The Winner's Game(43)
“I’m not boring!” Well…at least I don’t want to be boring.
“Focus on the road, dear,” Mom warns. “Don’t mind him.”
“You kinda are,” Bree echoes gingerly. “But it’s OK. That’s just who you are.”
Mom’s brow is now furrowed angrily. “Whoa there. There’s no need to get nasty. Let’s just have fun and be nice today. Can we do that?”
“It’s hard,” replies Bree, undeterred. “Between Pirate King and Boring Queen, my life is not easy.”
Oh right, like her life is so hard.
“Bree, that’s exactly what I’m talking about, and it’s uncalled for.” She pauses to make sure Cade is listening too. “Believe me, your father and I want so much for this to be a good summer for you, but you’re not making it easy with comments like that. For obvious reasons, there needs to be a greater sense of peace between the three of you. With Grandma to attend to, I can’t always be with you to break up fights this summer. But if this is how you act with me around, I can only imagine the things you say to each other when you’re alone.”
Her words hang in the air like a balloon, which I quickly pop with a few more sharp words. “It’s those two! They’re so immature.”
“Oh, figures you’d point the finger at us, Miss Perfect,” snaps Bree. “You should take a look in the mirror once in a while. Cade and I would get along just fine if you weren’t always bossing us around.”
“No we wouldn’t,” Cade counters. “You’re both dumb, and I wouldn’t get along with either of you.”
“STOP IT!” Mom’s voice has become shrill. “Oh my goodness. You can’t treat each other like that. It’s got to stop.”
I’m gripping the steering wheel so tight that my knuckles are turning white. “We’re just tired,” I mutter, “because someone got us up too early.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault? Well then, let’s turn this ship around right now so you can go take a nap. We don’t need to be in this movie anyway.”
In almost perfect unison all three of us shout, “No!”
“We’ll be good,” I promise.
“Please, let’s keep going,” begs Bree, suddenly sounding like the sweetest thing ever. “Being in a movie sounds so awesome.”
After thinking for a moment, Mom offers a proposition. “Tell you what. We’ll keep driving to Astoria, but only if the ugliness stops right now. Let’s only let kind words pass our lips. One more outburst and we turn right around.”
Naturally, everyone agrees.
I can tell the Walrus has loads of power, but with me behind the wheel it never realizes its full potential. By the time we arrive at the designated location in downtown Astoria, the parking lot is nearly full. Before we’re able to find an open space, a man waves us down.
He approaches my window. “Nice ride.”
“Thanks. It’s my great-grandma’s.”
“Well, Great-granny’s got some great style.” He gives the car a good long look before asking if we’re there to be extras in the movie. When I tell him we are, he breaks the unfortunate news that we are too late. “We’ve already got everyone we need. Some folks showed up as early as five this morning just to get a spot in line, so I’ve been turning people away for the last thirty minutes.”
“That’s not fair,” says Mom coolly. It kind of strikes me as funny, because she and Dad are always the ones reminding us how things aren’t supposed to be fair. “We’re here on time.”
“It’s OK,” I tell her. “We tried.”
But it isn’t OK to Mom. She leans over me so she can talk to the man through my window. “You mean they can’t find room for three more kids?”
“I think it’s more than that, ma’am. Extras cost money, and we’ve already got plenty for the scenes today. It’s just the way these things go.”
“So you work for the movie company, then?”
“I do. I report to the first assistant director, who’s off prepping the extras right now.”
“And does the first assistant director have a name?”
“Uh…yeah. It’s Jody.”
Mom smiles sweetly and waves. “Thank you.” Then she sits straight up in her seat and lowers her voice so the man can’t hear. “You kids stay put. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” She gives a reassuring wink, then climbs out. Before her door closes, I hear her say, “Can you point me in Jody’s direction?” Without waiting for the man’s answer, she starts marching toward a series of large tents along the far edge of the parking lot.