Sister City

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Two weeks after school ended, our house was more difficult to navigate than the Novato Narrows at 4pm. Jack, Inara, James, and Luka were packing for summer camp. Mom was packing for herself, Alexander, and Phaedra. They were going to stay with a sitter while she and Dad went to Vegas for a few days to unwind. Dad and I had already packed our stuff a week before. Of course, that also meant that we had been running back and forth to our suitcases for a week, as we’d already packed everything we were going to need, even our toothbrushes.

Mom had arranged for me to catch a ride with Sebastian and Evie to practice in the morning and back to the camp in the afternoon. They were both junior counselors at the camp and gymnasts from CGA, which made the whole arrangement very convenient. All the kids from the summer camp would be staying in the dorms at night, which was pretty cool in my opinion.

Oddly enough, our departure from the house was perfect. It was as if Mom had completely choreographed the entire thing and it went off without a hitch. Jack drove the Durango with Inara, Luka, and Phaedra, and everyone’s bags. Mom, Dad, James, Alexander and I were all in Mom’s new Jetta.

Our first stop was at the Doubletree Hotel. James had to catch the Airport Express to San Francisco. Mom and Dad had tried to book their flight to Vegas out of SFO around the same time James left for USSC football camp, but the only reasonable airfare to Vegas they could get was out of Oakland. So, James was going to SFO by himself, to fly to Massachusetts, specifically to Amherst College which is a little over an hour away from Boston. The training camp was specialized for each player and designed to prepare them for a long career in football. James was stoked about the camp, but even more excited that he would be working with the legendary wide receiver turned Assistant Coach, Billy McBride, and Head Coach E.J. Mills.

We all piled out of the cars to wish James a safe flight. While James hugged each one of us in turn, Dad and Jack were unpacking the entire cargo area of the Durango because James had put his bag in first. When they got close to the bottom they found his black Saints bag. Jack didn’t notice the one of the straps was caught around the cooler and he yanked hard to get the bag free, which pulled both the bag and the cooler out of the car. And then, everything went to hell. The cooler hit the pavement and the latches on the lid cracked causing the lid to fly off. Several bottles of soda escaped and bounced several times before rolling across the parking lot. A couple bottles of Snapple also managed to break free from their confines, but when they hit the concrete they didn’t bounce. They broke. Snapple splashed all over Mom’s pants and Phaedra’s dress. Just then, the Airport Express pulled up.

James shrugged his shoulders, kissed Mom on the cheek and grabbed his bag. He shook it vigorously to get rid of the droplets of pink lemonade that had splashed all over the gold fleur-de-lis. Tossing it over his shoulder, James disappeared on the other side of the bus. In a few Moments, he appeared in one of the windows, waving vigorously.

Mom and Phaedra nearly missed the bus pulling away from the curb since they were both trying to wipe the sticky lemonade from their skin. They looked up just in time to wave goodbye. Mom decided that drying their clothes was a lost cause as they were both soaked thoroughly. She grabbed some clothes for them both to change into and led Phaedra into the hotel to find a bathroom.

Jack managed to convince Luka and I to ride with him, so that we could get a head start and make it to camp orientation on time. Inara decided to ride with us at the last minute, leaving Dad and Alexander waiting on Mom and Phaedra. Jack grabbed Alexander and Phaedra’s bags and transferred them to the trunk of the Jetta with Mom and Dad’s luggage.

“Dad,” I called as we climbed into the Durango to leave. “We’re going to leave. Inara and Jack can’t miss orientation.”

“We’ll meet you there,” he replied distractedly, looking at his watch and peering into the foyer through the large picture windows.