And I guess it worked, for thirty years or so.
But now he’s back. And he’s stealing my house!
“So, is he still a punk?”
“No, Allie. He’s been working as a lawyer in Florida for many years.”
“Are his kids punks?”
“Allie!”
Kendall elbowed me. “Would you quit freaking your mom out? I’d like a little peace over here.”
A voice came over the loudspeaker, and the plane backed up.
“Welcome, passengers. We will now begin our taxi out to the runway. We ask that you power down all electronic devices . . .”
“Mom, I gotta go.”
“Okay, honey. I love you. Ryan and Brittany will meet you at baggage claim. Don’t forget about them, silly.”
I chuckled. “Maybe we will, maybe we won’t.”
“Allie-girl . . . you’re impossible! But I love you, and I miss you already.”
“I love you, too, Mom.”
I flipped the phone closed and stuck it in an inner pocket of my backpack. In my shuffling, I brushed my hand against the lunch bag—which I planned to open just as soon as Kendall fell asleep.
CHAPTER 12
Bag of Wonders
Peanuts or cookie?”
The flight attendant held out two packages.
Are you serious?
“No peanuts!” Kendall practically knocked the packets out of the flight attendant’s hand. “This is Allie Carroway! If she eats a peanut in here, the pilot will have to land the plane in the ocean and we’ll be calling the Coast Guard for a medi-vac.”
The flight attendant’s eyes widened. She pulled the peanuts away.
“Cookie, then?”
“Yes, I’ll take the cookie, thank you. As long as it wasn’t manufactured at a plant that also uses peanuts.”
She examined the package. “I think you’re good on this one.” She handed it to me, gave me a polite grin, and went on to the next row.
“Kendall, that was a little dramatic, don’t you think? Plus, I don’t think we’re flying over the ocean.”
“Just looking out for my soon-to-be roomie.” Kendall smirked. “I’m going to need you healthy to help me record some new songs I’m covering.”
“Are you sure you have space in your room for me with all your musical stuff?”
“Well, I do have that extra bed. You might have to curl up in a ball, though, since my keyboard sits at the foot of it. But you’re flexible, so that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Can I hang up my twinkle lights? I also have a mini-Christmas tree. If I give up foot space on the bed, can I exchange it for tree space in the corner?”
Kendall shook her head. “No, no, no! I’m not ready for Christmas. Plus, I can’t write my melancholy songs with a bunch of cheery lights flickerin’ in my head.”
“Why do you have to write melancholy songs? And why aren’t you ready for Christmas?”
Kendall rested her head back on her seat.
“I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because we already filmed Christmas—on Halloween.”
“You’re probably just tired.” I pointed to the headphone jacks on the armrest. “After we take off, you should plug into some music and take a nap.”
Kendall shrugged. “Sounds good to me. At least these seats tilt back.”
“Yep. We’re moving up in the world.”
As we continued our never-ending taxi trip out to the runway, another flight attendant carried a little suitcase over to our row and reached up over Kendall’s head to open the overhead compartment.
“Are you girls keeping your packs under your seats? If so, I’m going to put this up here. The compartments are a little crowded up front.”
I was keeping my pack so I could peek into the Bag of Wonders.
“Sure, it’s fine with us,” I said, since Kendall had already plugged into the airplane music.
“Thank you. It belongs to one of those three men in row F, so if one of them comes over here during or after the flight to get it, don’t be alarmed.”
I gave her a thumbs-up. “Got it.”
Hunter called over from across the aisle, “This is the longest taxi ride ever. I think we’re driving to California.”
It took us twenty minutes to taxi out and finally be cleared for take-off. Kendall still had her seat upright, but her eyes were closed. I prayed the jet roar and sudden g-forces wouldn’t wake her up. That little brown bag in my backpack was burning a hole in my imagination. I couldn’t wait to see what else was in there since Nathan told me it was “everything you need.”
The flight attendants rushed around, checking people’s seatbelts and overhead compartments, but then finally settled down in their own seats facing us. They buckled their belts, and the one who had given me the cookie removed a mouthpiece from the wall and spoke into it.
“Flight 1145 is secured for take-off.”
The jet turned, then stopped. Kendall stirred, the engines revved up, and the huge aluminum tube raced forward. I gripped my armrests and glanced over at my cousins on the other side of the aisle. Hunter had his cowboy hat back on, and he sounded like he was getting ready to rope a calf.
“I love taking off! Yee-haw!”
Soon the nose of the jet lifted, and the rising sensation tickled my stomach. I glanced out the window, and I realized why that guy Austin was so freaked out that we visited so many terminals. I could see them all now, and boy—were they huge and far apart. I spotted the little train that travels between them and laughed a little. Bigger than the island of Manhattan, for sure.
“Sorry we missed you, terminal D,” I said, under my breath. “Maybe next time.”
Kendall did wake up for a few minutes during takeoff. “Wake me if we go over the Grand Canyon,” she said, and then she plugged back in and was snoring in seconds.
I dug into my backpack, trying to make the least amount of noise possible. I felt around for the lunch bag, and gently moved it from my pack to my lap. I kept an eye on Kendall the whole time.
I pulled the in-flight magazine from behind the seat in front of me, and propped it up between my leg and Kendall’s seat to use as a barrier. I stared at the crumpled bag in my lap.
Nathan, how did you know I would need Band-Aids?
My hands shook a little as I unfolded the top of the bag to pull out the next item—a headlamp.
“I already have too many of these,” I said out loud, and then covered my mouth.
The headlamp was like the ten or so I already owned, and the two that I had packed in my backpack. The only difference was the camo. Instead of hunting camo—which blends into foliage in the bayou—this was “digital camo” which looked more like a desert blend.
I pushed the big button on the light a few times. With each push, it changed from a bright white light, to red, to blinking red. I fiddled with the strap, shortening and lengthening it with the plastic release clip. When I lengthened it, I spotted “Matt 51415” written in faded black ink on the inside of the strap.
Matt, huh? I thought your name was Nathan.
I reached in to pull out the next item—a folded-up map of the Hollywood Hills. When I opened it, a brochure for the Griffith Park Observatory fell out.
The next item was a gift card to In-N-Out Burger. Ryan and Brittany brag about going there all the time. In-N-Out was on our list of “things to do in Cali,” but Ruby was especially interested, and had been studying their “secret menu” for a week. Of course, if this gift card worked as well as Nathan’s McDonald’s gift card, it might not be so great.
I opened the bag wider and peeked inside. There was one more thing—something that looked like a coin in the bottom. I put my hand in to grab it.
“Whatcha got there?”
I jumped, and the contents fell off my lap and scattered down around my feet.
“Kendall, you about gave me a heart attack!”
“Sorry! I woke up and noticed you checkin’ out the mystery-boy bag, so I go
t excited. What’s in there? Candy? Flowers? Engagement ring?”
“Very funny. It’s just regular stuff. A light, a map, and a gift card for burgers.”
“Oh.” Kendall frowned. “Well, I guess that makes sense.”
“Sense? Nothing about this makes sense to me.”
“Allie, don’t you see? He gave you the bag because it had a gift card in it.” Kendall reached down to the floor and grabbed the card. She held it up. “He owed you money. Duh.” Then she tossed it on my lap.
I shook my head.
“He said it had everything I need in it. He said that he was the last of his group to give his bag away. Kendall, I think this was a special project. Then he said I had kind eyes . . .”
“Sounds like he was payin’ you back, getting’ rid of some junk, and flirting. Nothin’ special.”
Kendall wrapped up her earbuds and reached down to stick them in her backpack.
I spied the Ariel bandage on her leg and decided to blow her mind a little.
“Kendall, the princess Band-Aids were in the bag too.”
Kendall stopped and looked up at me.
“What?”
“The box of Band-Aids came from the bag Nathan gave me. Kendall, the exact thing we all needed was the first thing I pulled out of that bag! Plus, don’t you think it’s weird that they were princess bandages? You know it’s my little inside joke with God.”
Lately, I’d been grappling with the term “princess.” My dad calls me that sometimes, and it bugs me, because I’m not really the frilly, tiara-wearing, live-in-a-castle-with-servants type. But recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the fact that I’m God’s girl, and since he’s the King of Kings, that does make me a princess. I wear more camo than frills, but maybe God’s idea of a princess is different than what’s in the movies or printed on bandages.
Kendall focused on her Band-Aid for a minute. Then she turned her head toward me, and one side of her mouth turned up in a little grin. I think her one eye twinkled just a little too.
“Can I see the light and the map?”
I had her now. I reached down and retrieved the rest of the objects from the floor. I handed her the map.
“Hollywood Hills? Isn’t that where all the movie stars live?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. And this fell out of the map.” I showed her the brochure for the Griffith Park Observatory. On the front was a picture of a large white building, with three domes—the largest one in the middle—all situated on top of a hill that overlooked a large city.
“That could be Los Angeles,” Kendall said.
“Do you think we’re supposed to go there?” I fiddled a little with the strap from the headlamp.
“I vote yes.” Kendall smoothed her hand over the front of the map. “Especially if it’s near Hollywood.”
I took the map and brochure back from her and gave her the headlamp. She inspected it, pushed the button just like I had, and then squinted to read the faded letters.
“Who’s Matt?”
“Don’t know. Maybe Nathan has a brother named Matt, and this is a hand-me-down. I have lots of passed-down equipment that says ‘Ryan’ and ‘Cody’ on it.”
“I hear ya on that. Plus, you have a million of these, don’t ya? I wonder why you ‘need’ this one?”
I shook my head. “I’m wondering about a lot of things right now.”
CHAPTER 13
Wise Guys from the East
We flew for a couple more hours, and just when I felt like escaping from my window seat to do some cartwheels down the aisle, the captain’s voice sounded over the loudspeaker.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our descent into Los Angeles International Airport. Our flight attendants will be coming through the cabin to pick up any trash, and to make sure everything is secure. We should be landing in about twenty minutes, which will put us on the ground at five-thirty, Pacific Standard Time. The current temperature in LA is seventy-four degrees, so you can put those jackets away and enjoy the beautiful evening out there. Thanks for flying with us, folks, and we hope to see you soon on a return flight.”
I snuck a look out the window at the twinkling lights of the city. “We missed the sun.”
“We’ll catch it tomorrow.” Kendall pulled her seat upright and pushed her backpack under the seat in front of her. “We need to talk Ryan and Brittany into taking us to Hollywood.”
“I wonder if it’s anywhere near Santa Barbara? Hey, maybe we can take a picture by the Hollywood sign,” I said, but then realized my mistake. No pictures on this trip.
“Yahoo! We made it to California!” Hunter took off his hat and waved it in the air like a cowboy riding a bucking bronco.
“Sir, please stow your hat or keep it on your head.” The same flight attendant who tried to give me peanuts raised her eyebrows and motioned for Hunter to calm down.
“Whoops, sorry,” Hunter said, and Kendall laughed a little.
“Brothers.”
“California, here I come!” Lola yelled. She’s been waiting to say that for years. It had been her password to get into the Diva Duck Blind—back when we required passwords.
Landing in planes always unsettles me more than taking off, so for the next fifteen minutes my heart raced a little as I gathered my things, stowed them in my backpack, and shoved them under my seat. I gripped the seat arms and kept my eyes on the flight attendants who had buckled in for landing. Soon, I heard the wheels lower from the bottom of the plane, and a little after that they touched on the ground and the brakes took over. My body tried to pull forward, and I counted how many seconds it took to stop and reach taxi speed. About thirty.
I smiled. “Welcome to California,” I said to Kendall.
The flight attendant spoke over the intercom.
“Welcome to Los Angeles, California. The time is five thirty-two. At this time, you may power up your electronic devices, but please remain buckled in your seats until we come to a complete stop. Be careful opening the overhead bins, as items may have shifted. Have a nice night, and we hope you choose our airline for your next flight.”
Since we were in aisle twenty-two, we had to wait while couples with babies, elderly folks, and all the others in rows one through twenty-one retrieved all their carry-ons and moved forward. At one point, a stocky, dark-haired man started moving back toward us. He kept jumping into the seating areas of each row to let passengers by, and then he would jump out in the aisle again until he reached us.
He finally made it eye-to-eye with Kendall.
“How you doin’?” he asked in a booming voice.
“I’m doin’ good,” Kendall boomed back, copying his accent, and then she looked at me with wide eyes.
The guy laughed and pointed at Kendall.
“Hey, that’s a good accent! You from Jersey too?” What he said sounded more like “Joy-zee.”
“Nah, she’s just a singer-actor type of person,” I said. “She’s from the south, but speaks British, and apparently now she speaks Jersey. You must be here for your carry-on.”
“Yeah, it didn’t fit up there. You shoulda seen some of those women’s handbags! It’s like they got a whole boatload o’makeup stuffed up in there—ya know? Probably the kitchen sink too. I’m bein’ rude. Name’s Larry. I’m here with a couple of friends from my astronomy club.”
Larry tipped his chin up at us and held out his hand to shake one of ours. Kendall shied away, but I stuck mine out.
“Nice to meet you, sir.” I almost introduced myself, but then I remembered I was remaining anonymous, so I tried to fill the awkwardness with some other kind of conversation.
“New Jersey has astronomy clubs?”
“Yeah, they do. We like to look at the stars in the East, ya know? And—get this—we came here to LA to see the stars in the sky, not on the streets! I bet you don’t hear that every day in Hollyweird.”
“Allie, are you guys coming?” Lola yelled back at us from the front of the cabin. Hunter and Ruby were nowhere
in sight.
“Sir, you need to move forward so the other passengers can de-plane.” The flight attendant was behind us and trying to hold the swarm back.
Larry turned to look at the crowd. He hit his forehead with the heel of his hand.
“Oh—would ya look at that! I’m holdin’ you all up. I just get busy talkin’ and forget myself. I’ll just grab my bag and get outta the way.”
Larry opened the overhead compartment, and the carry-on suitcase fell out, knocked him in the chest, and landed on the ground.
“Sir! Are you all right?” The flight attendant tried to squeeze by to help him pick up the bag, but Larry put his hand out.
“I’m fine, ma’am, and I’m so sorry to cause such a ruckus.” He reached down, picked up the suitcase, and pulled out the handle.
Then he waved to all of us behind him. “Enjoy your visits to California. If you get a chance, go see the real stars at the Griffith Park Observatory.”
Then he turned and wheeled his bag out. It was pink and purple, with a sequined-silver star in the middle.
Kendall turned to me.
“Did he just say Griffith Park Observatory?”
Goosebumps popped out all over my arms.
“Yeah.”
“That was weird,” she said. “Who do you think that guy was?”
I shrugged. “You heard him. His name’s Larry, and he’s a wise guy from the East.”
“I gotta take a picture of that suitcase,” Kendall said, and she dug in her bag for her phone.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” I said.
Kendall pulled out her burner phone, and scowled.
“PAPAW! You’re killin’ me!!!!”
CHAPTER 14
California Carroways
Ryan and Brittany found us on our way to baggage claim. “Sister intercepted!” Ryan put his arms out, wrapped them tight around me, and then lifted me and spun me around. When he put me down, he flicked my nose. “Welcome to Cali, Allie!”
Running from Reality Page 7