Escaping the Giant Wave (2 page)

“How do we get there?” BeeBee asked.

“We're flying.”

“All right!” I said. I'd never been on an airplane. In fact I had never been out of Kansas.

“Five days in the beautiful Pacific Northwest,” Mom said. “Fresh crab and salmon. Rugged scenery. Look at the hotel where we'll be staying!” She unfolded one of the brochures.

BeeBee and I gazed at a picture of fir trees lining a curved driveway that led to a lodge built of logs. Each room overlooked the Pacific Ocean and had a stone fireplace. Baskets of pinecones and red apples adorned the bedside tables. Another picture, labeled “nature trail,” showed a path curving uphill through native plants toward a forest of tall trees.

BeeBee squinted at the fine print. “Yikes!” she said. “Rooms start at three hundred seventy-five dollars a night!”

“The room is paid for as part of my prize,” Dad said.

“That's what's so exciting,” Mom said. “We would never stay in a place like this if we had to pay for it ourselves.”

“Is there a Motel 6 in Fisher Beach?” BeeBee asked.

The only time our family ever stays in a motel is when we go to visit Mom's parents. They live in a one-bedroom apartment, so we always sleep at a nearby Motel 6.

“Frontier Lodge will be far more elegant than the Motel 6,” Dad said.

“This is a first-class hotel,” Mom added. “It's brand new and has two swimming pools, one indoor and one outdoor.”

“If there is a Motel 6 in town,” BeeBee said, “you could take the three hundred seventy-five dollars per night that the fancy lodge would cost, and instead of staying there, we'd stay at the Motel 6, and then with the money we save we could buy tax-free municipal bonds.”

The rest of us stared at BeeBee.

“We could probably save three hundred dollars per night, times five nights.” BeeBee paused while she did the math in her head. “That's fifteen hundred dollars!”

“I appreciate your frugality,” Mom said, “but this is supposed to be a vacation where we feel pampered and special. We are going to enjoy the atmosphere of a deluxe hotel.”

“Not that there's anything wrong with Motel 6,” Dad said. “It's fine for when we visit Grandma and Grandpa.”

“It's great when we're paying the bill,” Mom said.

“Suit yourself,” BeeBee said. “If it were my choice, I'd take the money and buy bonds.”

“If it were your choice,” I said, “we'd probably ask for cash and skip the trip altogether.”

“No,” BeeBee said. “I want to go to Oregon and see the ocean and hunt for shells. But the beach will be the same no matter where we sleep.”

As it turned out, we should have taken BeeBee's suggestion. Of course, it's always easy to know the right choice after it's too late to go back and change your mind. Figuring out the right choice ahead of time is the hard part.

We spent the next three weeks planning our dream vacation. Mom wanted to walk on the beach, I wanted to tour a cheese factory, and Dad planned to visit an airplane museum.

BeeBee kept asking if we could rent a car and drive north into Washington state so she and Bill could see the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Luckily, Redmond was too far away.

“I hope you won't mind being our sitter one night, Kyle,” Mom said. “For the ‘Salespersons of the Year' celebration, the company has rented a huge private yacht, the
Elegant Empress.”

“The ship will leave in mid-afternoon on the second day we're there,” Dad said. “We'll cruise until sunset, when a buffet dinner will be served followed by the award presentations.”

“The cruise is the only part of the vacation that doesn't include you kids,” Mom said. “I'm sorry, but the invitation says ‘adults only.' ”

“That's okay,” I said. “We don't want to listen to a bunch of speeches, anyway.”

“You and BeeBee can get pizza from room service that night,” Mom said, “and rent a video to watch in our room.”

Mom and Dad still had not caught on that I liked being the one in charge, so I pretended that I was doing them a big favor when I agreed to baby-sit during our vacation. Maybe if they thought I was being especially cooperative, they would let me buy a really good souvenir.

“How much does it cost to rent the
Elegant Empress
?” BeeBee asked.

“I have no idea,” Dad said.

“A lot,” Mom said.

I picked up Bill the bear and made my voice high, pretending to be my sister. “You could rent a fleet of rowboats instead,” I said, “and feed everyone a sandwich instead of the buffet dinner. Then you could use the money you save to buy presents for your children.”

“Very funny,” said Dad.

“Good idea,” said BeeBee. “Except forget the rowboats. Give everyone a life jacket and let them float in the water.”

We all cracked up at the idea of Dad getting his award as he floated around in the ocean.

“This will be the best vacation ever,” I said.

“The best vacation in the whole world,” BeeBee agreed.

The Saturday of our departure for Oregon finally arrived, and even though we had to leave the house at five o'clock in the morning to get to the airport on time, I woke up before my alarm went off. Our family had never taken this kind of trip before. Usually we camp at a state park or visit relatives. I tried to look nonchalant at the airport, as if I flew somewhere every week, but I was so excited I couldn't sit still while we waited to board.

I was standing at the big windows, watching planes taxi down the runway, when someone punched me from behind.

“Hey, Kyle. I hear you're heading for Oregon too.”

I recognized the voice, and the punch. Daren Hazelton.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I rubbed my shoulder.

“Same as you,” Daren said. “Going to Oregon with my mom and dad for the real estate convention.”

No!
I thought.
Say it isn't so.

I said, “I didn't know your parents sold real estate.”

“There are lots of things you don't know,” Daren said.

“Where are you staying?” I asked.

“Some new hotel.”

“The Frontier Lodge?” I crossed my fingers.
Please say no,
I thought.
Please, please stay anywhere except at my hotel.

“Yeah, that's it,” Daren said. “The Frontier Lodge.”

My plans for a carefree vacation flew away faster than the jet outside the window. With Daren on the scene, I would spend my time trying to avoid getting punched, or tripped, or shoved into the pool, or worse.

One of Dad's Oregon brochures showed a picture of some loggers beside a huge cedar tree. An image of Daren with a chain saw buzzed across my mind.

I backed away from Daren toward my parents, knowing he would not hit me again in front of them.

Mom and Dad were talking with another couple. Mom waved me over to them, then introduced me to Mr. and Mrs. Hazelton, Daren's parents. “Mrs. Hazelton works for the online branch of our company,” Dad said. “She's the Virtual Salesperson of the Year.”

“Congratulations,” I mumbled.

“I understand my son is a classmate of yours,” Mrs. Hazelton said.

I nodded.

“Isn't that the best luck?” Mom said. “You'll have someone to pal around with on the beach.”

I imagined Daren sneaking up behind me and shoving me into the water, or pushing me face first into the wet sand.

I forced a smile. “I'm not planning to spend much time at the beach,” I said.

Mom looked surprised, since I had been talking for days about searching for shells or unusual driftwood that I could take home, to show my friends that I'd been to the Pacific Ocean.

Before Mom could say more, the airline announced that passengers in rows thirty to forty-five could begin boarding the plane. We quit talking and waited for our row to be called.

Daren and his parents sat three rows ahead of us.

I played cards with BeeBee during the flight, used the earphones to listen to music, and ate everything the steward brought.

“Free soft drinks,” I said to BeeBee as the steward handed each of us a glass of crushed ice and a can of 7-Up. “This is great.”

“They aren't free,” BeeBee said.

“Sure they are,” I said. “You only have to pay if you want wine or beer.” I pointed at a man across the aisle who was handing the steward money in exchange for a glass of wine.

BeeBee said, “The cost of soft drinks is figured into the price of our ticket. We've already paid for them in advance.”

“Oh,” I said. I knew she was right, but it was more fun to think they were free.

After the plane landed in Portland, we took a special convention bus to Fisher Beach. Daren and his parents rode the bus too, but I took the seat farthest from the door and BeeBee sat next to me, so I was temporarily spared any more contact with Daren.

As we rode along, I gave myself a pep talk. This vacation was the perfect opportunity to make Daren quit bullying me. If I stood up to him the first time he bothered me on this trip, then I'd be able to enjoy the rest of my time in Oregon. But if I let him get away with anything, I'd spend the whole week wondering where he was and what he was up to. I didn't want to spend the first really good vacation of my life hiding from Daren, so I knew I had to take some action.

I remembered my summer goals. Here it was, the middle of July, and my batting average was stuck at .220, my scooter had a broken wheel, and my raise in allowance was still in the “we'll see” category. It was time to deal with Daren.

The bus dropped most of the passengers at hotels in the town of Fisher. When we finally arrived at the Frontier Lodge, my family, the Hazeltons, and one other couple were the only people left.

By then I had resolved to put an end to Daren's pranks. The next time he punched me, or pushed me, or did any of his revolting tricks, I was going to speak up. With both of our parents nearby, I should be able to talk back to Daren without getting maimed.

The Frontier Lodge didn't look much like the drawings in the brochure. Instead of a driveway lined with fir trees, there was a plywood sidewalk of the kind that's used around temporary construction sites. The word “LOBBY” and an arrow had been spray painted with red paint on the plywood.

A yellow bulldozer rumbled back and forth, scraping the area where the nature trail should have been. A flatbed truck held containers of shrubs to be planted.

I saw Mom look uneasily at Dad, who was frowning as he followed the red arrows toward the lobby.

“Welcome to the first-class hotel,” I told BeeBee.

“We should ask for a refund,” BeeBee said. “There isn't any water in the swimming pool.” She pointed at a large concrete hole in the ground that was surrounded by a six-foot wire fence.

We walked beneath scaffolding and finally reached the lobby, where three workers with staple guns were noisily laying carpet. A too-cheerful person greeted us: “Welcome to Frontier Lodge!”

“We have reservations,” Dad told the woman behind the desk, “but we didn't know the hotel was still under construction.”

“We were delayed by a labor dispute,” the woman said. “You'll be staying across the street at the Totem Pole Inn. I'm sure you'll be most comfortable there.”

“Why weren't we notified?” Mom said. “We're supposed to attend a convention here.”

“Our convention and dining facilities are ready and your meetings will be held as planned,” the woman said, “but our guest suites didn't get finished. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. We were lucky to find rooms for all of the convention registrants who had planned to stay here. Many of them are at hotels in town; at least you are within walking distance of your meetings.” She said it as if we should be grateful rather than disappointed.

“We ought to get a discount on the room,” BeeBee said. “Being across the street from the convention is not as good as being in the same hotel. What if it rains?”

The woman behind the counter leaned forward and glared at BeeBee.

“There's no nature trail,” BeeBee said, “and no water in the swimming pool. That's false advertising.”

“She's right,” Dad said. “The rate we were given was for a brand new hotel, with the convention meetings on site. We shouldn't have to pay the same rate for older, less convenient accommodations.”

By now Daren and his parents, and the other couple from the bus, were in line behind us. The woman at the counter lowered her voice and said, “I can give you a special rate of two hundred fifty dollars per night.”

“That will be fine,” Dad said.

BeeBee grinned. I knew she was figuring out how much the discount had saved Dad's company. One hundred twenty-five dollars per night times five nights equals seven hundred twenty-five dollars!

I gave BeeBee a thumbs up.

A bellhop piled our bags on a luggage cart and pulled it down the plywood walkway. As we left the lobby, we heard Mrs. Hazelton yelling at the desk clerk, demanding to stay at the Frontier Lodge. Daren's voice joined his mother's. “I want to stay
here
]” he whined. “You promised!”

I hoped the clerk would give in and find a room for the Hazeltons. That way Daren would be across the street from me rather than in the same hotel.

“This situation must be hard for you,” Dad said to the bellhop.

“Most people are understanding,” he said. “A few get obnoxious and insist they're going to stay in the new hotel whether the rooms are ready or not. When they find out the beds haven't been delivered yet, they change their minds.”

We crossed the street to a much older hotel that was only three stories high.

“The Totem Pole Inn will be torn down as soon as the construction is finished on the lodge,” the bellhop told us. “This land will be used for a parking garage, a restaurant, and some shops. There'll be an overhead walkway across the street to the hotel and conference center.”