“Surprisingly well for sleeping on cracked concrete all night,” Topher said.
“What was in that stuff?” Joey asked.
Cash shrugged. “We’ll never know,” he said. “I caught a raccoon eating the rest of the joint this morning. All concerns aside, you guys are doing much better than he is.”
The actor nodded to a dead raccoon nearby. The creature was stretched out on its back like a starfish and had bulging eyes and a slight smile on his muzzle—like he had seen God but didn’t live to tell the tale.
“I can’t believe we did drugs last night!” Sam said. “And in an abandoned theme park no less!”
“Then why are you smiling?” Mo asked.
“Because I still feel them!”
The newly christened delinquents couldn’t believe the sharp turn their lives had taken. They started their trip as outstanding citizens with great reputations and zero record of any criminal activity. However, in just three days’ time they had used false identification, trespassed, done illegal drugs, and passed out outside. How did they fall from grace so quickly? What kind of people had they become?
“I think the words you’re looking for are Thank you for another fun night, Cash or Thanks for pulling the sticks out of our asses, Cash,” the actor teased.
“You call that fun?” Mo asked. “I was tripping balls all night waiting for those coyotes to show up! I thought I was going to have a heart attack!”
Cash chuckled and gazed at the group like a proud father.
“You’ll laugh about it one day,” he said. “Now we should get going. The Triple A guy showed up about fifteen minutes ago. There isn’t a gas station for miles, so he has to tow the car to the nearest one. Friendly warning—he smells like cheese.”
The gang helped one another to their feet and said good-bye to High Tydes. They sluggishly emerged from the gates looking and feeling like the cannibals Mo had warned them about the day before.
A very heavy and hairy Triple A serviceman hooked the station wagon up to his tow truck and hauled their vehicle southward to the nearest gas station. Topher, Joey, Sam, and Mo shared the backseat of the truck while Cash braved their driver’s fumes in the front. Once High Tydes was a good distance behind them, the seriousness and guilt of their recent choices faded away, too, and the Downers Grove quartet couldn’t look at one another without laughing.
“How much did our detour derail our trip?” Joey asked. “Are we totally screwed or lightly screwed?”
“Actually, it doesn’t ruin anything,” Topher said. “We left our first day in California open just in case we ran into any problems on the road. I got insurance on all the tickets and hotel rooms, so we can just push everything back a day.”
Of them all, Cash was most relieved to hear it. “Sorry I’m what caused the push,” he said. “From now on, I’m not recommending anything else. I got my two stops out of the way, so let’s just stick to the plan you guys created.”
It was the first time the actor had shown any remorse—ever—but it was hard blaming him. Sure, they didn’t get to ride any of the attractions they had hoped, but they hadn’t left the park shy of a thrill.
“I mean, it wasn’t all terrible,” Mo confessed—fighting off a smile.
“We’re definitely going to get stories out of this trip,” Sam said.
“Yeah, just not the ones we were planning,” Topher said.
The tow truck ventured through Kansas, but there wasn’t a building in sight, let alone a gas station. The serviceman listened to a crude and conservative radio host the entire way, which was easy for the others to tune out until he started a particular segment.
“That’s enough about how Democrats are destroying our democracy,” the host said. “Let’s move on to a topic people tragically care about more in our society—Hollywood gossip! I’m not sure any of my listeners watch the show Wiz Kids, I think it’s the dumbest thing to hit television since Cop Rock, but apparently it’s been a huge hit for nine seasons now.”
Topher, Joey, Sam, and Mo sat straight up in their seats and leaned closer to the radio—worried where this was going. Cash just turned his head to the radio like he was casually listening to a weather report. The serviceman noticed their interest and turned up the volume.
“Well, there’s this video circulating on the Internet of the lead actor, twenty-two-year-old Cash Carter, passing out at a concert in St. Louis on Sunday night. In case you’ve missed the video, it’s up on our website, but it’s been getting so much attention I don’t know how you’ve managed to not see it somewhere. A representative of the actor released a statement yesterday claiming he was experiencing dehydration and is feeling much better. Which, I’m sorry, is complete bull! Watch the video and you’ll see the guy is clearly wasted or on drugs!”
The four in the backseat were so uncomfortable they held their breath as if the radio speakers were spewing toxic chemicals.