Darci tugged on my arm. “Don’t you have to ask your teacher something?”
“No. I just made that up.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t feel like talking.”
“Oh.”
We walked all the way home in silence. Darci was a good sister. I could always count on her.
My dog, Streak, came out of the garage wagging her tail. I squatted down to scratch her ears.
“Thanks, Darce,” I said, looking up. “I just needed some time to think.”
“That’s all right. I was thinking, too.”
“You were?”
“Sure. I always think. Don’t you?”
“Were you thinking about Dad?”
“No. Was I supposed to?”
“Uh … no … just curious.”
Darci smiled and headed into the house. How could she be so calm? My brain was like an anthill somebody kicked.
I stood up. “Come on, Streak.”
We went into my room, which was made from half the garage. Streak hopped onto my lower bunk. I climbed up top and sat with my bow, shooting suction-cup-tipped arrows at my closet door until I got bored.
That night Mom’s boyfriend, Ledward, came over to grill lime chicken and asparagus on the hibachi. Mom made brown rice and cut up some oranges.
Normally I’d have been saying, Ho man! Let’s eat!
But I sat bulldozing rice around my plate with my fork. I felt like a stinky wet towel somebody left on the bathroom floor.
Mom reached over and touched my arm.
“What’s bothering you, Cal?” Her voice was soft and my throat choked up.
“I’m okay, Mom,” I squeaked.
The phone rang and Stella jumped up to answer it. “This is Stella,” she sang sweetly.
She listened for a moment, put the phone against her shoulder, and looked at Mom. “It’s your ex.”
Mom gave Ledward a quick glance, got up, and took the phone into the kitchen. But we could all still hear.
“Johnny?”
Dad.
Mom mostly listened. The conversation lasted about five minutes.
“All right, yeah, great,” she said. “I’ll tell them right now.”
Mom said goodbye and sat back down at the table.
She looked at Darci, then me.
“What?” I said.
“That was your dad calling from Los Angeles. He has a concert there this weekend. After that, he and Marissa will fly to Honolulu a couple of days earlier than planned. He wants to spend a whole day with us. All of us.” She glanced at Ledward.
Finally Darci got excited. “When, Mom, when?”
“Next week, Wednesday. You get to skip school.”
It’s amazing how fast your mood can change. One second I’m a stinky wet towel and the next I’m a rocket to the moon.
Ho yeah!
“His concert is next Saturday in Honolulu,” Mom went on. “At the Blaisdell Concert Hall.”
“The big concert hall?”
Mom smiled. “Looks like his fame is growing.”
“Ho,” I whispered.
The concert hall was where the big-time events took place.
“It’s his Rocket Ride tour,” Mom went on. “They’re performing in twenty-five cities across the U.S. They just added the Honolulu stop, which is why we’re only hearing about it now.”
My stomach felt jittery.
“ ‘Rocket Ride,’ ” Ledward said. “His new song?”
Stella nodded. “It’s actually good.”
I gaped at Stella. She hardly ever had anything nice to say about anything.
“What are you looking at, Stump?”
I blinked. “A toad?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Calvin,” Mom said.
“She started it.”
“Nobody started anything. Finish your dinner. We’re making s’mores over the hibachi after you do the dishes.”
“After I do the dishes?”
“One day you’ll be out there living on your own, and doing dishes is a handy skill to have.”
Stella winked. “Your very first skill.”
“Fine,” I said. I’d show her my skill … at eating s’mores.
Mom tapped the table lightly. “Oh, one more thing, Cal. Your dad is giving us ten tickets for front-row seats. You and Darci can each have five. You two decide what to do with them, and Led and I will figure out a way to get everyone there.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Exciting, isn’t it?”
“Can I invite Stella and Clarence?” Darci asked.
“Of course you can, sweetie.”
“I invite you, Ledward,” I said.
Darci jumped up. “And I invite you, Mom!”
Mom and Ledward grinned at each other. “Well, thank you,” Mom said. “Both of you.”
Darci counted on her fingers. “I have one extra, Calvin. You can have it.”
“Thanks!”
I counted tickets on my own fingers. Now I had six. Take out two for me and Ledward and that left four. I pushed my chair back. “Can I be excused? I’m going to call Willy, Julio, Rubin, and Maya. That’s who I’m inviting.”
“Sure,” Mom said. “You can call right after you do the dishes.”
I called Maya first. “I’m in,” she said. “And Calvin?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you for being my friend.”
“Uh … sure.”
Rubin was next.
“Oh man,” he said. “That would be so cool! But I can’t. It’s my cousin’s birthday. We’re going night fishing with his dad. But hey, thanks anyway.”
Julio was next.
“Awesome!” he said.
Then Willy.
“Hot dang! I’ve never been to a concert. Thanks, Calvin!”
So—me, Ledward, Julio, Willy, and Maya.
That left one ticket.
Streak followed me into my room and jumped up on the lower bunk. I slid in next to her. “Who should I invite, Streak? I have one ticket left.”
She licked my cheek. She was the best dog ever. Who cared if her breath smelled like dead fish?
“So what do you think?”
Streak woofed. She wanted to play, not think.
“Okay, okay.”
I leaned over and looked under the bed for her slime-crusted, smelly old stuffed hedgehog. “There it is.”
Just as I grabbed it, a little voice in my head spoke up.
Shayla.
I looked up. What?
You know she’s a big Little Johnny Coconut fan. Invite her. She has that T‑shirt, remember. Be generous. Give her that last ticket. If anyone deserves it, she does.
“Shhhh! Shuddup!” I’m not giving my last ticket to Shayla. She’s a pest, she’s annoying, she’s nosy, she’s a know-it-all. And that’s that!
Woof!
Streak grabbed the hedgehog out of my hand and jumped off the bed, ready to play.
You know she’s the one.
No, no, no!
“Come on, Streak. Let’s get out of here!”
Shayla, I’m telling you!
Before school on Tuesday, word was spreading like the smell of frying bacon—Little Johnny Coconut was coming to Honolulu!
Darci and I were instantly famous … which sort of wasn’t really a good thing.
“Heyyy, Coco-friend, Coco-pal, my buddy, howzit? You need anything, jus’ ask and I get you um.” Tito put his arm around my shoulders. “I heard your daddy was coming to town.”
He pulled me away, giving Julio and Willy stink looks.
Tito smiled at me. “Listen, Coco-friend, you know what I said about your daddy’s music? I was just fooling. You know that, right? I like Little Johnny Coconut songs. For real.”
I glanced back at Julio. He stuffed a laugh, and that almost made me crack up.
Not a good idea.
You punk, Julio! I tried to keep a straight face. Cut it out!
Tito tippe
d his head toward Julio. “Whatchoo looking at him for, ah? He just a cock-a-roach. Come hang out wit’ me and Frankie. Bozo, too, when he gets here. He kine of slow.”
“Uh … I have to—”
“Sit with us till school start. No bell yet.”
I frowned.
Tito pushed me. “Come. I got something for show you.”
Rubin was practically on the ground laughing. Maya put her hands on her hips and glared.
I made a face at them. Help!
Tito and Frankie Diamond took me to the tree no one else in school would even think of getting close to.
Tito reached into his baggy shorts pocket. “Look what I got.”
He grinned and held up Dad’s new CD.
“Can you get him to sign it for me?”
“Well … I guess.”
Tito grinned. “Here. Take um. Bring um back later. It’s good music. Ah, but you already know that, right?”
I took the CD, still in its wrap. He probably got it the minute he learned my dad was coming to town just so he could get it autographed and sell it for double afterwards.
Tito pulled out a pack of gum and offered me one.
I shook my head. “Mr. Purdy will just make me spit it out.”
“I was in that boot camp, too. You know that?”
“No.”
“Yeah, me and him, we got along fine. Was okay, that class. I got good grades.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
“You know what Tito wants, don’t you?” Frankie said.
I shook my head.
“A ticket to your daddy’s concert.”
Tito snapped his fingers. “Hey, good idea! Whatchoo think, Coco-pal? You can get me one? And how’s about for Frankie and Bozo, too? Us, we like that music, ah, Frankie?”
“Yeah-yeah, sure. Whatever.”
I looked away. Think of something to get out of this mess!
Tito slapped my back. “Whatchoo say? You got tickets, right?”
“I only have one left.”
“Yeah-yeah, but you can get more, right? Your daddy ain’t going turn you down.”
I frowned.
“Figure it out,” he added, grinning like a crook in a bank vault. “We counting on you, little ticket man.”
The next morning Julio and Willy helped me sneak past Tito. I hid in our classroom until school started.
“He won’t find you here,” Julio said.
“I hope not, because guess what?”
“What?”
“My dad’s concert is sold out. We heard that last night.”
“Wow,” Willy said. “Awesome.”
Julio humphed. “Yeah … awesome until Tito finds out there’s no more tickets.”
Later, when the morning recess bell rang, the room cleared out fast, including Mr. Purdy.
But I sat at my desk gazing out the window. No way I could go outside and not be bugged by Tito.
I frowned and got up to check in with Manly Stanley, lounging on the sand in his terrarium.
“You got any advice for me, Manly?”
Manly looked up, like, Sure, you want to borrow my stinger?
“Yeah! Good one, Manly!”
I half-laughed.
I jumped when someone said, “Are you talking to Manly Stanley, Calvin?”
Shayla.
“What? No … I mean …”
Shayla started digging through her desk.
I watched her a moment. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for something I drew. How come you’re not outside?”
“Uh … I had … um, some homework to finish.”
Shayla stopped digging and looked up. “Did we have homework?”
“No-no, it was … old homework. Yeah, old.”
She had on her Little Johnny Coconut T‑shirt again, this time right side out.
“Why’d you wear that shirt again?”
“Lovey said I should wear it and not let Tito bully me out of it. I’m going to wear it until the concert … and to the concert.”
My spirits jumped. “You got a ticket?”
“No, but my mom said she’d take me. She’s getting tickets.”
Aiy.
“Here,” she said, pulling something out of her desk. “You want it?”
She handed me a drawing of a toad wearing a cowboy hat. It was smiling, and a tooth sparkled with rays that shot out from it.
Good grief.
“Uh …”
“Keep it. I have more. Want me to draw you one with a guitar? Like a Little Johnny Coconut toad?”
“What?”
“Or maybe I could draw you a dog one, for your dog. What’s its name?”
“Streak.”
I looked at the toad in the cowboy hat. How does she think of this stuff?
“You like it?” she asked.
What I like is privacy. Go away! “Yeah, sure. It’s fine … but why a cowboy?”
“I like to be creative. Mr. Purdy says creative people make the world more interesting. Maybe when I’m at the concert I’ll draw something.”
“Um … about that concert.”
“What?”
I clammed up. Let her mom break the news. Why should I be the one to tell Shayla that the concert was already sold out? “Well … uh … I hope your mom can get those tickets. It might be kind of hard.”
“Oh, my mom knows how. I’m so excited to see him! You have a famous dad, Calvin. You’re really lucky!”
I looked away. “Uh, yeah, I guess.”
“See you there.”
There was a long moment of silence. I looked at the clock.
Shayla said, “You are
going, aren’t you?”
“Going where?”
“The concert.”
“Of course I’m going. He’s my dad.”
She started singing. “I wanna go on a rocket ride, / Past the moon and out the other side.”
Get me out of here!
“Do you think he’ll sign my CD if I take it?”
I glanced at Manly Stanley. Help me! You have to!
Your mess, not mine, Manly said.
“Uh, yeah … sure, Shayla,” I said.
That Saturday Mom backed the car out of the garage and said she’d give me five dollars if I washed and vacuumed it.
Five dollars! Easy money!
“Sure, Mom. For two dollars more I’ll wax it, too? Clarence taught me how.”
Clarence was very particular about his car. If he found even a tiny scratch he was all over it, buffing it out or painting it with a miniature paintbrush.
“Wash and vacuum is fine, Cal. But thank you for offering. Maybe next time.”
So I was out in the driveway with Streak, a hose, and a big fat sponge when Tito, Frankie Diamond, and Bozo showed up.
Great.
I went over and turned off the water.
Streak ran up to them, her tail wagging. Good guys, bad guys—she liked them all.
Frankie Diamond dropped to a crouch. Streak went right to him and nosed his outstretched hand. “Yeah, you happy to see Frankie, ah?”
Frankie looked up at Tito. “Dogs can tell when somebody likes them.”
Tito wasn’t interested.
“You like me help you wash that car, Coco-hose?”
“Naah. I got it.”
Tito shrugged. “We was just going down to the beach and I thought, you know, maybe we stop by and see if you snagged me that ticket yet. I mean, only got a week till the party.”
“Party?”
“Yeah, the one we going have at your daddy’s concert.”
I got down on my knees and started scrubbing a wheel. “No, I don’t have—”
“Man, I like that Little Johnny Coconut song ‘Rocket Ride.’ It’s cooool, I tell you. Am I right, Bozo?”
“Maybe to you, Tito, but to me it stinks.”
“How ’bout you, Coco-hose?” Tito said, standing over me. “You like your daddy’s new song?�
�
“Yeah. It’s good.”
Tito crouched down and said in a low voice, “Not much time for get me that ticket. You going get me um, right? You promised.”
“What? I never—”
Tito held up a hand and stood. “A promise is a promise, ah? Laters, Coco-man.”
“I didn’t promise!”
But Tito, Frankie, and Bozo were already walking away.
Later that day, I was walking with Julio on the golf course that was just beyond the jungle that edged our neighborhood. The fairway was empty. And safe. No golfers or greenskeepers in sight.
“You promised him?” Julio asked.
“No, I never promised anything. He just made that up!”
“Typical. Listen, forget Tito. Don’t give him anything.”
“And die.”
“He’s all talk. Shut him off like a radio.”
“Easy for you to say.”
We heard a jeep engine and turned to look back.
Beep! Beeeeep!
We sprinted into the jungle.
I could hear the jeep racing toward us. It belonged to the golf course, and riding in it were two greenskeepers, the golf course police. They loved chasing kids off the fairways.
We sank into the jungle shadows as they slowly cruised past, looking into the bushes.
The jeep stopped.
We crawled into a thicket of weeds and crunched down in it.
One guy got out and walked right by us.
“You see um?” the driver asked.
“Nope. Lousy kids. I get my hands on them they going know it.”
The guy in the jeep said, “Come on, Jimmy. You were a kid once yourself, remember?”
“Yeah, but I obeyed the rules.”
“Sure you did.” The driver laughed, shaking his head. “Come on, get in. We got work to do.”
After they drove off, Julio and I crept back out onto the fairway.
“I got an idea,” Julio said. “You give that last ticket to the guy Clarence, and tell Tito to get it from him.”
“Ha!”
Julio grinned. “Does Tito know that Clarence is Lovey’s brother?”
“I don’t know, but there’s one problem … Darci already invited Clarence.”
“Hmmm. You’re still in trouble, then.”
Rocket Ride Page 2