We’re a mile down Valley Park Road before I catch my breath enough to tell Andy and Marty what happened.
Andy whistles. “What’s your dad gonna do when he finds out you blew off a trip to the V.P.?”
“Don’t ask. Between Eddy, McGregor, and Dad, I am dead, deader, deadest. So could we please not talk about it? I want a weekend to breathe before I die, okay?”
I pull jeans and a Sabres hoodie from my duffel bag, and change out of my Academy uniform as we cruise toward Inner Loop East and the New York State Thruway. Then it hits me. Somebody’s missing.
“Uh, Andy,” I say, “where’s your dad?”
“Can’t hear you.” He laughs. “Music’s too loud.” Marty finds this majorly funny.
“No, really. Is he already at the cottage? Will he boat over to pick us up?”
Marty turns around in his seat and mouths, “What?” like we’re in front of speakers at a rock concert.
I reach between the front seats and yank Andy’s iPod out of its dock. “Cut it out. Why isn’t your dad here?”
Andy squinches his nose. “Why should he be?”
“On the webcam, you said he hates camping, but he’d let us take the boat to Hermit Island. I thought that meant he’d be coming.”
“Assume nothing,” Marty says in this robot voice. “Your ways are not our ways, Earthling.”
“Stuff the kiddie crap, Marty. What’s up?”
“My folks are gone all week,” Andy grins. “We’ll be at the cottage on our own.”
My eyes pop. “Do they know?”
“I didn’t tell them, if that’s what you mean.” He winks into the rearview. “The way I figure, if they think I’m at home, they’ll relax. It’s my contribution to their trip.”
“What if they try to reach you?”
“They’ll call my cell. I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I’m so bored in Meadowvale.’ Meanwhile, I’ll be cracking a cold one on the beach.”
I look out the back window. Meadowvale’s disappearing. I press my forehead against the upholstery and think about Mom. We were keeping this trip a secret from Dad. Now I’ll be keeping a secret from her too. What if she finds out? I am so beyond worm meat.
Andy’s free foot taps like Thumper. “It’s no big deal, Sammy. A couple of times this summer, my folks left me and Marty alone for a day.”
“Yeah, but not for the whole trip. And for sure not over to Canada solo.”
“So what? I can pilot the boat, and we have our papers, which we won’t even need.”
“I told you he’d want to bail,” Marty mutters.
My cheeks burn. “Who said anything about bailing? It’s just, Mom thinks your parents will be there. That’s how I got permission.”
“So let her think that. How’ll she find out anything different?” Marty asks.
“Come on,” Andy coaxes. “It’ll be fun. You’ll get to make up for the summer.”
“I guess.” I say glumly.
Andy hunches over the wheel. “Don’t wreck our weekend, okay? If you wanna wimp out, I’ll drive you back, drop you off at your place.”
“Sure, we’ll only have wasted half an hour,” Marty crabs.
Andy slows down. “So what do you want me to do?”
I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know.
“Fine,” Andy sighs into the silence. “I’ll take you home.”
Marty slumps in his seat. “Waydego, Sabiri. You’ve turned into a real douchebag, you know that?”
My stomach heaves. After the past summer, this is it. My last chance. If I’m out today, I’m out forever. I won’t see the guys again. Not as best friends anyway. I’ll have nothing left but Academy hell.
I fake a laugh, bat Andy’s headrest. “Okay, I’m in.”
Andy brightens. “That’s our Sammy!” He high-fives me over the back of his seat. “If there’s a problem with your mom, blame me. Tell her you thought my folks were at the cottage till you arrived, and I wouldn’t take you back. Yeah, that’s it, say you were kidnapped!”
“Kidnapped to Canada. By space aliens,” Marty adds in his robot voice.
“It’s what would’ve happened too, if you hadn’t gone and asked about my dad,” Andy continues. “We tried to protect you, Sammy. Honest. But you wouldn’t let us. You made us tell. Some things, it’s better not to know.”
I have a flash of Dad at the kitchen table, looking haunted. Hunted. Sami, there’s things I can’t talk about. Things I can’t explain.
“Andy,” I say, “turn up the music as loud as you can.”