Chapter 27
A day later, Mom was laying down the law again.
And all I could do was listen to her talk.
“This is an opportunity that you will not pass up,” Mom said. “It’s the prime minister of Canada, Roland.”
“Can’t we just wait to see him in Ottawa?” I asked.
“You don’t just knock on the door at 24 Sussex Drive,” Mom answered. “It just isn’t that easy.”
I figured if Mom knew the prime minister’s home address she was probably on speaking terms with the man already. I wanted to tell her how Warren had gotten in touch with the prime minister just by sending him a common through-the-mail, Bigfoot-stamped letter, but then she would have asked me how I knew about that.
So I settled for, “Big deal.”
“Don’t argue with me, Roland,” Mom said. “This is a chance to meet the prime minister of Canada, face to face.”
“So what?” I said.
Which didn’t help any more than “big deal” had.
“This isn’t fair,” I said. “You are grounding me without any grounds for evidence.”
This approach had worked on a Law and Order episode three weeks ago, but I wasn’t all that confident that it would work for me today.
“I have really had enough of arguing with you, Roland,” Mom said. “This is a big opportunity and you will not miss it.”
I was done arguing.
She had that mom-is-the-boss tone in her voice.
“Okay,” I said.
Mom smiled.
“I bet this is really going to bring in the tourists,” I said, hopefully.
Mom looked at me.
She knew what I was hinting at.
“You really do want to stay here, don’t you?”
I nodded, hopefully. I’d seen all of the movies. I knew there was always a point after the kids had set up some crazy scheme that the parents would back down and see things properly.
Only this wasn’t a movie.
Mom just shook her head. I could see she felt bad about it. I felt bad about feeling so mad at her. The two of us were stuck on opposite ends of emotion, not wanting to argue, but not able to agree.
“Do you know, except for when I went to university in Halifax, I have never been out of the town of Deeper Harbour?” Mom asked.
I hadn’t known that.
She sighed, like she was missing something.
“Canada is such a big, wide country,” she said. “There is so much of it to see. I’d like to see a little more of it before I need bifocals.”
When she put it that way I felt bad about keeping her from fulfilling her dreams.
“Okay, Mom,” I said. “You’re right. This is a great opportunity.”
I would go and meet the prime minister. I would stand there with Mom and Warren and the prime minister, waiting to see the Deeper Harbour sea monster.
I wondered if he would show up.
I wondered if we’d ever hear from David Suzuki.
But mostly I was wondering just how on earth was I going to tell Granddad Angus that I couldn’t take the sea monster out with him tomorrow.