I saw Casey
Winslow and his gang once more that day. They were hanging out on
Main Street, U.S.A., laughing their heads off at everybody that walked
by. Curt didn’t notice them.
“Wait here,” he told me. “I’ll go look for Mom and Dad.”
“Hurry up. You’ll miss the parade, heaven forbid.”
I sat down on a park bench and watched Curt work his way through the crowd. Then I looked back across the street to see if Casey and his friends were still around, but all I saw were the other three. Casey was nowhere in sight.
“What’s a sweet young thing like you doing all by yourself in this part of town?” I spun around and saw Casey leaning over me. “Don’t you know all the crazies come out at night?”
“Huh?”
“I just heard they found a dead body around here. It was one of those guys who wear the funny costumes. They think there might be some escaped lunatic running around in his costume, only they don’t know which one it is.”
“I...uh...”
“I’m just kidding. What’s your name, Sweetcheeks?”
“Crystal...Crystal Larson.”
“Ding Dong’s little sister, huh? Wanna catch a buzz?”
“Huh? Me?”
“That’s why you were spying on us, wasn’t it?”
“Uh, no, actually...I was just...curious...”
“Did you ever get high before?”
“No.”
“Well, allow me the honor of breaking you in.” He dig inside his shirt pocket, pulled out a joint and lit it up in front of everybody. “Here, smoke some of this and you’ll stay young forever.”
“Are you crazy? There are people everywhere!”
“They won’t even notice it. This is Disney World, remember. They don’t have narcs here.” He held the smoldering joint like a cigarette, took a puff, and casually handed it to me. Without even really thinking about it, I took it from him and puffed on it. He laughed at the way I exhaled it right away. “No, no, hold it in longer.”
I took another one and held it in longer. “Good,” Casey said. He took the joint from me and took an even longer one. I coughed when I exhaled, and even though I could feel the blood rushing to my face and my eyes begin to water, nobody going by gave us a second look.
“This is nuts,” I told him. “If my parents find out about this, they’re going to kill me.”
“Where are they?”
“Curt’s looking for them. They were supposed to meet us here ten minutes ago.”
“Take another hit,” he told me. I took the joint and looked around to make sure it was safe. “And try not to look so paranoid.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Neither can I. I’m pretty sure it’s really happening, though.”
I took another hit and held it in as long as I could. Casey had his eye on the crowd. “Uh-oh. Here comes your family.”
I looked at the crowd and didn’t see them. When I looked back at Casey he was already gone. I looked across the street for his friends, but they were gone, too.
My mother came out of the crowd calling my name. Dad and Curt were a few steps behind. I looked down at the joint in my hand, put it out on the seat, and slipped it in the tote bag. Then I went for a pack of gum I had in there and quickly stuffed a stick of it in my mouth.
“There you are, sweetheart. Having a good time?”
“Yeah...this kind of fun should be against the law.”
“The fireworks are going to start any minute, let’s go find a good place to watch it from.”
I followed Mom, Dad, and Curt down the street to watch the fireworks that wrap up each day at Walt Disney World. By the time they kicked in the marijuana did too. I was freaking out over everything. “Wow! Check that one out! Holy smokes! Look at all the colors in that one! Freak me out, man! Wow!”
Mom and Dad didn’t suspect a thing but Curt kept giving me funny looks. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’ve never felt better. Why?”
“You look a little weird.”
“You look a little stupid!”
A particularly loud rocket exploded at that second, lighting up the sky with a brief shower of blazing sparks. Curt seemed to forget about my strange behavior and concentrated on the fireworks above us. “Gee, they must’ve known I’d be here today,” he said. “How thoughtful.” I knew he was too wrapped up in himself to suspect me of being stoned out of my mind on drugs, so I just sat back and enjoyed it.
“I could swear I put another roll of film in this tote bag,” my mother said. I didn’t realize what she was doing until she found the rest of the joint and held it up for all to see. At first she was speechless, then her eyes got really big and she almost started choking. “Cal...Cal...”
“Yeah, honey?”
“Tell me this isn’t what I think it is!”
“What isn’t what?”
I looked at them with a completely blank expression. “What is that?”
“Curt? Would you like to explain this?”
“Huh? What?”
“This is a joint,” Mom said. “A marijuana cigarette, and its been smoked! What was it doing in the tote bag?”
Curt’s expression wasn’t quite as blank as mine, even though it was the only one that was genuine. “Uh...well...”
Mom’s eyes had lasers coming out of them. “What did we tell you about drugs, young man? How many times have we told you—”
“I don’t know where that came from! Honest!”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive!”
“Well it didn’t get there by itself!”
Curt looked away for a moment, totally baffled. I felt bad letting him take the blame, so I spoke up. “It’s mine,” I said.
“Don’t be ridiculous, sweetheart. This is serious!”
“Okay, Mom.” (You can’t say I didn’t try!)
“Curt? Let’s have some answers here!”
Curt suddenly realized something. “Winslow...” he said. “That son of a...”
Mom and Dad looked at each other. “What?” they both asked.
“Casey Winslow must have slipped it in there on Tom Sawyer’s Island! Crystal caught him and his buddies getting high, and they chased her through the woods. We had a stand-off, and they must have thrown it into the tote bag when we weren’t looking!”
“You expect us to believe that? We’re a thousand miles from home. Casey Winslow isn’t anywhere near here.”
“He’s here, Mom,” I insisted. “Curt’s telling you the truth!”
“Is that right?”
“Everybody knows Curt doesn’t do drugs. He gets high on himself!”
“I swear, Mom! That’s not my joint! Honest!”
Mom looked at both of us, then smiled. “Of course not.”
“Please remain in your seat and fasten all safety belts. We will be taking off shortly.”
Curt buckled his seat belt like the flight attendant said. “I can’t believe they’re sending us home. This is ridiculous!”
“We weren’t even there a whole day,” I murmured.
“I can’t believe they thought I was doing drugs. I just can’t believe it! I mean, doesn’t eighteen years of being straight account for anything? And that look on Mom’s face...”
“Just forget about it. There’s nothing you can do about it now.”
“I’m gonna kill that Winslow!”
“What will that solve?”
“Nothing. It’ll just make me feel a lot better.”
I looked out the window of the jumbo jet and cringed. “This is a 747. Aren’t they always getting hit by something in the movies? They’re too big. We could die in this thing.”
“What are you blabbing about?”
“This jet. I’ve never flown in one before.”
“It’s nothing to worry about. Just pretend it’s the space shuttle.” Curt paused for a moment while the engines started getting louder. “The space shuttle...wait a minute! That’s it!”
“Don’t tell me. You’ve decided to take the Air Force Academy Scholarship after all, so you can become a fighter pilot and fly the space shuttle, right?”
Curt looked kind of embarrassed. “Well, it might make Mom and Dad change their minds about me.”
“Don’t worry about them. They’ll smarten up in a couple days.”
“Still, I think becoming an astronaut is a good idea.”
“It’s the best idea you’ve ever had. In fact, it’s also the only idea you’ve ever had. What about football?”
“I can do both.”
“Why not? Flash Gordon did.”
“Very funny.”
“So. You’re going to become an astronaut. Congratulations, hotshot!” I shook my brother’s hand.
“Thanks, Sprite.” He seemed to have forgotten that I was sick of that nickname. I forgot, too. The 747 began to taxi down the runway at about a million miles an hour and lifted into the sky with all the grace of an overweight ballerina with rocket strapped to her butt. I felt my intestines tie up in knots.
Maybe it’s a good thing I’ve never gone on a real space shuttle. Getting sick in zero gravity isn’t as easy to clean up as it was on that plane.
“Wait here,” he told me. “I’ll go look for Mom and Dad.”
“Hurry up. You’ll miss the parade, heaven forbid.”
I sat down on a park bench and watched Curt work his way through the crowd. Then I looked back across the street to see if Casey and his friends were still around, but all I saw were the other three. Casey was nowhere in sight.
“What’s a sweet young thing like you doing all by yourself in this part of town?” I spun around and saw Casey leaning over me. “Don’t you know all the crazies come out at night?”
“Huh?”
“I just heard they found a dead body around here. It was one of those guys who wear the funny costumes. They think there might be some escaped lunatic running around in his costume, only they don’t know which one it is.”
“I...uh...”
“I’m just kidding. What’s your name, Sweetcheeks?”
“Crystal...Crystal Larson.”
“Ding Dong’s little sister, huh? Wanna catch a buzz?”
“Huh? Me?”
“That’s why you were spying on us, wasn’t it?”
“Uh, no, actually...I was just...curious...”
“Did you ever get high before?”
“No.”
“Well, allow me the honor of breaking you in.” He dig inside his shirt pocket, pulled out a joint and lit it up in front of everybody. “Here, smoke some of this and you’ll stay young forever.”
“Are you crazy? There are people everywhere!”
“They won’t even notice it. This is Disney World, remember. They don’t have narcs here.” He held the smoldering joint like a cigarette, took a puff, and casually handed it to me. Without even really thinking about it, I took it from him and puffed on it. He laughed at the way I exhaled it right away. “No, no, hold it in longer.”
I took another one and held it in longer. “Good,” Casey said. He took the joint from me and took an even longer one. I coughed when I exhaled, and even though I could feel the blood rushing to my face and my eyes begin to water, nobody going by gave us a second look.
“This is nuts,” I told him. “If my parents find out about this, they’re going to kill me.”
“Where are they?”
“Curt’s looking for them. They were supposed to meet us here ten minutes ago.”
“Take another hit,” he told me. I took the joint and looked around to make sure it was safe. “And try not to look so paranoid.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Neither can I. I’m pretty sure it’s really happening, though.”
I took another hit and held it in as long as I could. Casey had his eye on the crowd. “Uh-oh. Here comes your family.”
I looked at the crowd and didn’t see them. When I looked back at Casey he was already gone. I looked across the street for his friends, but they were gone, too.
My mother came out of the crowd calling my name. Dad and Curt were a few steps behind. I looked down at the joint in my hand, put it out on the seat, and slipped it in the tote bag. Then I went for a pack of gum I had in there and quickly stuffed a stick of it in my mouth.
“There you are, sweetheart. Having a good time?”
“Yeah...this kind of fun should be against the law.”
“The fireworks are going to start any minute, let’s go find a good place to watch it from.”
I followed Mom, Dad, and Curt down the street to watch the fireworks that wrap up each day at Walt Disney World. By the time they kicked in the marijuana did too. I was freaking out over everything. “Wow! Check that one out! Holy smokes! Look at all the colors in that one! Freak me out, man! Wow!”
Mom and Dad didn’t suspect a thing but Curt kept giving me funny looks. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’ve never felt better. Why?”
“You look a little weird.”
“You look a little stupid!”
A particularly loud rocket exploded at that second, lighting up the sky with a brief shower of blazing sparks. Curt seemed to forget about my strange behavior and concentrated on the fireworks above us. “Gee, they must’ve known I’d be here today,” he said. “How thoughtful.” I knew he was too wrapped up in himself to suspect me of being stoned out of my mind on drugs, so I just sat back and enjoyed it.
“I could swear I put another roll of film in this tote bag,” my mother said. I didn’t realize what she was doing until she found the rest of the joint and held it up for all to see. At first she was speechless, then her eyes got really big and she almost started choking. “Cal...Cal...”
“Yeah, honey?”
“Tell me this isn’t what I think it is!”
“What isn’t what?”
I looked at them with a completely blank expression. “What is that?”
“Curt? Would you like to explain this?”
“Huh? What?”
“This is a joint,” Mom said. “A marijuana cigarette, and its been smoked! What was it doing in the tote bag?”
Curt’s expression wasn’t quite as blank as mine, even though it was the only one that was genuine. “Uh...well...”
Mom’s eyes had lasers coming out of them. “What did we tell you about drugs, young man? How many times have we told you—”
“I don’t know where that came from! Honest!”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive!”
“Well it didn’t get there by itself!”
Curt looked away for a moment, totally baffled. I felt bad letting him take the blame, so I spoke up. “It’s mine,” I said.
“Don’t be ridiculous, sweetheart. This is serious!”
“Okay, Mom.” (You can’t say I didn’t try!)
“Curt? Let’s have some answers here!”
Curt suddenly realized something. “Winslow...” he said. “That son of a...”
Mom and Dad looked at each other. “What?” they both asked.
“Casey Winslow must have slipped it in there on Tom Sawyer’s Island! Crystal caught him and his buddies getting high, and they chased her through the woods. We had a stand-off, and they must have thrown it into the tote bag when we weren’t looking!”
“You expect us to believe that? We’re a thousand miles from home. Casey Winslow isn’t anywhere near here.”
“He’s here, Mom,” I insisted. “Curt’s telling you the truth!”
“Is that right?”
“Everybody knows Curt doesn’t do drugs. He gets high on himself!”
“I swear, Mom! That’s not my joint! Honest!”
Mom looked at both of us, then smiled. “Of course not.”
* *
* * *
“Please remain in your seat and fasten all safety belts. We will be taking off shortly.”
Curt buckled his seat belt like the flight attendant said. “I can’t believe they’re sending us home. This is ridiculous!”
“We weren’t even there a whole day,” I murmured.
“I can’t believe they thought I was doing drugs. I just can’t believe it! I mean, doesn’t eighteen years of being straight account for anything? And that look on Mom’s face...”
“Just forget about it. There’s nothing you can do about it now.”
“I’m gonna kill that Winslow!”
“What will that solve?”
“Nothing. It’ll just make me feel a lot better.”
I looked out the window of the jumbo jet and cringed. “This is a 747. Aren’t they always getting hit by something in the movies? They’re too big. We could die in this thing.”
“What are you blabbing about?”
“This jet. I’ve never flown in one before.”
“It’s nothing to worry about. Just pretend it’s the space shuttle.” Curt paused for a moment while the engines started getting louder. “The space shuttle...wait a minute! That’s it!”
“Don’t tell me. You’ve decided to take the Air Force Academy Scholarship after all, so you can become a fighter pilot and fly the space shuttle, right?”
Curt looked kind of embarrassed. “Well, it might make Mom and Dad change their minds about me.”
“Don’t worry about them. They’ll smarten up in a couple days.”
“Still, I think becoming an astronaut is a good idea.”
“It’s the best idea you’ve ever had. In fact, it’s also the only idea you’ve ever had. What about football?”
“I can do both.”
“Why not? Flash Gordon did.”
“Very funny.”
“So. You’re going to become an astronaut. Congratulations, hotshot!” I shook my brother’s hand.
“Thanks, Sprite.” He seemed to have forgotten that I was sick of that nickname. I forgot, too. The 747 began to taxi down the runway at about a million miles an hour and lifted into the sky with all the grace of an overweight ballerina with rocket strapped to her butt. I felt my intestines tie up in knots.
Maybe it’s a good thing I’ve never gone on a real space shuttle. Getting sick in zero gravity isn’t as easy to clean up as it was on that plane.
