Promise (28 page)

While Kaden brushed his teeth, Yo-Yo called his mom and told her where he would be going. He also talked her into an extra hour at the amusement park. After he hung up, Yo-Yo set the alarm on his phone, put it on Kaden's
desk, and both boys went to bed.

Kaden was almost asleep when he remembered. Jumping out of bed, he went to his desk. When he climbed back in bed, the red light on the intercom was glowing again.

Saturday, September 17

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

NOT AMUSED

The alarm on Yo-Yo's cell phone went off at exactly six o'clock, a bugle loudly playing reveille. Gram's voice instantly came over the intercom.

“What in tarnation is that?”

Yo-Yo sprang to the desk and turned off the alarm. “It's the alarm on my cell phone,” he explained. “I like to pretend I'm in the army.”

“Well, get dressed and march on over here. I'll get the oatmeal cooking,” Gram said.

“We're not eating oatmeal this morning,” Kaden called from bed. “We're going to spend the day with Dad. He said we'll get some breakfast at a drive-through.”

“I bet that's on the list,” Yo-Yo whispered.

“What list?” Gram asked. Yo-Yo mouthed “oops” and popped both hands over his mouth.

“Nothing,” Kaden said. “You know how Yo-Yo is full of gibberish.” Yo-Yo threw a pillow at Kaden. Kaden threw it back but Yo-Yo ducked and the pillow landed on the desk, on top of both cell phones and the intercoms.

“Where is your dad taking you?” Gram asked, but her voice was muffled under the pillow and the boys didn't hear.

“Hey, I brought this, too,” Yo-Yo said, pulling a bunch of cords and earbuds from his duffel bag. “We can listen in the truck.”

“I thought your mom took your MP3 away from you,” Kaden said.

“She did but she didn't say anything about my adapter or earbuds,” Yo-Yo said. “Or about listening to
your
MP3.”

Kaden grabbed his MP3 player and dumped it in Yo-Yo's duffel bag. He went back to his dresser and pulled a pair of sunglasses from the top drawer just as Dad opened the screen door.

“You guys ready?” he asked.

“Ready, Freddy,” Yo-Yo said.

They darted out the door.

“Bye, Gram!” Kaden yelled as he and Yo-Yo raced past
her cabin.

“Thanks for letting me spend the night!” Yo-Yo yelled, too.

As Dad walked past her cabin, he too called out. “I'm taking Yo-Yo home at six. We'll be back for supper.”

The three piled into the truck and they pulled out of the driveway.

“I don't have to be home by six anymore,” Yo-Yo said. “I talked Mom into seven.”

“Good,” Dad said. “We can stay at the park until closing.”

Yo-Yo rummaged through his duffel bag and pulled out the MP3 player and adapter. He handed the adapter to Kaden. Kaden plugged it into the truck and looked up just as Emmett's welcome signs came into view.

“Oh no,” Kaden said. “I forgot to call Emmett this morning. It was too late last night. Can you pull in real quick so I can let him know?”

Dad kept on driving. “Just give him a call,” he said.

“I didn't bring the phone,” Kaden said.

“Why not? Why do you think I got one for you?” Dad said. “There's no point of having one if you don't bring it.”

“I didn't think of it. I'm not used to having one.”

“You can use mine,” Yo-Yo said. He searched through his duffel bag but came up empty-handed. “Darn, I left it on your desk. Remember, I had it out for the alarm clock.”

“Can I use yours, Dad?” Kaden asked.

“I forgot mine, too,” Dad said. Kaden noticed the smirk on Dad's face.

He wanted everything to go smoothly. They were almost to town now and asking Dad to turn back would only aggravate him, especially since it pertained to Emmett.

“That's okay,” Kaden said. “Emmett was going to come pick us up around nine. Gram will tell him.” Kaden was going to add Emmett would understand but decided not to light another fire.

Dad pulled into the parking lot at Amazon Amazement. Before getting out, he pulled out his wallet and handed it to Yo-Yo.

“Put this in the glove box,” he said. “I don't want to lose it on any of the rides.”

Yo-Yo opened the glove box and put it in. Kaden noticed there were two other wallets in the glove box as well.

“You better put your MP3 out of sight, too,” Dad said. “You don't want someone to break in and steal it.”

Surprised, both Kaden and Yo-Yo stared at Dad. “Well, that's how it's done, you know.”

Kaden knew Dad had been in prison for stealing but he never really thought about him actually doing it. He didn't have time to think about it for long, because Yo-Yo started up.

“I'll put it in here,” he said, cramming it and all its cords into the glove box. “But what should I do with my duffel bag? Should I leave it in plain sight? It won't fit under the seat but doesn't have anything important in it, just a smelly T-shirt and some clean underwear my mom insisted I bring. She always says I should have two extra pairs just in case. I think that comes from when I was a baby and really needed some just in case, but I'm still wearing the same ones I had on yesterday and nobody would want to steal underwear anyway, but you can't see if there's anything else in here someone would want to . . .”

Dad looked at Yo-Yo and said, “Zip it.”

Yo-Yo stopped talking and held the duffel bag upside down. Nothing fell out. “It is zipped.”

“He means your mouth,” Kaden said.

Before Yo-Yo could say another word, Dad reached over and grabbed the duffel bag.

“I'll put it in back. You guys go on up to the ticket window. I'll meet you there.”

Dad got out of the truck. Yo-Yo shut the glove box and the two boys got out. They had started toward the ticket booth when Kaden thought about the sunglasses he was wearing.

“I'll be right back,” Kaden said to Yo-Yo. “I don't want to lose these on the rides either.”

Kaden jogged back to the truck. Dad had unlocked the cargo carrier and was lifting the lid.

“Here. Put these in there, too,” Kaden said, jumping up on the back bumper and leaning over the tailgate to hand Dad his glasses. Dad quickly dropped the lid but it was too late. Kaden already had a good look inside.

There was a bunch of stuff in the carrier now. A drill, a circular saw, a few other power tools, and one thing Kaden recognized: one of Emmett's toolboxes. Kaden knew it was his. It was dark green with a Trout Unlimited sticker on it.

“What's all that stuff in there?” Kaden asked.

“I'm doing some construction work,” Dad said to Kaden. He locked the carrier and walked off.

Kaden didn't move but as his father walked away, he called out, “Why do you have Emmett's toolbox?”

Dad stopped and turned around. Another big smirk crossed his face. He glared directly in Kaden's eyes and said, “I'm borrowing it.”

Dad walked rapidly away and caught up with Yo-Yo, who stood near the ticket booth, unfolding a map of the park.

“Come on,” Yo-Yo called out impatiently to Kaden. “They're opening the gates.”

Kaden walked slowly toward them.

“Two children, one adult,” Dad said as Kaden walked up. He handed the girl a credit card.

“We should go here first,” Yo-Yo told Kaden. He pointed out a ride on the map but Kaden was thinking about the toolbox.

“I'll need some identification,” the girl said.

Dad's hand went to his back pocket. “Oh, heck, I left my wallet in the truck,” he told the girl pleasantly, a big smile across his face. “Didn't want it to fall out on the rides. Do I have to have it? I can send one of the boys back for it.”

“No, that's okay,” the girl said. “A lot of people leave them in their cars.” She processed the credit card, handed him a slip to sign, and gave him a receipt. “Show that to the man at the gate and he'll stamp your hands.”

“Thank you,” Dad said.

Kaden hadn't been paying much attention to what Dad was saying to the girl but he distinctly heard her last words to his father. It felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him.

“Thank you, Mr. Adams.”

Pocketing the credit card, Dad turned to the boys.

“Can we do the Amazon River Ride first?” Yo-Yo asked. It was obvious to Kaden that Yo-Yo hadn't heard the girl's
words. “It's the one with the piranhas. Can we do it first? Can we? Can we?” Yo-Yo was jumping up and down, he was so excited.

Kaden wanted to join in and be as excited as Yo-Yo but he couldn't. He couldn't get the girl's words out of his head. Without even having to see it, Kaden knew the credit card had
Emmett Adams
stamped on the bottom. He also knew the green toolbox shouldn't be in the cargo carrier. He looked at his dad reading over the map. Dad didn't seem to be a bit bothered about what he had done.

Kaden could feel anger rising up inside of him. He wanted to confront his father but just like he had done at the tower when his dad first called out his name, he froze. With smiling people streaming past him, Kaden stood there, his fists clinched tight, wondering what he should do.

Yo-Yo grabbed Kaden by the arm. “Come on,” he said, dragging Kaden toward the Amazon River Ride.

Before they reached the ride, Kaden decided he would say boat rides made him seasick and insist Dad and Yo-Yo go without him. Then he would have some time to figure out what to do. But Dad beat him to the draw, dashing his plans.

“You boys go on, I'm going to wait this one out. I really don't want to get wet.”

Kaden got in line with Yo-Yo.

“What's the matter?” Yo-Yo asked.

“Nothing,” Kaden replied, trying to force a smile. “This will be a blast.”

As they rode through thick tropical foliage, 3-D images of piranhas came out from nowhere, with snapping jaws appearing to be inches away from biting off their arms, legs, and heads. Deep in his own thoughts, Kaden hardly noticed them but Yo-Yo screamed and startled at every lunge, making the raft pitch to and fro and water pour over his head.