Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. ï>¿The Trailer Park: The Road Trip A Story in the Wynter/Trailer Park Universe by Wizard CopyrightÂ(C) 2007 by Wizard Chapter 21 The next morning was beautiful. I had to stop and think about it to realize that it was Sunday. I also realized that if Tami's original schedule was holding, we only had four more days before we had to go back to the real world. Maybe we could head north. Just keep going and going. Find a spot in the Northwest Territories, build a cabin, and live happily ever after. No more school. No more Parker. No worrying about college and life after. Just Tami and me, and Robbie makes three. Of course Darlene, Mikee, and Kelly make four, five and six. Traci we could use for bear bait. I'd been planing to bury her in the woods anyway, though at the moment I didn't remember why. The girls started stumbling out around nine. I'd already been up three hours, run four miles, had a shower and cooked my breakfast -"one of our neighbors caught more fish than he needed. I don't fish myself, but I was happy to take four big trout off his hands. Robbie was first. She made a smart-ass comment about me being too happy this early in the morning and stumbled toward the restroom. Darlene was next. She just glared as she passed. Kelly and Traci never opened their eyes but somehow made it down the trail. Tami's was the only smiling face I saw pre-bathroom. I take personal credit for it, putting it down to enthusiastic exercise before sleep and a safe secure feeling during. By the time the girls started coming back I had breakfast ready: trout, eggs, and hashbrowns. Darlene made a face at the trout, but I noticed it was all gone when she brought back her plate. It was almost eleven before we'd packed up and hit the road. I drove from Cheyenne to Casper, where we hit an Outback for lunch. Robbie took over for the drive to Sheridan, then Mikee took the last leg. We were staying at the Prune Creek Campground in the Big Horn National Forest, about an hour from Sheridan. An hour later I was sitting by the firepit -"we didn't have a fire going because it was too hot -"a cold Coke in one hand and the other arm around Mikee as she wiggled in my lap. The tents were up, the gear unpacked, and all was right with the world. "Hitting on freshmen now?" a voice said over my shoulder. "I'm a sophomore," Mikee said automatically before looking up. I saw the shock on her face. I twisted around and looked, then stood, dumping Mikee on the ground. "What the hell are you doing here?" I almost shouted. I reached down and helped Mikee to her feet, mumbling an apology. "She wanted someone to keep her company. Said her brother was boring." Chad Davis hooked his thumb back over his shoulder at the two siblings standing twenty feet back. I laughed. "I'm guessing this has something to do with the mysterious calls and e-mails the future Mrs. Sims has been sending. "We were sworn to secrecy," Sally said, stepping up next to Chad. "She threatened to rent me to Robbie for a tackling dummy if I breathed a word," her brother Toby added. I grinned, "Having been tackled by Monster Girl a couple of times, I understand your decision," I said with a grin. "Mikee, why don't you see if you can track down the rest of the group?" They'd gone for a walk a few minutes before. Mikee nodded, then jogged down the trail they'd left on. I stepped forward and shook hands with the two boys and hugged Sally. We were sitting and talking about our summers when the girls came back. Mikee had evidently not told them, because they all looked surprised. There was a lot of hugging, and I made a mental note to remind Chad that my sister was only an eighth grader. And remind Trace that Chad was a senior. The guys and I sat down, and Tami settled in my lap. Chad looked at us, then glanced at Mikee. I'm pretty sure that Robbie noticed the look, 'cause a second later she made herself at home on Toby's lap, not that he looked like he minded. Then Darlene settled on Chad. Sally looked around. "I feel left out." "Can't have that," Robbie and I said at the same time. Robbie got up, walked over, and sat in her lap. "Not exactly what I had in mind," Sally said in surprise. "Be that way," Robbie said huffily and returned to her brother. I stretched my legs out in front of me and gave Tami a small push. She slid down to the ground. I looked at Sally. "Do you want me to go there, or you come over here?" Sally looked surprised, though not as surprised as Tami. Then she giggled and moved over onto my lap. "Well!" Tami said in a way that reminded me of Jack Benny on the old, old reruns. She stood and dusted herself of with exaggerated motions. Traci and Kelly got up and hugged her. "We still love you." We talked for about a half-an-hour while the girls played musical laps with Chad and Toby. I think the guys were in shock, and Sally, on my lap, could barely restrain herself from laughing. Tami stood up. "Everybody ready to rehearse?" "I thought we were Unrehearsed," Chad said, enjoying a lapful of Mikee. Robbie, sitting next to him, laughed. "Ever see the movie Fame?" He nodded. "Remember the slave driving dance teacher?" He nodded again, looking a little confused. "Meet her cousin, Tami." Tami grinned and took a bow. I turned the van into a park and was surprised to see a half-dome stage like we played in Otter Park, though a lot older and not quite as big. Tami directed me to follow the road that circled the park, passing a playground with an ice cream stand that I decided was worth coming back to. Eventually we came back around to the stage. "Ever feel like you've been set-up?" I asked Robbie, who was sitting behind me. "Only when I hang out with your girlfriend." Over the stage was a banner proclaiming a week of concerts in the park. Most of the groups I didn't recognize, but apparently Unrehearsed was playing on Sunday. I glanced at Tami, but she was pointedly looking out the side window. We'd all been surprised when Tami suggested a drive before rehearsal, especially when Tami's directions took us all the way back to Sheridan and Kendrick Park. I parked behind the stage and turned off the van. Toby, who'd been following, pulled his van in next to us. "Madame tour director," I said, turning toward Tami, who at least looked at me. "I know how you hate to ruin your little surprises, but would it be too much to ask when the concert is supposed to start?" Tami smiled. "Seven-thirty." I looked at my watch. A little less than two hours. I looked back at the others. "It's a good thing that Sally's kit isn't as big as Cinnamon's or we'd never make it, but we're still going to have to hustle to get everything set up and some kind of program arranged. "I've got the program here," Tami said, pulling a sheet of paper out of her purse. I ignored her. "Let's check out the stage, then get Sally and Toby's stuff unloaded." We got out, leaving Tami sulking in the van, and walked around to the front of the stage. They had it blocked off with some panels on wheels like you use for scenery in a play, which made sense. On an outdoor stage, a curtain would rot away in no time. I started onto the stage. "You kids can't go back there!" a voice announced behind me. A big guy in an sport shirt and spandex shorts was hurrying towards us. Spandex should be outlawed on guys and women over twenty. "It's okay, we're Unrehearsed," I shouted at him and kept going. Behind the panels I stopped. There was already a full drum kit and a pair of keyboards. "Those look familiar." Sally laughed. "You've seen my drums before. Why so surprised." I looked back at Robbie. "I guess because I'm a slow learner." Robbie nodded at Tami, who'd gotten out of the van and followed us to the stage. "You hold and I'll tickle?" I grinned. "I think it's more like you hold and I'll spank." We both looked at Tami. "What?" she said, shrugging. The picture of innocence. "Tami, my love." "So, I'm your love again?" I slid my arm around her and my hand into her back pocket. "You've always been my love, though I'll admit I was slightly annoyed with you." Tami sighed. "At first I thought you were playing, then I realized you were really annoyed. Why?" Now it was my turn to sigh. "First, you need to realize that I've loved this trip. And I've loved your surprises. Mostly." "But?" "The idea of having Toby, Sally, and Chad show up and then doing a concert three hours later was not your best one." "Why?" "Music is easy. But performing music is harder, especially without practice." "That's why I had us get there early." "But..." I stopped. I knew this was going to be hard to explain. Tami loved music, but didn't sing, not even in the shower. "I want you to listen to something." I pulled my MP3 player out of my pocket and handed it to her. "It's cued up. All you have to do is push play." Tami put the earbuds in her ears and pushed the play button. We walked as she listened to the two songs. "I don't get it," she said, pulling the earbuds out after it was over. "Same song, same singer," I explained, and she still looked puzzled. "That was Michael Johnson with a song he did called This Night Won't Last Forever. The first one, he did around seventy-eight as a single, then he re-recorded it ten years or so later. That was the second song." "But it was so different." "Yeah," I agreed. "Actually, I don't like the second version at all, but the point I'm trying to make is, that's the same song with two very different arrangements." Tami looked puzzled. "Imagine that you decided that you wanted me to do that song. I learn the first version. Then you e-mail Chad that you want the group to learn the song. He goes on the internet and pulls up the music for the second version. Then we meet in beautiful Sheridan, Wyoming, and without practice, perform." Tami giggled. "Okay, so no more surprises?" "I hope you'll never stop surprising me, but just be careful when audiences are involved." Tami nodded and we walked some more. Actually the concert had gone better than I would have expected. We'd had almost two hours to run through the music and work out the kinks. We did most of the songs that we'd been performing. Evidently Tami had kept Sally and guys informed when we added new ones. I was kinda surprised that Tami didn't have us do In America, since it had gone over so big in Otter Park. Maybe the guys hadn't learned that one. The ice cream stand had closed by the time we finished and packed the band's gear. I decided that finding roadies needed to go on my to-do list. And groupies. So we headed back to the campground and barbequed hamburgers. It was almost midnight before Tami and I got our walk. "You know," I said as we started back, "Robbie was more annoyed than I was." "Robbie? She didn't look annoyed." "She kept it inside. Remind me to find her something to tackle tomorrow." "But..." "Tami, you may not have noticed, but Robbie is something of a perfectionist." "I know, but..." "We weren't perfect. Not even close. We were good. And the audience liked it, but we weren't where Robbie wanted us to be." "Should I apologize?" "Nope. Wouldn't hurt, but wouldn't help. She'll get over it." "Especially if you have her tackle something." "But you might let her in on any other musical plans you have." Tami nodded. "And if you wanted to tell me too..." "Like that's going to happen," she said with a laugh. She jumped away from me, then pushed me into a large bush. "Race you back to camp," she yelled, breaking into a run. I untangled myself from the bush and followed, wondering if a dog might be a better idea than a girlfriend. Affectionate, loyal, and you can slap them on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. Chapter 22 The applause was almost deafening. I'd just finished Skin with Darlene and Kelly dancing around me, and the audience loved it, especially when Darlene pulled off her skincap and took her second bow. "Thank you. Thank you," I said, and waited for the applause to die out. "You've been a great audience, and I wish the show could go on forever." Then I had to wait again for the applause. "The fireworks start in about ten minutes, so we'd like to finish with one last..." "Tony!" someone whispered from the side of the stage. I looked over. Tami was holding up two fingers. "Sorry," I told the audience. "Two last songs." It had been a good day. No, a great day. I hadn't climbed out of Tami's arms and my sleeping bag until after nine and wasn't all that surprised to find out I was the first. I was surprised that Sally was the first girl out of the big tent. "Good morning," I called as she stumbled toward the rest rooms. The others all appeared in the next ten minutes. I started breakfast, and Chad and Toby showed up from their tent in the next space before I was done. "I see the girls have you well trained," Toby said with a grin as I stirred my scrambled eggs. I grinned right back. "I'm traveling with six of the sexiest girls in Washington, only one of which is my sister. You're traveling with your sister and him." I pointed my spatula at Chad. "Want me to teach you to cook?" The bright red color in his cheeks was all the answer I needed. After breakfast we loaded up and headed back to Sheridan. Robbie had met a guy at last night's concert and arranged to borrow his warehouse, so by eleven we were practicing. We put in five hours with only a small break when Robbie sent me and Tami to Wendy's for burgers. While we ate, Tami set-up her laptop to check e-mail or whatever. She was eating a burger with one hand and typing with the other when she choked. I'd been sitting between Sally and Robbie, talking about one song that we were having trouble with. I jumped to my feet, but before I could get to her, the choking turned to laughter. "Stay!" she said as she saw me coming forward, holding her palm out to reinforce her command. "What?" "Robbie, I need your advice." She pointed at her laptop screen. "Do we tell him now and ruin his day, or wait till after the show?" Ruin my day? Robbie came around and read whatever was on the screen. She didn't laugh, but there was a sadistic feel to the grin on her face. "It would be better for the show to wait until later, but this is to good to keep. But first," she motioned Traci and Kelly over. It took the two younger girls over a minute each to read what was on the screen. I knew from their big grins that it wasn't good. Traci walked over, leaned up on tip-toes, and kissed me on the cheek. "You're still my favorite brother." I knew I was going to hate whatever it was. "Can I read it to him? Please? Please? Pretty please?" Robbie begged, sounding like a five-year-old asking for candy. Tami nodded. "Do I need to sit down?" I asked. "Maybe you'd better." I sat, but before Robbie could start reading, Kelly came over and sat across my lap. The gentle way she sat down instead of her usual running jump made me wonder who'd died. But I knew Tami wouldn't be so callous about something like that. "You don't have to tell me," I said. "I know already." "You do?" Tami and Robbie asked together. "Yep. Last night some bigwig from Virgin Records was in Otter Park, heard the Wizards play, and signed them to a hundred million dollar contract with a movie deal on the side." "Close," Tami agreed. "Close?" Kelly wiggled to get comfortable and I decided that a good lap-warmer was almost as good as a hundred million dollar contract. Almost. Mostly. "Cousin Cinnamon e-mailed me." "Why'd she e-mail you?" I asked. "Probably cause she knew I was checking my e-mail and didn't know if you were. She sent me a link to an article in the Rocky Mountain News..." "The Rocky Mountain News?" I interrupted. "Wynter's won the damned Nobel prize." "Not for five or six years," Traci said from behind me. She laid her hands on my shoulders and started rubbing. "She's only thirteen." Tami grinned, turned sideways, and held both hands out at Robbie as if presenting her. Robbie put on a straight face, cleared her throat and started reading. "Dateline... we can skip that. This small mountain community was shocked not so much by a robbery attempt at the Community Schoolership Fund's concert at Otter Park as by the way it was foiled. Twelve-year-old Kenny Taylor, son of Doctor and Mrs. Kevin Taylor, offered himself as a hostage to save two classmates and their chaperone when Carl Garrett held a knife to Brinkly Ward's throat and demanded the proceeds from their donation table. Ward has been confined to a wheelchair for several years as a result of a condition related to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. "Taylor was able to talk Garrett into leaving the table and other hostages on the pretext of robbing several other tables during the distraction caused by the surprise appearance of Tyrone Hayes at the concert. Taylor, with the help of sixteen-year-old Ron Lopez, son of a local policeman, then disarmed the robber when safely away from the crowd. Lopez, who has been instructing Taylor in karate, hapkido, and kung fu, said his star pupil was unranked but probably about the equivalent of a brown belt." Karate? No wonder the little punk hadn't been afraid of me. "Garrett was taken into custody," Robbie continued, still straight faced, "by police officers Bill Hlavacek and Evan Peters and off-duty State Patrolman W. T. "Red" Swingle, who said the suspect appeared to be high on one or more narcotics. "This isn't Taylor's first opportunity to play hero. Last year he was instrumental in the capture of convicted cocaine dealer Juan de Ramirez y Sanchez, along with two kilos of cocaine. The year before, he was instrumental in the rescue of two friends from the Hargus Mine." "Ward, a singer with Brink of Destruction was checked by paramedics and released after giving her statement." Robbie finished and looked up. I realized every eye was on me, though Sally, Toby and Chad couldn't have a clue what was going on. "Kenny is going to be so pissed that they called him a twelve-year-old," I said after a few seconds. "Is that all you have to say?" Tami asked. "Okay, I'm impressed. But I still ain't leaving him alone with my little sister." A little after four we packed up again and headed east of town to the Polo Grounds. Personally, I refuse to believe that anyone in Wyoming had ever seen a polo match, let alone played one, but the Polo Grounds were where the big annual fourth-of-July celebration was held. Several hundred cars were already there when we arrived. Families parked, barbequed, and played football, soccer and other things. Fortunately we were able to park near the stage, where a rock band was playing. "These guys play till five," Tami explained. "Then there's another group from five-thirty to seventy-thirty. Then we've got the prime spot from eight until the fireworks." "How'd we manage to get the prime spot?" Robbie asked with a wink to me. "Well, I happened to mention our five state concert tour..." I've really got to keep Tami away from Robbie. With nothing to do until seven-thirty, we wandered the Polo Grounds. Robbie and I even managed to find a touch football game. She didn't get to tackle anything, but it helped. That and the practice. At seven we barbequed steaks, then set up the band's equipment. At eight Traci started things off with Jailhouse Rock. There were maybe fifty people by the stage when we started, but by nine, the crowd had grown to several hundred. Robbie was doing Bridge Over Troubled Water when I noticed three guys setting up extra microphones in front of a stage. One of them came over to me and handed me a note. 'WE'RE BROADCASTING NOW, SO INTRODUCE THE GROUP.' I handed the note to Tami. She shrugged innocently. "I hope you at least got us royalties this time," I whispered as Robbie finished her song. I took a mike and walked out on stage. "That was Robbie Tate with Bridge Over Troubled Water," I said. I'd considered introducing her as Roberta, but I wanted to see my mom and dad at least once more before I died. "Her newest CD, Live from Otter Park is available now. And this is Unrehearsed. On the keyboards, Toby Reyes. On drums, his slammin' sister Sally. And the man on the strings, Chad Davis." "Next up, we have Darlene Carter with I Will Always Love You." The concert went great. By the time I finished Skin, we probably had a thousand people, easy, and who knew how big a radio audience. I finished my lead-in, then jogged off the stage. Traci walked out, said something to Toby, walked to the front of the stage, and sat down, her feet dangling over the edge. Toby started playing. One of his keyboards sounded like a piano, the other, like a whole string section. The song was... haunting and sad. I thought I recognized it, but I didn't know from where. He told me later it was called Nadia's Theme and they used it on one of the soaps. He played real softly. "A couple weeks ago, one of my friends sang a song at a show," Traci said softly into her microphone. "I hadn't heard it before, but it kind of summed up how I felt about one special guy. I'd like to try it tonight." I wondered who the special guy was. Peter? The kid who got her cherry? And when did she learn the song? Then I remembered how Robbie had suggested that I make the Wendy's run. She looked back at Toby, and he switched to the intro of a different song. Chad and Sally came in behind him. Traci started out softly, almost a whisper. "Found myself today. Oh, I found myself and ran away. Something pulled me back, A voice of reason I forgot I had." Her voice was getting stronger. "All I know is you're not here to say, What you always used to say, But it's written in the sky tonight." Now she was really belting it out. "So I won't give up, No I won't break down. Sooner than it seems, life turns around. And I will be strong, even if it all goes wrong. When I'm standing in the dark I'll still believe, Someone's watching over me." I recognized the song as the one Mikee had done at the first karaoke contest. She'd said it from some Hilary Duff movie. "Seen that ray of light, And it's shining on my destiny. Shining all time, And I won't be afraid, To follow everywhere it's taking me. All I know is yesterday is gone, And right now I belong, To this moment, to my dreams." "So I won't give up, No I won't break down, Sooner than it seems, life turns around. And I will be strong, even if it all goes wrong. When I'm standing in the dark I'll still believe, Someone's watching over me." She switched tempo. "It doesn't matter what people say. And it doesn't matter how long it takes, Believe in yourself and you'll find It only matters how true you are. Be true to yourself and follow your heart." Robbie and Tami had walked up and were standing beside me. "So who's the special guy." Robbie gave me one of her looks, then glanced at Tami. "You know, I used to wonder which one of us was smarter." Tami smiled. "So I won't give up, no I won't break down, Sooner than it seems, life turns around. And I will be strong, even if it all goes wrong. When I'm standing in the dark I'll still believe, That I won't give up," Her voice was strong and almost defiant. "No I won't break down," Mikee, Kelly and Darlene stepped out and joined in. "Sooner than it seems, life turns around, And I will be strong, even when it all goes wrong. When I'm standing in the dark I'll still believe, That someone's watching over... Someone's watching over... Someone's watching over me." "Someone's watching over me." Damn! Just when you're ready to bury your sister deep in the woods, she does something like this. I was supposed to go out and introduce and start the last song, but I stood, watching Traci, and she smiled and enjoyed the applause. Robbie grabbed her mike and walked out. "That was Traci Sims with a special song for a very special guy." The applause started again and lasted several minutes. Traci came off the stage, and I gave her a big hug. "You know," Robbie continued when the clapping died down, "it's easy to forget why we're here, with the fireworks, and the football, and the barbeques and the music. We'd like to finish with a song that reminds us." She started singing, then Chad came in behind her. "Well, the eagle's been flying slow, And the flag's been flying low. And a lot of peoples saying That America's fixing to fall. But speaking just for me..." I came in on, what should have been Robbie's part... "And some people from Tennessee, We got a thing or two, To tell you all." The song was an even bigger hit than at Otter Park. Maybe because it was the fourth. Or maybe Wyomians are more patriotic that Coloradans. Hell, I don't know. But when I sang those last few lines, a tthousand voices sang me. "Just go and lay your hands On a Denver Broncos fan, "And I think you're gonna finally understand." "And you never did think that it ever would happen again. In America, did you? You never did think that we'd ever get together again. Well, we damn sure fooled you. We're walking real proud and we're talking real loud again In America. You never did think that it ever would happen again." We took seven bows, and the applause didn't let up. The only thing that stopped it was the first fireworks going off. I think at that moment, watching the people turn toward the fireworks that represented the bombs bursting in air over Fort Sumter -"no, that was wrong; Sumter was the Civil War -"Fort McHenry, I understood for the first time, more than any history book could teach me, why we'd never lost a fight we believed in. Note to the politicians: get the people to believe, then get the hell out of the way. The next morning we were up by nine, had the van loaded, and were on the road by ten after saying goodbye to the others. We had almost six hundred miles to Missoula, but they were only going a hundred and twenty to Billings. Toby and Sally had cousins there, and Chad was tagging along. After lunch Tami and I were sitting in the back seat while Mikee drove and Robbie kibitzed. I took her face in my hands. "By the way, Tami. The show last night? Definitely not an anti-climax." Tami grinned and kissed me. Hard. "They're at it again." Kelly said with a giggle from the seat in front of us. "Leave them alone," Robbie said from the front. "Tomorrow night they have to go back to being normal teenagers, sleeping alone and only thinking about sex." We camped that last night at Beavertail Hill Park just east of Missoula. Tami slept with me, as she had the last three nights. Like Robbie said, soon we all had to get used to being normal teenagers again, and the others were letting me enjoy Tami as much as possible. Our last leg was just a hair over three hundred miles. We stalled around the campground till noon, then reluctantly left. The drive home was the most subdued of all. Somehow, it was even quieter than when everyone was sleeping. We got to town about five and dropped Darlene first, with me ducking down so that her step-dad wouldn't spot me, then Robbie. I was happy to see the Trailer Park. It was home. But I was sad too. The trip was over. "Is it too early to start planning the trip for next year?" I asked Tami as we took our walk around the park that night. "Never too early." "I think your grandmother would be happy about how everything turned out." "I think so too," Tami agreed. "So tell me Mr. Sims, how many bottles have you got hidden?" I was glad the dark covered my blush. "A couple." Well, four. "Now what?" I didn't hesitate. "I dump them and get on with me life," I said, meaning every word. I didn't need them anymore. "What about Zoe?" I looked up at the sky. It was crystal clear, with every star trying to outshine the others. "I guess she gets on with her death."