Road Trip (2 page)

Sure, I miss my friends, and even my family sometimes. I probably miss Cesar the most, but we stay in touch through e-mail. Life's so full and busy that it's hard to get too homesick.

Although Laura admitted to me that she's been struggling with it. “I don't want to sound like a whiner,” she told me as the two of us were flopped out on the bed in back of the RV. “But I really miss my mom.”

“Why don't you call her?”

“She'd be at work right now.”

“Oh.”

“Don't you miss your mom, Ghloe?”

I shrugged. “I guess so. But you know that my mom and I aren't that close. Kot like you and your mom.”

“Yeah. I suppose.”

I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was feeling sort of down. “Are you okay?” I rolled over onto ray stomach and studied Laura's face. Her dark eyes were looking down at the brown and green comforter on the bed as her fingers traced the floral pattern. Now Laura has the most beautiful hands. Not only the bronze color of her skin, but her fingers are long and slender and tapered, the way you'd expect a musician's to be. (Although mine are rather short and stumpy.) “What is it, Laura?”

“I just get scared sometimes, Chloe. I don't want the others to know. I really don't want to let any of you guys down, but I get worried that I won't be able to keep up.”

“Keep up?”

“The pace, you know? You and Allie have so much energy. Sheesh, Allie's practically bouncing off the walls half the time. I'm just not used to this kind of life.”

“But I think you're doing fine.”

I could see tears building in Laura's eyes now. “Thanks.”

“You gonna be okay?”

She shrugged. “I guess.”

“You're probably just tired,” I reassured her. “You want me to leave you alone so you can take a nap?”

She swiped what I suspect was a tear with the back of her fist, but she didn't say anything.

“It's going to be okay, Laura. You just need to go easy on yourself. We're all still getting used to the pace. But really, I think you're doing great. I mean, just the other day I was thinking about how well you handle everything.”

She nodded, pressing her lips together. “Yeah, I guess I make it look that way.”

“But you don't feel like that inside?” -

“I feel like Jell-0 on the inside.”

I smiled. “What flavor? Grape? Cherry?”

She frowned. “Very funny.”

“Sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

Laura shook her head. “You're probably right. I think I'm just tired. Maybe if I could get a good night's sleep, things would look better.”

“You aren't sleeping well?”

“Not really. I thought it would get better with time, but it's like I'm so wired when it's time to go to bed. And then I hear noises and stuff. I know it sounds lame, but I've always had a hard time sleeping away from home.”

I didn't know what to tell her. But I could see that she was really feeling worried. “Have you
talked to your mom about it? Or Elise or Willy?”

“No, but I guess maybe I should.”

“Yeah.” I reached over and tweaked one of her beaded braids. “We need you to be at your best, Laura, ibr your sake as much as the band's. I leave you alone so you can take a nap now. Okay?”

She leaned back and closed her eyes. “Sure.”

So now I's sitting at the dining table, writing in my diary. Rosy said that we just entered Oregon, but it doesn't look much different than Idaho. It's attractive with rolling hills and farmland, but it looks pretty sparsely populated in this area. She said that we're going to follow the Oregon Trail along the Columbia River, but at the moment, we're whizzing by what I'm guessing is a grainf ield. Maybe wheat, although it could be anything. It's a warm golden color, but the grain's already been harvested, and what's left looks like a bad buzz haircut.

Elise is sitting on the couch across from me, reading one of Allie's fashion magazines as she runs her fingers through little Davie's sweaty hair. He's taking a nap at the moment.

It's been fun getting to know Elise better these past few weeks. When I first met her last year, I thought she was a little high-strung and uptight. But now I realize that had a lot to do with her circumstances—having gone through a lousy divorce and having a handicapped child.
Plus there was Allie with her hyper thing.

I guess Elisen life hasn't been exactly easy. But the coolest thing is how she gave her heart to God right after our last Nashville trip. It started with a conversation she'd been having with Willy on the flight home. And of course, we three girls had really been praying for her too. But after we got home, Allie convinced Elise to come to church. And Pastor Tony actually gave an altar call that day. I've only seen him do that a few times.

Well, Elise stood and went right up. Afterward, we were all crying and hugging, and I could tell that something in Elise had changed. Even her face looked different. It's as if something in her just relaxed. Of course, she's had plenty of trials since then. And chaperoning us girls isn't a job that just anyone would appreciate. Still, I can see that she's really trying her best. And every day she reads the new Bible that Allie bought her.

Davie's been a handful today. He even spilled a carton of chocolate milk down Rosy's back while she was driving on the interstate this morning. She was not happy. As much as we all love him, Davie can get a little wild at times. But like so many kids with Down's syndrome, he has such a sweet and loving nature that it's hard to get too upset. Anyway, things are pretty calm and
quiet right now. Hopefully, Laura is getting some much needed rest.

Allie's up front quietly chatting with Rosy. I think Al's trying to make up for her little brother's earlier mishap. We all think Rosy's a kick, and we love hearing her stories. Allie thinks she looks like Queen Latifah, but fortunately she doesn't use the same kind of language. We take turns visiting with Rosy as she navigates this big rig down the highway.

We're supposed to make Salem by dinnertime tonight. And we're performing at the state fair the following evening. So we'll have two nights in one town. Unless we're driving a long distance-pulling an all-nighter—we usually stop at a hotel every night. There we have the option of either sleeping in the RV or getting rooms. Kost of the time I opt for the RV, since all my stuff is already in here and I hate having to drag it all out.

Elise, Allie, and Davie usually get a hotel room together, while Laura and I stake out the RV with Rosy as our chaperone. And if Laura and I had any ideas about sneaking out or doing anything stupid—which we really don't—Rosy, who's almost six feet tall and pretty hefty, could easily stop us.

Sometimes Allie hangs out in the RV with us at night. But she really doesn't like having to share
the little bathroom. But I think the RV is kind of homey and comfortable and lots better than a boring old hotel room.

Although I'll admit it can get pretty cramped when Rosy is driving an all-nighter and all five of us are forced to sleep in here. Still, it's doable. On those nights, two of us girls share the big bed—usually Laura and me. Then there are two pull-down bunks (for Allie and Davie) and a couch that makes into a bed, which Elise sleeps on. I suppose it's not ideal, but it works. And I usually sleep like a log.

I feel bad for Laura today. I had no idea she was so tired and worried about things. I'll need to remind myself to pray for her more.

(LABOR DAY, DRIVING THROUGH NORTHERN CALIFORNIA)

We did three concerts in two days—our record so far—and we're all feeling pretty wiped out. On Saturday we did the Oregon state fair. Then on Sunday we played for a pretty big church in Eugene, Oregon. Then we zipped down to a smaller town called Ashland, where we performed an evening concert for a medium-sized church. Our reward for all this hard work is that we get to camp in the mountains tonight.

“You call that a reward?” complained Allie after Willy told us the news over breakfast at Denny's this morning.

He grinned. “Sounds like a reward to me.”

“What exactly do you mean by ‘camping’?”asked Laura with one brow raised. “Do we have to actually sleep outside?”

Willy chuckled. “Only if you want to.”

“No thanks,” said Allie.

“Count me out,” agreed Laura. “I have enough trouble sleeping in the RV. I don't need to be f reakin' about things like bears or snakes.”

“Suit yourselves.” Willy shook his head with
an expression that suggested he thought we were a bunch of sissies. I wanted to say that I was perfectly willing to sleep outside but didn't want to make Allie and Laura look bad. So I kept ray mouth shut. But the truth is, I thought it'd be cool to sleep out under the stars and the moon. And as we drove through this gorgeous forested area (Lassen National Park), I thought maybe I would. I just didn't make a big deal about it. Especially since Laura seemed a little stressed out.

I asked her last night if she'd told her mom about her sleeping problem.

“Yeah, she said that she'd call Dr. Stewart. He's a friend of the family. She thinks he'll recommend something.” Laura shook her head. “In the meantime, she told me to drink a glass of warm milk.”

I made a face. “Yuck.”

She nodded. “Just what I was thinking. I mean, I can barely stand to drink cold milk. Like I'm really going to drink it warm.”

We pulled into a campground that looked like something out of an old Disney movie. I spotted lodge-type buildings and small cabins located here and there as we followed Willy's RV and snaked our way around a gorgeous blue lake. Willy had the right idea—this place was totally beautiful. I couldn't wait to get outside and
check it out. And Davie was so excited to escape the bus that he was literally bouncing off the walls. Poor Elise looked as though she'd about had it. But Rosy quickly parked the bus, and like clowns in a circus car we all poured out of the RV, breathing in the clean mountain air and whooping like grade-schoolers on a field trip.

(Later the same night, I am writing by flashlight)

Our camping excursion has been totally cool. Even Laura and Allie are liking it. As soon as we got outside, we walked over to the camp store and bought some treats, then rented a rowboat to take out on the lake. Ve rowed out to the middle to a floating dock where a bunch of other kids were hanging and swimming and stuff. They invited us to join them. So we tied up our boat and got out. It was getting pretty hot, so we decided to jump in the water and cool off. We splashed around for a while until we got tired and climbed out.

So there we were, just relaxing and contentedly sunning our tired selves on the dock, and Allie let it “slip out” to these kids that “we were in a band.” Amazing how she managed to do this. She can bring up our “celebrity” right out of the complete blue. Honestly, people could be talking about lobster traps in Maine, and somehow Allie
would be able to connect that with the fact that we're in a band!

Laura looked somewhat irritated as she shook the water from her braids, and I was downright embarrassed, but Allie went right on telling these guys about all the concerts we've done and how we have our own CD and everything! Sheesh, I actually wanted to smack her. But I didn't. Finally, Laura and I hinted that we should get back, and Allie actually invited these kids over to our campsite. I'm thinking, “Okay, now you've gone too far.” But I didn't say anything. I just climbed into the boat and pretended like I wasn't totally irritated with her.

“You want to swim back to camp, Allie?” I asked as I began to paddle away from the dock.

“Hey, what're ya doing?” she yelled.

So trying to be a loving Christian, I forced myself to row back to the dock and wait until she climbed in. But as we paddled away, Laura lectured Allie about her big mouth.

But I have to say it really didn't turn out so bad. Ifot long after dinner, about six of these kids dropped by our campsite, I'm sure out of curiosity.

By then Willy had made a little campf ire, and I was playing my acoustic guitar, just tweaking around. Elise had brought out the ingredients for s'mores, and we were all pretty much sugared out. Anyway, we welcomed these guys and offered
them some s'mores. Then we sat and visited for a while. They said they lived in a nearby town and were camping on their own, enjoying their last bit of summer before school started in a couple days. They actually reminded me of some of my friends at school, the kind of kids who pretty much do as they please and whose parents don't seem to much care.

As usual, Laura made it perfectly clear from the start that we were Christians. And that was okay with me, but I don't think she had to be quite so up-front about it. Sometimes I think it's fun to let it slip out naturally. But as it turned out, one of the guys—a sixteen-year-old named Brian-had a lot of questions about our faith.

“Yeah, my mom claims to be a Christian too,” he admitted as he poked the fire with a long marshmallow-toasting stick, “but she just kicked me out of the house.”

“Why?”I asked.

“She thought I was doing drugs and stuff.”

“Were you?” asked Allie in a gentle voice.

He shrugged. “I was trying to quit.”

“Trying?” repeated Laura with one of her skeptical Laura-looks. He didn't answer and she continued. “You know, a person could spend his whole life 'trying' not to do something, but it's only when he decides he's not going to do it that he succeeds.”

Brian looked up at her and finally nodded. “You might be right.”

“It can be pretty hard to quit something like that on your own,”I told him. “But it can make a huge difference if you ask God to help you.”

“You really think that God—if there is a God-really listens?” Brian studied us carefully as he waited for an answer.

“Yeah,” chimed in a girl named Stacie with a tattoo of a black rose wrapped around her wrist. Her hair was cut short and dyed maraschino cherry red. I'd already complimented her on it earlier today. I'd try that color myself except that I'd have to bleach my hair first to get it to be that vivid. At the present I'm settling for this deep purple black shade. “What makes you think God even cares?” she asked with a defiant tilt to her chin.