of an effort.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lynell slightly raises her voice. The clock shows they’ve been in the car for nearly ten minutes but the way her back aches and hands shake, it seems like an hour.

“You know what it means. Your sister has been dying to get with me since we got married. Is that what you want? For me to screw your sister?”

The argument is escalating too quickly and Lynell raises her eyebrows at Daniel. There’s a quick smirk that instantly turns into a frown while Daniel glances ahead at the driver, as if prompting her to respond so the driver doesn’t get suspicious.

“This again, Mark? You can’t threaten to sleep with my sister every time we get in an argument.”

“Then stop complaining about my family when yours is insane!” Daniel flinches at his own words and admiration for him swells in Lynell’s chest. She can see how much he hates what he’s saying, even if it’s fake, in the way his eyes blink and flick from side to side, not wanting to land on Lynell’s for too long.