“Dude, don’t do that to your sister.” Brittany came over and gave me a hug, then whispered in my ear. “You’re brother’s a menace. Let’s ditch him and go shopping.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said. “But did you just call my brother dude?”
“She did,” Ryan said. “Everyone and everything in California is called ‘dude.’ It cuts our vocabulary down significantly. I don’t even have to learn my students’ names.”
Brittany brushed off the comment. “Don’t you listen to that nonsense. He knows his students’ names. And you’d be proud, Allie. He’s been nominated for teacher of the year at his middle school.”
My brother teaches eighth grade science. It’s kind of a pre-chemistry thing. Not surprising, since he always loved blowing things up as a kid.
“That’s cool, Ryan!” Hunter gave Ryan one of his warm hugs, and all the other cousins lined up to greet the California Carroways.
“We came as far as we could into the airport without having to go through security,” Brittany said. “We heard you had a little problem getting lost in Dallas.”
“We were never lost,” I said. “We were on an adventure in terminal hopping.”
Ryan laughed. “Well, you don’t want to terminal hop in LAX. This place is a nightmare. Come on, let’s go get your luggage.”
We followed Ryan and Brittany down a few hallways packed with musty-smelling people until we came to the carousel that promised to deliver the bags from flight 1145 from Dallas-Fort Worth. We waited about fifteen minutes before the belt started moving.
“Are you guys hungry?” Ryan asked.
“Oh, please, can we go to In-N-Out?” Ruby asked. “I’ve been dying to order the animal-style fries.”
“But we just had fries at the Cowboy Chow Down,” Lola said.
“Those were Texas fries,” Ruby said. “California fries are different.”
Ryan rubbed his belly. “I’m always up for In-N-Out.”
We grabbed our bags as they plopped out on the conveyor, and soon we were on our way out to the parking garage.
“How far is Santa Barbara from here?” I asked Brittany, as I hoisted my suitcase into the back of a red minivan.
“Two-and-a-half hours,” Brittany said.
“Really? That’s far!”
“California is huge,” Brittany said. “But don’t worry—we’re not going to Santa Barbara.” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.
“What?” I scratched my head. “Isn’t that where you guys live?”
“Not this week. Surprise!” Ryan jumped and put both arms up in the air. “We’re goin’ to Hollywood, baby!”
The goosebumps on my arms returned.
Ryan dug in his jeans pocket, and pulled out some keys.
“I have here a set of keys to a five-story mansion located in the Hollywood Hills, that once belonged to a famous mother-daughter acting team—Abigail and Gabriella Fremont. Abby and Gabby. People called them the ‘Gabi-girls.’ You’re too young to remember them—but they were quite famous and made tons of movies together.”
“And how did you end up with those keys?” I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes.
Brittany laughed. “Oh, you know your brother. He meets people, charms them, and then they give him stuff.”
It’s true. Ryan is one of ‘those’ people. He loves to chat with complete strangers everywhere he goes. He has a great smile, a sweet baby-face, and he’s easy-going and funny. People love him, and it’s not just because he’s on TV. People have been giving Ryan things for years. When he was a kid, he was always getting invited to go places with his friends. Disneyland, Hawaii, the movies, skiing, camping, you name it.
“We just love that Ryan,” everyone would say.
I don’t blame them. I would never say it to his face—because he’s my brother—but he’s pretty much my favorite person.
I zipped open my backpack, reached into the ‘Bag of Wonders,’ produced the Griffith Park Observatory brochure, and handed it to him.
“Is this anywhere near where we’re staying?” I asked.
Ryan’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
“Yes! And this is my favorite place! Do you want to go there? Please, say yes! I can show you the giant periodic table, and the planetarium, and the Foucault Pendulum! It’s gonna be great!”
Brittany shook her head. “You’re such a science nerd.”
“Yes, I am.” Ryan handed me back the brochure. “Well, are we just gonna stand here or are we going to go and fight the LA traffic?”
Hunter punched his fist in the air. “Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!”
Ryan walked around to the side of the minivan, pushed a button on his keychain, and the door slid open.
“Cool, huh? This belongs to one of my students’ parents who’s a car dealer. He had a bunch of extra vehicles sitting around, so when I told him I was going to be chaperoning you guys for a week, he offered to let me use it for free.”
“Of course he did,” I said.
We piled in. Lola, Ruby, and Kendall took the back seat, and Hunter and I settled in the two captain’s chairs in the second row.
“This is plush,” Hunter said. “And check out the swivel.” He turned his seat around to face the girls behind him.
Ryan started up the van and backed out of the parking space. “Well, I hope you’re comfortable. Hollywood is only thirty miles away, but I wasn’t kidding about the LA traffic. We could be in here all night. In-N-Out is only a half-mile away, so we can get fueled up for the trip. I feel like I could eat a four-by-four tonight!”
“Are y’all talkin’ about a truck?” Kendall asked.
“That’s four meat patties and four pieces of cheese,” Ruby whispered. “Shh. It’s a secret.”
We pulled into the In-N-Out parking lot in minutes.
“Order anything you want, it’s on me,” I said as we piled out of the van, and I waved my gift card in the air.
“We need hats,” Ryan said.
“Aren’t we a little old for that?” Kendall asked.
“Aw, come on, Kendall. Where’s you tourist’s heart?” Ryan opened the door and yelled into the restaurant. “Bayou kids, comin’ through! First time at In-N-Out!”
People looked up and waved, but then went back to eating their grub.
“Ryan,” I said, “we’re trying to be anonymous so we can enjoy ourselves.”
“Oh, that’s right. This is the big ‘Run from Reality’ tour. Well, I’m tellin’ you right now, sis, reality has a way of finding you wherever you are, so you better learn to enjoy it—whatever it is.”
Right now, reality was burgers and fries.
“Let’s all order off the secret menu,” Ruby pulled some crumpled-up notes out of her jeans pocket and scanned them.
“I’ve never even ordered off the real menu,” Lola said as she stepped up to the counter. “I’ll take a burger, fries, and a chocolate shake.”
“Allie, try the grilled cheese,” Ruby said.
“Okay. “I’ll take a . . .” I cupped my hands around my mouth and whispered to the girl taking our order. “Grilled cheese.” I spoke the rest of my order at regular volume. “And I’ll have a strawberry shake, and some fries with that.”
“I want a burger, fries, and a drink—all animal-style,” Hunter said.
The girl laughed. “Drinks just come regular, since the animal-style includes mustard.”
“Oh, good call,” Hunter said.
It was Ruby’s turn to order. She wrung her hands and finally spoke. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and here’s what I’d like: A grilled cheese, animal-style fries, and a root beer float.”
“And we’d all like hats, please,” Ryan said, and then he pointed to me. “And she’s paying. But she’s not famous or anything, so just take her money and don’t ask for autographs.”
The girl winked. “Gotcha.”
She took Ryan’s and Brittany’s order, which did include the famous four-by
-four, and then I gave her my gift card, which had enough money on it to pay for everything.
Thanks, Nathan.
She handed the card back to me. “You have twenty-five dollars left. Thanks for choosing In-N-Out.”
You better believe I was happy to choose In-N-Out. The next thirty minutes was a taste sensation—fries, secret sauce, grilled onions, and gooey cheese—my favorites.
“Hey—check this out! It’s my favorite verse!” Ruby held her root beer float cup up and pointed to some red letters on the bottom. “Proverbs 3:5.”
“What? Let me see that.” I reached for the cup.
“I have one too,” Lola held up her Coke. “John 3:16.”
“They have Bible verses printed on most of their wrappers,” Brittany said. “I hope people go home and look them up.”
“I have Revelation 3:20 on my burger,” Hunter said. “No wonder it tastes like Heaven.”
We all giggled, chewed, gulped, and wore hats like tourists. And to my surprise, no one in the whole place came over to ask for an autograph or selfie with the famous Carroway family. It was the best meal out ever.
When we were clearing our table and taking our trash out, Kendall pulled me aside.
“Allie, do you think Matt 51415 could be a Bible verse? Like from the book of Matthew?”
There was something in her face that lit up when she said that. I decided to give her a hard time.
“Kendall, if that were true, then that would make the headlamp special in some way, and I thought you said that the stuff in the bag was nothing special.” I threw my trash in the bin, and then brushed my hands together.
“Well, maybe I was wrong. After all, we did need the princess Band-Aids.”
“And the gift card,” I added.
“Okay, and the gift card. So maybe we should get a Bible out and check out some verses. I’d check my Bible phone app, but my phone is with Papaw.”
She was cracking me up the way she kept saying Papaw. Kind of with a growl.
“We can look it up later tonight. But don’t get too excited, Kendall. Remember, it’s just a dumb old, not-special bag, which was given to me by a broke-and-flirty, not-special-at-all, surfer-boy—who, by the way, happened to use the word “dude,” so he could live in California.”
“He really said ‘dude’?”
“Yes. He did.”
“Well, then, that’s somethin’.”
“I definitely think so.”
CHAPTER 15
Movie Star House
It took us two-and-a half hours, through road construction and three major traffic snarls, to finally travel the thirty miles to our destination in the Hollywood Hills. It was dark, so we couldn’t see much, except narrow roads that curved—first up, then down. Somehow, we finally made it to Star Drive, which was the street where the Gabi-girls’ house was located.
“Here it is, I think,” Ryan said. “It’s 51415 Star Drive.” He pointed to the stone wall that had glowing numbers sticking out from it.
Brittany squinted out the window.
“All I can see is a wall and a garage. Where do you suppose the rest of the house is?”
“Look up, my dear,” Ryan said. “You gotta look up.”
He pulled the van over to the curb and we all climbed out. Then we all looked up.
“It’s too dark to see anything,” Hunter said.
“Hang on, I have a light.” I opened my backpack and pulled out my bayou camo headlamp, and poked the button to turn it on. Nothing happened.
“Is it broken, sis?”
I shook the headlamp and then tried the button again.
“Hmmm. Batteries must be dead. But hey, no worries—I got another one.”
I pulled the pink one with the duck pattern out of another pocket, and I poked.
Nothing.
Kendall grabbed both headlamps out of my hands.
“Are you kiddin’ me? These are both dead?” She shook them around and poked and poked.
“What kind of bayou kids are you—not havin’ lights?” Ryan chuckled.
“Hey, you’re from the bayou too, you know. And as a matter of fact, I do have another one.”
I reached in my pack again, and I worked my hand into the Bag of Wonders. I felt for the fabric strap, and pulled out the digital camo headlamp. I held it up, looked over at Kendall, and winked, then pushed the button.
The blazing stream of light illuminated the off-white house, that looked like it was built right into the hill. Curved tiles covered the roofs, and switchback stairways lead back and forth up to the porches and balconies that jutted out from each level. Vines of some kind wound their way around the sides of the house, and bright flowers hung over the wrought-iron handrails that lined the walkways.
“Wow.” Lola’s head tipped back as far as it could go. “Are we really staying here?”
“Ryan, where did you say you got these keys?” Brittany moved over and wrapped her arms around Ryan’s waist.
“Uh, one of my student’s parents is a descendent of the Gabi-girls, and the owner of this house. The tenants moved out a few months ago, so it’s been vacant, and they wanted someone to stay during Thanksgiving week to guard against the . . .”
“Guard against what?” Lola’s head snapped back.
Ryan waved his hand. “Ah, it’s nothin’.”
“Ryan, tell us!” Brittany shoved Ryan to the side.
“Nah, I’m not gonna tell you, because it’s not a big deal. They just want it to look like someone lives here so the Hollywood Hoodlum doesn’t show up and vandalize the place. Oops, I told you.”
Kendall gasped. “Hollywood Hoodlum?”
Ryan laughed. “His nickname is the ‘Hollywoodlum.’ He sounds scary, but he’s just some punk who’s been going around, breaking into vacant homes, and destroying all the beautiful old furniture and memorabilia. Don’t worry. He’s no match for folks from the bayou. Hunter could take him down with a roll of duct tape.”
“Wait,” I said. “You know about that incident with the gator?”
“Sis, we all do. You can’t hide anything from the folks.”
“Ryan, are you sure this is safe?” Brittany pushed her long, blonde hair behind one ear. “Mom and Dad are trusting us with the kids.”
“It’s gonna be fine, because we’ll be in the house. That’s the idea. Make it look like someone’s here. And in this case, we’ve got a lot of someones. Now, would you people like to see inside a movie star’s home, or not?”
“I totally want to check it out!” Hunter lifted the gate on the back of the minivan, pulled out his suitcase, and ran up the walkway over the garage to the first level. We all followed, lifting our rolling suitcases whenever the ramp gave way to a few stairs.
“This must be the main entrance,” Ryan said. “Allie, hold your light over the keyhole.” I did, and Ryan inserted the long, old-fashioned key into the old-fashioned keyhole—the kind people look through in mystery movies to spy on people. Ryan turned the key, and we heard a loud click. He opened the tall wooden door, and it creaked.
“Sounds like it needs a little WD-40.” Ryan felt around for a light switch, and we all bunched around the entrance until he found it. We stepped inside.
“Wow.” Lola just couldn’t find new words today.
“Stunning.” Brittany put her hands on her hips and looked up.
“Magnificent.” Kendall took in a breath and grabbed her throat.
“It’s bright, that’s for sure,” Hunter said.
We all stared at the same thing—a humongous crystal chandelier that hung in the circular entryway. It seemed like it held at least a hundred electric candles, and from each candle, dozens of crystals hung, reflecting the light all over the walls of the room.
“I could lay down and sleep right here and be happy,” Ruby said.
“Hey, look!” Hunter pointed to a wall hanging at the side of the room. It was a message, written in black calligraphy, framed in a gold frame.
Let your l
ight shine before men so they will see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.
“Were the Gabi-girls Christians?” I asked.
Ryan shrugged. “Don’t know. We’ll have to Google it.”
Kendall sighed. “As if any of us has that capability.”
“Let’s check out the rest of the place,” Ryan said. “I think they said this house has twelve bedrooms and seven baths.”
“Are you serious? We can each have our own bathroom?” Lola ran her fingers through her hair. “I won’t have to fight for mirror time?”
“We can almost each have our own level,” Ryan said. “I’ll take the bottom, so I can fight off the Hollywoodlum when he comes in. Unless of course, he swings in from the top on vines like Tarzan. Hunter, you should take the top level so you can catch him and wrap him up with your tape.”
“Cool!” Hunter said.
“Ryan . . .” Brittany shoved him again.
Ryan laughed. “I’m sorry, I can’t help myself.”
We continued to be amazed by every room at each level of the house. The Gabi-girls must have loved light, because there was a chandelier in every room—not quite as huge as the first one. And each one gave its room a warm, golden glow.
Light-colored wood floors were covered by thick throw-rugs in every room. Kendall and I chose to share a room with a white cushy rug that covered the whole floor, an extra-tall bed with a white quilt, and two tan wingback chairs. White lace curtains hung from the ceiling to the floor, and opened to reveal a glass sliding door leading to a large balcony overlooking the city.
“I see why they built up the hill now,” Kendall said. “This view makes climbin’ all those stairs worth it.”
We stared out at the lights that flickered all over.
“It’s beautiful,” I said. “Hey, look, Kendall!” I pointed right. “There’s a Christmas tree! Isn’t is magical? Won’t it be great to have one in our room at home?”
Kendall rolled her eyes, but I could tell I was wearing her down.
“It’s nice,” she said.
And then I remembered something.
Running from Reality Page 8