Chapter 4

8 AM Monday morning found me in the jump seat of Marty's Ford pickup truck. Ted was driving the truck toward the Atlantic Ocean. Marty sat beside him in the front seat of the truck which was loaded down with motorized bicycles and trailers for our trip. I sat, quietly sipping coffee, while they argued. I wasn't all that concerned, since all families argue. I knew that my best play was to just stay quiet and try to nap while they discussed, whatever it was they planned to fight about as we headed east...

It was almost four hours to the minute when we pulled into the parking lot of the Wrightsville Beach fishing pier. The two of them unloaded the bicycles and trailers, while I removed the small plastic trash bags with our personal items from the truck's interior.

Marty had done his research. The purpose of the plastic trash bags was to keep our few extra clothes dry; the clothes were just in case of rain. The plastic credit cards would take care of clean clothes along the way. Even there, Marty had done his research. He had purchased and loaded three prepaid Visa cards. He would be carrying the card with the most money. I would be carrying a card with a lesser amount, and a third was to be hidden on his bike just for emergencies. The idea was that if something happened to him, I could use my card to get home. His card would be paying for the expenses of the trip, but if stolen, nothing much would be lost. In his opinion it wasn't much, but in my opinion ten grand was a lot of money.

In addition to three pairs of clean panties and a very lightweight jogging suit, I carried my hammerless .38. I also carried a small plastic bag with additional cartridges. Other than those few items, it was a toothbrush and deodorant that filled my bag,

Into the trailer's plastic milk carton bed, I placed the plastic bag. Ted put in the filled gallon gas can and a quart of oil. Both Marty and I carried the extra gas and oil, along with a tire and two tubes. The tire pump was placed into Marty's trailer, while I carried a case of peanut butter crackers and a large water bottle.

Other than those items, everything was hung on the bike. The cell phone Marty planned to use was one of those fancy things. It allowed him to connect to the Internet, as well as to the cell network. Even more important, the cell phone had an excellent GPS.

After the bicycles were packed and ready for the trip, Marty turned to me and handed me a plastic bag from Victoria Secret's. "Put this on, Max. I want a picture of you on the bike with the ocean in the background. It's for the bike forum."

Inside the bag, I found a shockingly small bikini. Not only that, it was shockingly red as well. "You have to be kidding?"

"Oh, come on, it will look great on you."

"This thing is way too small for me."

"No, it isn't. Jennifer gave me your sizes. Just give it a try. Put your jeans and top on over it. When we find a spot, you can pose for me." I glanced at Ted who did not look at all happy. I almost told him not to worry, that I didn't want his inheritance, but I then realized that I wouldn't mind having the few million in Marty's estate.

I went into the public bathroom at the land end of the pier. When I came out, I looked the same to those who had seen me go in. I knew that I wasn't the same at all. I was wearing the tiny red bikini under the moderately tight jeans and baggy sweat shirt, which had the sleeves chopped off, so it was super comfortable...

"Well, let's get this show on the road," Marty said, smiling at me.

"Dad, I want you to know this is probably the dumbest thing you have ever done."