Chapter 9

We got to the theater just before one. Luke Reese and Ricky Calloway were already busy tearing down our sets. Ricky looked at our group in amazement. "It's bad enough you travel with your own little harem, but I see you've added a new blonde, brunette, and a redhead."

I grinned. "They say variety is the spice of life."

Tami cuffed the back of my head as Robbie punched me in the arm. "Guys, these are Tony and Traci's cousins from Colorado and Hawaii," Tami said, then continued with individual introductions.

After she finished we all pitched in. I was a little surprised at how helpful Hailey was. I'd kind of expected her to stand around and just hit on Luke or Ricky. Or both.

Or maybe Robbie. I didn't think they'd connected during the road trip but wasn't sure. Robbie wasn't seeing anybody right now. I think she and Luke fooled around a little just for fun since his last girlfriend had dumped him just in time for Christmas. Maybe she and Hailey would be good for each other.

An image of Robbie and Traci flashed through my head, and I wondered if they still ... I told myself firmly that it wasn't any of my business, but business or not, I decided that Traci and Hailey would always have a chaperone.

Breaking down the sets and getting them loaded in the rental truck went quickly. Wynter, to nobody's surprise, turned out to be a wiz at n-space geometry--the art that only females practiced of getting a larger volume of stuff into a space smaller than ordinary physics allowed.

About three there was an explosive, "WHITNEY GWYNETH, YOU'RE OUT OF LINE!" from backstage. I looked around and noticed that both Luke and Ricky were among the missing, though they could be out at the truck. I decided that unless there was blood or police involved, I didn't want to know.

Half-an-hour later, everything was packed. The same truck that barely had space for everything coming over now had room to spare. We stood in the center of the stage, looking out at the rows of empty seats, reluctant to leave. The cousins stood in the wings, giving us our space.

"I wasn't too big a bitch, was I?"

I hugged Robbie. "Madame director, you were just right. Any less and Trace would have forgotten half her lines."

"I'm right here."

"She can't even remember a few simple things like Hamlet's soliloquy, the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence."

Traci glared. "And you can?"

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."

"Okay, okay. Why couldn't I have a dumb brother like Jenny?" Jenny's brother Doug was in my class. He wasn't dumb exactly. He just didn't care about anything but getting high.

"Ask him if he knows King's I Have a Dream or Kennedy's Inaugural," Robbie stage whispered to Traci. Meaning she knew them word-for-word. Traci looked disgusted and stomped over to the cousins.

"It was fun," Darlene said, hugging Robbie.

"And we put on one hell of a show," Tami said in agreement.

"And since we can never top this, we can take next year off," I suggested. The look I got back from Robbie said that not only was I writing another play, but it was to be typed, proofed, copied, and collated by August.

"Guys," I said, looking at Ricky and Luke, "we couldn't have done it without you." I held out my hand.

"That's a fact," Luke agreed, shaking it.

"We just did it for the money," Ricky added, slapping me on the back.

"You maybe," I said, giving him a soft punch in the gut. "But Luke has more class." I slapped Luke on the back. "He did it for the girls." Luke turned red. I had a feeling that he and Darlene were almost an item.

I noticed that Ricky kept glancing at my favorite wahini, then at me. While I'd never passed my mind reading test, I'd be willing to bet he was thinking about offering to ease the burden on the minivan by taking a passenger in the truck. I'd even be willing to bet which one. I wondered if I'd need to remind him that he'd lasted four months with Cassie Wheeler, at least so far, a record for both of them.

Figuring it was time to go, I waved Traci and the cousins over.

As they walked over, Hailey's face lit up and she was suddenly back in my face again. "Hey! Like, I almost forgot. Suzie sent you a gift."

"Suzie? A gift?"

"Yeah. Hey, she was so the grateful for the tape." She attached herself to me again.

As her mouth closed on mine, I had to admire the suction power she developed. Maybe I should alert the Eureka people. Or would the Hoover Company pay more? Her tongue wormed into my mouth, and I had trouble remembering why this wasn't a good idea. Cinnamon had to help pull her loose.

"Hailey!" I sputtered. "That wasn't my idea, it was Robbie's!"

Hailey turned around and grinned at Robbie. "Yeah?"

"That's okay," said Robbie, her eyes dancing with humor. "I'll collect mine from Tony later."

I think I was the only one who heard the soft, "Shit! I never get to have any fun."

The ride home was crowded. With one sister, three cousins, a girlfriend, a cheerleader and a quarterback in the van with me, we had to take turns inhaling. Hailey behaved, though probably only because the steering wheel would have been in her way.

We got back to town just before six and dropped Darlene and Robbie, then took a tour of the town. It was supposed to be a quick tour, but I think I put more miles on the van in town than between Seattle and here. Tami and Traci kept calling out landmarks to show the cousins, but the landmarks they selected always seemed to be across town from wherever we were.

"It's about time," Mom said when we walked in the door after seven. From the look Dad passed me, Mom had been worrying.

I gave her a hug. "Think I forgot how to drive safe just because I had cousins in the car."

"No. It's just..."

I hugged her again. "You know I'm a safe driver."

"I know but..."

Want to compare traffic tickets?" I asked with a grin. "We could go lifetime, the last year, the last three months, or just the weekend."

Mom blushed. She'd gotten a ticket on the way to Seattle. She averaged three of four a year. "That's not the point," she protested.

"And the point would be?"

Mom looked exasperated.

Dad laughed. "Give it up. You haven't won an argument with him since we moved from California."

"You're a lot of help," she accused.

Dad smiled. "I'm not getting in this. I haven't won an argument since he hit double digits."

Mom looked up at the ceiling, shaking her head, then smiled and looked at me. "Go ahead and show them around the trailer. I've picked up Traci's room, so they should be safe if they've had their shots."

"It wasn't that bad," Traci whined.

Mom stared at her. "Do you really want to discuss it now? You, I win arguments with."

I led the cousins toward the back while behind us, Traci muttered something about life, brothers, and fair.

When we got back to the front of the house, Mom was in the process of grilling some ham and cheese sandwiches. I gave her a quick hug since she'd picked up my room, too, and made my bed. I'm not as big a slob as Traci, but I'm not one of those a-place-for-everything-and everything-in-it's-place kind of guys, either.

We settled down to eat, Traci and the cousins at the table, Tami sitting across my lap on the sofa, and Mom sitting across Dad's lap in his chair. I wondered for the millionth time if they'd ever learn to act their age, then decided to give them a break 'cause I knew Tami and I would be just as bad and just as embarrassing to our kids someday.