"Mom! Where are we stopping at first?" Taylor asked.
"Wal-Mart. We realized we forgot some things," Diana replied.
"Mo-om! You mean we have to lug this huge van into that parking lot? We'll look like rednecks!" Taylor protested.
"Taylor, do you honestly think that Wal-Mart isn't redneck infested already? Besides, you need to keep it down a little. Andy is sleeping," Diana said. Taylor shut his mouth. His mom had a point.
"Sorry, Mom," he said.
"That's okay. When we get to the store, you and Ike are responsible for getting anything you might need for the trip."
"Okay, Mom, can Laurie help?"
"Sure she can."
"Okay." Tay went back to the living room area of the van where Ike, Laurie, and Zac were attempting to play Twister. Zac spun the spinner with his nose.
"Left hand blue!" he called. They all managed to adjust. They looked like turtles that were stuck on their backs. Taylor started to laugh.
"What's so funny, Tay?" Laurie asked, trying to shift her weight.
"Nothing, except that you three look like turtles," he responded.
"Funny. Since you're not doing anything, you can spin for us."
"All right." Tay got up and picked up the huge cardboard spinner. He flicked the spinner. "Right foot red!" Ike tumbled to the ground.
"Out, Ike!" Taylor called. Ike maneuvered himself to the couch.
"Zac, you're next. Laurie is the human pretzel," Ike commented.
"Ah, Ikey poo, there are a lot of things you don't know about me," Zac said. "Now, Tay, spin the heck out of that thing!"
Tay spun the spinner. "Right hand blue!" he said. Laurie moved her right hand over to blue. As Zac moved his hand over, he tickled Laurie under the arm which made her fall down.
"All right, I won!" Zac exclaimed.
"Zac! You cheater!" Laurie exclaimed. She hit Zac with a pillow, which started yet another pillow fight. They were all hitting each other until Laurie's pillow accidentally hit a glass, smashing it into a million pieces.
"Oooh, Laurie! You're in trouble!" Zac taunted.
"Guys, what just happened in there?" Diana asked.
"Nothing, just a little accident!" Tay yelled back. Diana still came into the room.
"Guys, you gotta be more careful," Diana admonished. She went to go get the dustbuster. Mackie came running in barefoot.
"Hi guys! Tay bear, give me a hug!" Mackie said. He ran over to Tay, who was standing on the other side of the glass. Ike swooped down and picked Mackie up and handed him over to Taylor.
"Hey Macker," Tay said. He gave him a hug and set him down on the couch. "Stay right there, there is glass on the floor, and I don't want you cutting your foot.
"All right, Tay bear," he said. Laurie looked over at Taylor.
"TAY bear?"
"When Mackie was little, he couldn't pronounce Taylor so he said Tay bear," Tay explained.
"Oh okay, I see," Laurie said. Diana came back with a dustbuster and cleaned up the broken glass.
"Okay, Isaac, get Mackie his sandals and put them on. We're about at Wal Mart," Diana said.
"All righty." Ike picked Mackie up from the couch, who squirmed. "I can walk," he complained.
"I know, you're very talented," Ike said. He took him into another part of the bus and got his Mighty Ducks sandals on. They then went up to the front where everyone else was.
"Isaac, you and Taylor and Laurie are in charge of going around Wal Mart and getting any other things we may need," Diana reminded him.
"I know, I heard you tell Taylor," he said. Just then the van pulled up at Wal Mart. Diana told the driver to go ahead and park the van in the very back. He let them off at the front, and they all went inside. Laurie, Taylor, Ike, and Zac, the newcomer of the group, went off to find some entertainment things.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Come on, Ike! It's entertainment, and it's definitely something we forgot and need," Zac begged.
"Zac, no! I think what Mom meant was some board games, or videos, or something, but DEFINITELY not a Nintendo 64!" Ike said.
"Okay," Zac complained. He put the Nintendo 64 back.
"What do we have so far?" Taylor asked.
"We have three movies, Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, and The Wedding Singer, two board games, Channel Surfing and Guess Who, and a bunch of little toys," Ike responded.
"Lets get a few things for Mackie and we'll be set. Dad is getting stuff for the girls, right?" Tay asked.
"Yeah," Ike said. He picked up Laurie's hand. "Lets go get some stuff for Mackie."
They headed back to the toy aisle. They walked up and down.
"What about Play Doh?" Laurie asked.
"We already got some," Taylor said.
"Legos?" Zac suggested.
"We have about a million already," Ike reminded him.
They argued a little bit and finally picked out a teddy bear, Monopoly Junior, some Koosh toys, and a few Rugrats videos. They met up with Diana and Mrs. Woodman. They paid for their things and loaded everyone back on the buses. Mackie came running up to the guys and Laurie.
"What'd we get?" Mackie asked. Without waiting for an answer, he took a bag from Ike.
"Hey fruit!" ike said jokingly. They all sat down and took everything out.
"This one's for you, Mackie," Zac said.
"Thanks!" Mackie said. He emptied out. "Ooh, Teddy," he said, curling up with the soft, fuzzy brown object.
"Monopoly Junior," he said, reading the title out loud.
"Ooh, koosh!" he said. He had two koosh balls, a koosh animal, and a koosh yo-yo.
"Rugrats!" Mackie exclaimed.
"I forgot how much he likes Rugrats," Laurie said in a whisper to Ike. Ike smiled. Then he turned to Mackie.
"Want me to put the movie in?" he asked.
"Yeah!"
Ike sat Mackie down on the couch and popped in a Rugrats movie. Mackie was glued to the tv for the next half hour while they played Mackie's game of Monopoly Junior.
About halfway through, the phone rang. Diana answered it.
"Hi Walker.....tour plans? You mean the boys didn't get their schedule?.......Okay, I'll put Isaac on." Diana gave the phone to her eldest son.
"Hi Dad....okay I'm ready....uh-huh.....uh-huh......uh-huh.....uh-huh," Ike said. He said a few more uh-huhs and hung up the phone.
"All right guys, I need to call a band meeting in the living room!" Ike said. He turned to Laurie. "Would you mind...."
"Oh no, I'll take Mackie and we'll go talk to our moms," she said quickly. She took Mackie's hand and walked him to the front, where they talked to Diana and Mrs. Woodman. After about 20 minutes, Zac came back to get them. He told the whole van the tour schedule, they would tour constantly for about 3 weeks at a time, get a week off, and so forth until they hit all the cities. They would have to be in Milwaukee tomorrow for a show.
"God, I can't believe we're doing a concert tomorrow," Zac said.
"Don't say God like that, Zac," Tay admonished his little brother.
"Okay, St. Taylor," he joked. Tay made a face. Ike wrapped his arm around Laurie.
"What do you feel like doing?" he asked her.
"I think I'm going to go ahead and unpack," she said.
"That sounds good, I think I will too," he said.
"Do what?" Tay asked, coming up from behind.
"Unpack."
"That's a good idea. Zac!" Taylor screamed.
"What?"
"You need to come and unpack."
Zac came running back. "Lets start." Andy hopped down.
"Okay, where do we put our stuff?"
"I'll show you," Taylor said. He showed Andy and Laurie the compartments by the beds you put your stuff into. Then, they all picked beds. There were 4 rows of bunks on each side, with two in a vertical line for a total of 16 bunks. There were also two beds separate from the rest, for Mrs. Woodman and Mrs. Hanson, they guessed. Andy and Laurie took the first set on the left, then Ike and Tyalor took the next set, Zac and Mike took the next set, and then Mackie had a bed to himself. Laurie took the top bunk, Andy told her she could. Taylor was in the bunk next to hers.
"Hey guys, put your clothes in the bunk on the left side," Taylor said. "That way, you have more room."
"Good idea," Ike said. They each put their clothing in the bunk directly across from their own. They went back to their beds and unpacked. Laurie unpacked the things from her Jansport bags. By the time she was finished, the guys were still unpacking. Laurie smiled and stretched out on her bed. She shut her eyes for just a moment.
Chapter 7
Chapter 5
Heading to Albertane
Kelly's Stories
