Free Barfing in the Backseat by Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver

was probably looking for info for his crossword puzzle clues.
    “I’m going in,” I told him. I walked slowly up to my dad, and flopped down in the rocking chair next to him.
    “Can I talk to you for a minute, Dad? If you want to keep reading, I’ll come back later.”
    “No, what is it, Hank?” he asked.
    “I was thinking about Mom and honey,” I began. “You know how she loves it so much, and how she was really looking forward to learning all about the different flavors like sage and orange and stuff?”
    “Get to the point, Hank,” my dad said. I guess he really wanted to get back to that article he was reading on the average length of horse teeth in America.
    “Because of Katherine’s health issues, Mom never got to take the tour of the honey farm, and I feel really bad about that. And so does Frankie, don’t you, Frankie?”
    “Down deep bad, dude,” Frankie said. What a pal he is.
    “We won’t be able to take the tour,” my dad said. “Katherine’s doctor visit is costing us a day, and we’re behind schedule.”
    “My point exactly, Dad. Since we’re already here, I think we should stay another day at Buzz Haven and give Mom that opportunity she was so looking forward to.”
    “If we stay an extra day here, it means we’d have to skip going to Chapel Hill to see the University of North Carolina basketball courts—which was Frankie’s choice.”
    I turned to Frankie. I couldn’t ask him to give up his choice, too. I mean, going to see where Michael Jordan played was half the reason he came on this trip.
    Frankie was just standing there on the porch. His hands were clenched in fists, his shoulders tense. His eyes looked up at the sky and he took a deep, deep breath.
    “I don’t really have to see where Michael Jordan played,” he said. “I mean, a basketball court is a basketball court, right?”
    “Frankie, you would give that up?” my dad asked.
    “For Mrs. Z.?” Frankie said. “Are you kidding?She’s like my second mom.”
    “That’s really nice of you, Frankie,” my dad said.
    “Unbelievably nice,” I said.
    “If you boys don’t mind,” my dad said, “then we will stay. Randi is going to love this. I think I’ll go tell her the good news.”
    My dad tossed down his magazine and went inside.
    “You owe me big-time, Hankster,” Frankie said.
    “Don’t I know it,” I answered.
    Two minutes later, Emily appeared on the porch with a huge smile on her face.
    “Great news,” she said. “Kathy’s going to be fine. She got a raisin stuck in between her claws, and she was just trying to shake it loose. Isn’t she a clever girl?”
    This time I had to agree. That Katherine was a clever girl. I mean, how many iguanas do you know who can save you from being grounded for the rest of your life?
    Kathy and her raisin claw were my new best friends.
    After we returned from the vet’s office andgot Katherine all settled down for a nap, we all went for an afternoon tour of Jimmy Jim’s honey farm. I learned more about bees than I would ever want to know. For instance, did you know that the average temperature inside a beehive is 93.5 degrees Fahrenheit? And that a bee visits up to one thousand flowers a day to gather pollen to make honey? And that bees fly at about fifteen miles per hour? I didn’t know that either, but now we both do.
    After the beehive tour, we went to dinner in the Honey Pot, which is the dining room in the main house. Most of the conversation at dinner consisted of my dad asking me detailed questions about how I was progressing on my homework packet, and reminding me that if it wasn’t finished, I wasn’t going on the roller coasters.
    I felt bad because I didn’t want to lie to him, but I couldn’t really tell him the truth, either. We were about two days past me being able to tell the truth. So I came up with answers to his questions that weren’t exactly lies. Like I said, “That homework packet is presenting some really interesting challenges,