Man Trip (13 page)

Seventeen.

That’s how many I carried to the river.

Seventeen smiling bufos who didn’t get shredded, whose guts did not end up on my feet.

And then I cut the grass.

T
hat night Ledward came over for another night of ono, cooked on the hibachi. This time he marinated it in shoyu, sugar, and ginger, and boy, was it good.

And of course, me and Ledward told Mom,
Darci, and Stella about our incredible day with Baja Bill all over again.

Stella said we were boring her to death and went to her room.

Darci yawned and turned on the TV.

Only Mom listened to all of it.

At bedtime, I flipped off the light and climbed to the top bunk. Streak curled up on the bunk below. Even she was tired of hearing about our man trip.

I lay on my side in the dark, looking out the window.

The moon cast long night shadows across the driveway and Ledward’s jeep. The sweet smell of fresh-cut grass drifted in through the screen.

I had a front-row seat for the sounds of a bazillion insects and other creatures that took over the neighborhood at night, probably even the seventeen toads I’d rescued.

Some guys I knew would laugh their heads off if they ever heard about that. Rescuing
toads
? Next thing you knew I’d be calling them beautiful. Man, was I losing it.

But so what? Toads deserved to live, too.

Shayla would go nuts if she ever heard I’d tossed some in the river.

Someone came out the kitchen door into the garage.

Ledward headed out to his jeep and got in. For a minute, he sat back and looked out toward the yard.

He got out and walked toward my window. Quietly, he said, “Boy. You still awake?”

“Yeah.”

“Come outside.”

I slipped off my bunk and went outside. “What?”

“You did it,” Ledward said. “You cut the grass.”

“I had to. I don’t know anybody who has cows.”

Ledward laughed. “Sorry if I woke you.”

“I was just lying there listening to the bugs.”

“Quite a symphony, huh?”

I nodded.

“What did you do with the bufos in the grass?”

“Found them with my feet and let them go in the river. I guess throwing them could … you know, like you said … hurt them.”

We stood looking at the moonlit river.

Toads croaked, bugs buzzed. It all felt so much closer in the dark, a whole different world. It was alive. I could almost feel the bellies of the bufos I’d held. Soft, with beating hearts. And warm, like the marlin.

“All that life out there.” Ledward put his hand on my shoulder. “Pretty amazing.”

I listened.

“Hey,” Ledward said. “You want to take a walk?”

“Now? In the dark?”

“Why not?”

I grinned. “Yeah. Why not?”

We headed down the street. Lights were still on down at Julio’s house, but most of the houses were dark. It was fun to go for a walk when everyone else was falling asleep.

Ledward walked with his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “You get your girl problems taken care of?”

“Maybe. I guess.”

“They get you coming and going, don’t they?”

“You can run but you can’t hide.” Stella said that to me all the time. I wasn’t too sure what it meant, but I liked it.

Ledward laughed, loud.

It was me and him, on another man trip. Sometimes you go fishing. Sometimes you just go for a walk.

Toads kept croaking. Bugs kept buzzing.

All that life.

Ledward was right.

It
was
amazing.

Of the six hundred active volcanoes on earth today, Kilauea Volcano, on the Big Island of Hawaii, is the world’s largest and most active.

Your nose and ears continue growing throughout your entire life. Think about it: what if you lived to be 150?

Graham Salisbury
is the author of six other Calvin Coconut books:
Trouble Magnet, The Zippy Fix, Dog Heaven, Zoo Breath, Hero of Hawaii
, and
Kung Fooey
, as well as several novels for older readers, including the award-winning
Lord of the Deep, Blue Skin of the Sea, Under the Blood-Red Sun, Eyes of the Emperor, House of the Red Fish
, and
Night of the Howling Dogs
. Graham Salisbury grew up in Hawaii. Calvin Coconut and his friends attend the same school Graham did—Kailua Elementary School. Graham now lives in Portland, Oregon, with his family. You can visit him on the Web at
grahamsalisbury.com
.

Jacqueline Rogers
has illustrated more than ninety books for young readers over the past twenty years. She studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. You can visit her on the Web at
jacquelinerogers.com
.