this was a convention of people who gave speeches; Mom was here to talk about how to speak in public. Lori had seen the brochure herselfâMom was leading seminars called âWhy Should Anyone Listen to Me ? Figuring Out Your Messageâ and âItâs Mine, All Mine: Capturing an Audienceâs Attention.â And she was giving the keynote address at the banquet that night. So Mom wasnât lying when she said sheâd be busy.
Lori should probably be impressed that all these people who gave speeches would want to listen to Mom. But she couldnât help wondering, Why did Mom bring us along if sheâs just going to work?
They went back to the hotel room and Mom left for the conference. Lori brushed her teeth. The whole day stretched ahead of her like an empty calendar page.
âWant to go to the Coke museum with me?â she asked Chuck through a mouthful of bubbles. She spit in the sink. âThe hotel guidebook says Coke was invented here, and they have a museum showing the entire history. At the end, they let you drink all the Coke you want.â
She felt so virtuous asking Chuck to go somewhere with her. Maybe that was how she could make up for being so nasty to Mom. Sheâd be nice to Chuck all day longâno matter how hard that was. She wouldnât eventhink about the possibility that someone might mistake them for girlfriend and boyfriend. (Okay, sheâd already thought of it. But she wouldnât think about it again.) Itâd be like . . . paying back God. By the end of the day, her conscience would feel as clean as her teeth.
But, âNo,â Chuck said slowly. âIâve got other plans.â
Plans? Chuck had plans? In a city heâd never stepped foot in before in his entire life?
âOh,â Lori said. âUm. Okay.â She hesitated. Her conscience was at stake here, after all. âBut didnât Mom want us to stay together? Can Iâ?â She was out on a limb now. But she kept going. âCan I go with you?â
She was almost pleading. Chuck looked panicked.
âNo, no. Youâd be bored. Or something.â He gulped. âAnd Mom didnât say we had to stay together.â
Loriâs pride prevented her from truly begging. She was practically speechless, anyway. What could Chuck be up to?
âWell,â Chuck said. âGuess Iâll be going. See you later.â
âYeah,â Lori said.
He tucked his plastic credit card-like hotel key in his pocket and went out the door. Lori stared after him. The door shut in her face.
âOkay. Fine,â Lori said.
She grabbed her own key and went out the door behind him.
She didnât really intend to follow him, but when her elevator arrived in the lobby, she saw him just going out the front door. She ducked behind a flower arrangementbigger than the outhouse Pop still kept out by the barn. And then, when she felt sure Chuck hadnât seen her, she inched across the gleaming marble floor and went through the revolving door herself.
Chuck was tall as well as bigâat fifteen, heâd already topped six feetâso it was easy keeping his dark head in sight. She bumped into people once or twice and almost stepped out into traffic at a busy intersection when Chuck crossed on a yellow light. But he never looked back, so she stopped worrying about being spotted.
All the way, she kept playing guessing games with herself about where he was actually going. The Olympic Park? One of the sports stadiums? Chuck had never cared about sports. He wouldnât even play in the softball games they always had before 4-H meetings in the summer.
But maybe that was just because the other kids laughed at him running the bases. Mike and Joey imitated him: âLook at me! Iâm the Michelin tire man!â âOh no, Iâm shaking the ground!â
Lori thought backâwhat about when Chuck was younger? When he wasnât fat? For a second, she