Saucer in the Dunes

41 Permission

Ronnie and I used our walkie-talkies every night. We even decided to make an all-out bottle-collecting campaign to order another pair. It would take a while, but we were making good headway. If more of us had them, taking them on our trip would be more fun. Jimmy said he would chip in to buy one, but he hadn't come up with money so far. Ronnie and I agreed that we would probably let him use one anyway, but we wouldn't tell him that.

Later that next week, we walked the strange burn trail I found behind my house. We walked what we thought was about two miles before we stopped. The trail ran right through a swampy area and looked like it crossed the water. No way either one of us was going in there. It wasn't even a good place to camp. We decided to turn back. It was definitely there, though; Kema was right about that.

Mr. Gibson had managed to hang on. He had even woken up after nearly a week of just sleeping. From what we heard of our parents talking, the doctors still were not sure if he had a stroke or not. He was burned, too, and no one knew how or why it happened. In other words, something or someone burned him. He was dehydrated and had broken ribs and, I think, a dislocated shoulder. Jimmy's mom was a nurse at the hospital, and she said they had called in some kind of expert to see him. Jimmy didn't or couldn't get any more details.

Jimmy was a really good guy and a loyal friend, but he was less than reliable with information. He did his best but was still unreliable. We still don't know what kind of expert was called. If my parents knew, they acted like they didn't. The good news was he had woken up, though, and at least had begun to talk but couldn't remember anything, not even crashing through our backyard fence that night.

My mom and Ronnie's mom were friends, no doubt about it. My Mom even had Mrs. Bass over one afternoon, and she had given her some clothes or something. They were chattering, trying things on, and drinking coffee, so Ronnie and I beat it out of there pretty fast. There is nothing worse than two moms bossing you around. Mom, Dad, and I had even eaten at the diner once. It was awesome! I got a BLT and onion rings, and Ronnie's mom, Anna, even fixed me a chocolate sundae! I definitely didn't get those at home! They talked on the phone regularly, too. It was nice to see my mom having friends again. She had so many back in Atlanta.

The only problem was that now Ronnie would have a much tighter rope to walk. My mom didn't play any games. If it were anything at all, like back in Atlanta, My mom would be an extension of Ronnie's mom. It would be a network of momdom that could and would trip us up at any moment when we least expected it. I had seen it in action myself. My mom had been on the phone with Jimmy's mom, too. I hadn't told Ronnie or Jimmy about it, but it looked like maybe they were throwing the net over the whole town. We were about to get away with much less than we used to.

"KP to RB come in."

"RB to KP loud and clear."

"Your mom is on the phone with my mom. Over."

"Yeah, I know. Someone died. I don't know who, but she's been on the phone with a bunch of people. I think she's asking your mom if I can stay with you guys for a couple of days. Over."

"Really! That's great! I mean, I'm sorry, but that's great you know my mom will agree to that. Over."

"I know. I just wonder who died. It's got to be a big relative, or mom wouldn't even be doing all this. She hasn't told me yet. Over."

"We can ask my dad about the camping trip with Kema. Kema's coming over with Chief on Wednesday. They are going to talk to my dad about working for the state or something, something for Kema. My dad's going to do or try to do something to help him out. Over."

"Wednesday! That's tomorrow! When is Kema going? Over."

"This weekend! He told me. It's all already set up. We just have to get permission. Kema said he would try to make it like it was no big deal to my dad. He still thinks we are cool for giving all their stuff back. Over."