Three weeks. Dad grounded me for three weeks. No friends over. No going to friends’ houses. No “social” phone calls, texts, or emails. I couldn’t be too upset though. I probably would have been grounded longer if Dad weren’t so worried about my “fragile state.” And I certainly would have been grounded longer if he knew I was drinking at a high school party.
The only thing I could still do was go to my baseball games and practices. “You made a commitment to your team,” Dad said. “So I’m not going to allow you to let your teammates down.” I just think he liked going to the games so much, he wasn’t going to deprive himself of his favorite pastime.
Seth was pretty pissed when I saw him at school on Monday. I guess he got grounded for three weeks, but could still play baseball too. Our parents had to have worked that out together.
“Why couldn’t you have gone home on time?” he asked as soon as I climbed onto the bus.
“Sorry. I screwed up.”
“Yeah, well, now I’m in a lot of trouble because of you.”
I stared at the seat in front of me, silent. When we got to school, Seth walked ahead of me with some other kids. “I didn’t even want to go in the first place, Seth,” I called to him.
“What?” He turned around with a disgusted look on his face.
“I didn’t even want to go. Going to that party was your idea, so don’t blame the whole thing on me.”
“Whatever,” he scowled as he turned around and walked down the hallway.
I had baseball practice after school. I dreaded it. I didn’t want to deal with Seth, and I didn’t feel like playing. I had never felt like skipping baseball before, but putting all my effort into catching and hitting a little ball seemed pretty insignificant all of a sudden.
I had my cleats on, ready to go because I had to. I had some time to spare, and Dad wasn’t home yet, so I snuck in a few minutes of Saved by the Bell. It was the one when Jessie and Slater got locked in the boiler room during their “cowboy” themed prom. It was quite dramatic, I must say. While I watched, I had one thought: missing prom, especially a “cowboy” prom, with twelve people in attendance, was not a real problem. Having a Mom lying in a hospital halfway across the country—that was a real problem. Jesse Spano. A.C. Slater. Really?
I heard the back door open, and I quickly shut off the TV. I thought it might be Dad. It wasn’t. I heard the stairs creaking as Jenna stormed up to her room. About five minutes later, as I was about to leave for practice, she came back down with a duffle bag over her right shoulder. She went into the kitchen. Curious, I followed behind her. Josh was standing at the back door. He had an anxious, unsettled look on his face. “Josh. Hi,” I said. I wondered if he had told Jenna about the party.
“Hey, Tim.”
Jenna turned around, surprised to see me standing behind her. “I thought you’d be at baseball,” she said nervously. Apparently she wasn’t completely oblivious to what I did with my life.
“I’m leaving right now. What are you guys doing?” Something was going on. They weren’t acting normal. They were nervous, like they had been caught stealing Jolly Ranchers at a gas station. I knew that look because last year, in sixth grade, that was the new “thing”—seeing who could get away with stealing the most Jolly Ranchers from Super America. I never got involved in it. I just didn’t get it. They cost five cents or something. Just pay for the stupid Jolly Ranchers. Anyway, I witnessed a few guys get caught red-handed and their faces looked just like Jenna and Josh’s at that moment.
Jenna turned and looked at Josh for a moment. Josh shrugged his shoulders calmly. His anxiety seemed to vanish. Jenna looked back at me, thinking of what to say. Finally, she got right to the point. “Okay. We’re going to see Mom. Josh is driving us.”
I let it sink in for a second. “In Washington, D.C.?” I replied.
“Yeah, in Washington, D.C.,” she said. “I didn’t want to have to tell you because I don’t want you to have to cover for me. When Dad asks, just play stupid. Tell him you haven’t seen me.”
That was just what I needed to be doing—lying to Dad some more. I nodded in agreement anyway. I watched as Jenna slung her bag over her shoulder again and leafed through the cupboard for snacks to take with them. Josh was still standing, quietly, smiling.
I looked down at my cleats. I didn’t want to go to baseball. Then I thought about Mom lying in that hospital, hurting, in pain.
Jenna and Josh were about to head out the door. “See ya,” she said not even looking at me.
“Wait!” I cried. They both turned around in the doorway, startled. I kicked off my cleats and pushed them against the wall with my feet. I stared Jenna in the eye. “Take me with you.”