For the next two days, they drove through barren desert toward the dry, hot West. It seemed to Colm like they had left the planet Earth. He had never seen topography like this. As they drove through Nevada, Colm pretended to be on Mars.
“Mission Control, Mission Control. I see Martians. Yes, Martians. I need backup. Lasers and all your forces,” Colm said in a deep voice, as he tried to create static sound effects by forcing the back of his tongue up against the roof of his mouth, “Khhkhhhkhhhh, I am losing you, Mission Control. I am losing contact!”
“Mission Control, here. We’re sending in the Giant Robotron-Superhero-Special Forces,” Sean said. “Be ready for battle. Man your weapons!”
“The Martians—they have attacked. We have been defeated! Our forces are destroyed! Mission Control: We are Martians now!” Colm shouted.
When Colm didn’t want to be an astronaut anymore, but a Martian, Sean fashioned foil antennas out of the leftover wrappers from their burritos. They sat in the backseat with their Martian headgear and busied themselves for hours in Colm’s imaginary world and watched as the world flew by them in streaks of red, orange, and brown. Occasionally, Colm would leave his uncle on Mars and cross his eyes, while staring out the window. He liked to watch the colors swirl and the world shift and change before him.
When Colm and Sean weren’t on the United States of Mars, Cathleen and Sean were at each other’s throats, yelling about when to stop, where to eat, and how long to stay. Dr. Basu and Colm often looked at each other, rolling their eyes, exasperated by them both.
“Would you two just stop it?” Colm shouted.
“Why can’t you two just get along? Don’t you see how stupid it is to fight? Try to have a little fun, Mama. Uncle Sean, try to be nice.”
Dr. Basu smiled and winked at the boy every time he came to their rescue and saved them from each other time and time again.
By the evening of their fifth day on the road, Dr. Basu pulled into a roadside motel that he could tell had a pool. “I think we could all use a break. Maybe a swim, no?” Dr. Basu asked.
“Yes!” Colm shouted out. “I’d love to go swimming!”
“Yes, it’s awfully hot. A dip in a pool would be nice,” Cathleen agreed. “Are you sure you feel up to it, Colm?”
“Yes!” Colm shouted. He couldn’t wait to get out of the car.
Cathleen smiled and thought quietly, It’s a sign. He’s getting better.
Dr. Basu checked them all in and gave them their keys and told them to go and change. “OK. We’ll see who can get changed and get in the pool first,” Dr. Basu said, laughing.
“I’ll race you, Dr. Basu,” Colm said. Colm and his mother ran to their room. “Come on, Mama! Hurry, hurry. I don’t want Dr. Basu and Sean to win.”
“OK, OK.” Cathleen stepped into the bathroom. “I’ll be out in a second. Your suit is in my bag. I packed a new pair of trunks for you I bought for this trip,” she yelled through the door.
Colm looked in his mother’s bag and found a pair of navy blue trunks with white stars all over them. “Aw, Mama. I love them. They’re sooo cool.”
“I’m glad. I knew you would like them, hon. Don’t worry. I’ll be right out.”
Colm pulled on his new trunks, threw on his T-shirt, and began bouncing outside his mother’s door. “Let’s go, let’s go.” Colm always felt like he was waiting for his mother to just move on and go already.