Lucky Cap

by Patrick Jennings

  “It sure is an amazing cap,” he said, all dazzled again.

  “Yeah. I swear there’s something… I don’t know… magical about—”

  Someone knocked on my door right then.

  “What?” I barked. I didn’t like being interrupted in what I considered to be my private personal space. Plus it was probably just one of my sisters all prepared to annoy me. As usual.

  “Can I come in, buddy?”

  It was Dad.

  “Yeah, sorry,” I said in a nicer voice. “Come in.”

  He stepped inside, kind of awkwardly. He could be a little shy sometimes. Not all dads are bold and brave, I guess. Mine was shy and cautious.

  I assumed he was coming in to say he was sorry for abandoning me.

  “I just got off the phone,” he said, sitting beside me on the bed. “It was Evan Stevens, from work. He’s my new supervisor at Kap. He’ll be training me and traveling with me.”

  “Evan Stevens?” Kai asked.

  Dad chuckled. “Yep. Like ‘even Steven.’”

  Kai chuckled, too. I didn’t get the joke and didn’t care. I wanted to hear what Dad and this Evan guy had talked about. Dad was giving off some seriously strange vibes. He had news and was itching to spill it, but he was taking his time.

  “So I was talking to Evan,” Dad went on, “telling him about how excited the family was that I got the job and everything, and he was real glad to hear it…. You’ll meet him, Enzo. He’s a real nice kid. Well, not a kid. He’s in his twenties. To me he’s a kid…”

  “Yeah,” I said, humoring him, wanting him to get to the point. “And…?”

  “I told Evan how much you loved the cap, and he said that gave him an idea.”

  Dad paused a second, then smiled. It was a big, warm, I-have-good-news-for-you smile. Why was he torturing me?

  “Tell me his idea, Dad!” I said.

  “Well, Evan said maybe having an eleven-year-old boy along on the trip would be a real asset. Maybe an eleven-year-old boy could test out the new products and tell us which ones are amazing and which aren’t.”

  You could have heard a pin drop, even on the carpet.

  Then Kai said, “Hey! Enzo is an eleven-year-old boy!”

  I elbowed him. “So are you, stupid.”

  “Oh, yeah…”

  It was totally understandable that he forgot sometimes.

  “So?” Dad asked.

  “So what?” I asked.

  “So do you want to come on the trip with us?”

  How do you think I answered?

  “Yeah!” Then I gave Dad a shove. He shoved me back, and then we cracked up.

  This all happened because of the cap. Dad told Evan Stevens how much I loved it. Evan invited me on the trip. It was the cap. It definitely had some sort of power. Some kind of magic. Luck, maybe. I understood right then I would be lucky as long as I held on to it.

  “Lucky,” Kai said. He wasn’t laughing. He wasn’t happy.

  I patted him on the shoulder and said, “I’ll be back before you know it.”

  Boy, was I right about that.

  The trip started two days later. Me and Dad got up early, way before Mom and the Sisterhood. We had said our good-byes the night before.

  After we ate some cereal and did our own dishes (we wouldn’t be doing that for a while!) I went out back to say good-bye to our dog, Inkspill, who I call Ink. He’s black, of course, although I guess he could also be blue. Come to think of it, he could be purple. Doesn’t ink come in just about any color? Well, our Ink was a miniature pinscher—a min pin—and black.

  He heard me coming and started yapping and racing around the backyard like a lunatic. I loved Ink and hated leaving him behind. Especially with the Sisterhood. Who knew what they would do to him. A month and a half of baby talk alone would probably damage his brain permanently.

  I unlocked the gate, but before I could open it, Ink started hurling himself against it. As usual. He barked and snarled like he was rabid. I couldn’t get in.

  Then again, I thought to myself, maybe some time away from him might be a good thing.

  I crouched down and let him lick my face through the chain link.

  “Bye, Ink, you big spaz,” I said, but in a loving way.

  When I returned to the front yard, a car was pulling into the driveway and Dad was walking over to it. It was Evan Stevens come to pick us up. What kind of car did Kap give Evan to drive? Something boxy and boring with good gas mileage? Nope. He drove a silver convertible. With the top down, of course. There was a huge, tilted, black K painted on the door. This was the car we’d be driving all over the western states! I don’t know what one feels like, but it felt like I was having a heart attack. I was that excited.

  (Turns out it wasn’t a heart attack. Phew. I would’ve hated to miss the trip.)

  Evan shut off the engine, rocked back in his seat, then, with a really big grin, asked, “So what do you think of our ride, boys? Not bad, right?”

  Dad laughed and nodded, and I said, “It’s awesome!” I admit this was a pretty lame answer, but in this case, it was accurate. I was definitely feeling some awe. Lots of it, actually.

  Evan was too cool to live. He was tall, dark, and ripped. His black Kap polo shirt could barely hold his arms, chest, and shoulders. He wore dark Ray-Bans and chewed gum. He smiled real big, but it wasn’t fake. He looked wide awake for so early in the morning, like he had more energy than he knew what to do with. He wasn’t a spaz like Ink or anything. He just looked… you know… psyched. Unlike most grown-ups.

  I liked him right off the bat.

  “How’s it going this a.m., Mr. Assistant General Manager?” Evan asked as he shook Dad’s hand.

  Standing next to Evan, my big, strong father suddenly seemed not so big or strong. But, to be fair, Evan was a lot younger. Dad was ancient. Thirty-eight.

  “This has got to be Lorenzo,” Evan said, releasing Dad’s hand and grabbing mine with a firm grip. “Heard a lot about you, dude. All good.”

  “H-Hi, Mr. Stevens,” I squeaked. I guess I was kind of star-struck.

  “Evan is the name,” he said. “Mr. Stevens is my granddad’s name!”

  “I like Enzo,” I said, and it struck me that both our names started with E. Which was cool.

  “So then, Enzo,” Evan said, getting real serious all of a sudden, “what do you think about this little excursion we’re embarking on?”

  I was tongue-tied. What did I think? Was I supposed to be thinking? Wasn’t this summer vacation? I searched my brain for a thought.

  “I think it’s going to be the amazingest trip in the history of time,” I said.

  Evan laughed so hard I bit my tongue. It wasn’t that funny. In fact, it wasn’t funny at all. Amazingest was just a word that had been going around the neighborhood that summer.

  “You got that right!” he said. “That’s exactly what it’s going to be. The amazingest trip in the history of time! You nailed it, Enzo!”

  We stowed our gear and piled in, then Evan fired up the convertible and we pulled away from the curb. I leaned back into the seat, which was really cushy and comfortable. I looked up at the blue sky. It was like I was in some PG-13 movie!

  We turned the corner onto Kearny Boulevard, a fast street with four lanes of traffic. As the car picked up speed, the wind got under the visor of my cap and started to lift it. My hands went up like lightning and grabbed it tight. Nothing was ever going to separate me from my magic.

  Or so I believed…

  I thought about keeping a journal so I wouldn’t forget any of the amazing things that we were going to do, but that felt too schoolish, so instead I texted the info to Kai. Kai saved all my messages and showed them to me when I got back. Here’s some of the amazingest ones, in the order I sent them:

  frisco! cable car! alcatraz!!!

  HOTEL!! room service! day n nite!!!

  boogie boarded in pac ocean! B-)… saw WHALE!!! i think…

  hiked big sur in cool nu kap
boots!!!

  snorkeld in montarey!!!

  cable video games in room… wieght room… pool.

  crash on hwy! fire! scary!!! :-o

  saw U2!!! old guys but amazing!! almost met bono!!!

  parasurfing!!!!!!!!!!

  met lebron james!!!! he signed my kap cap!!

  130 in deth vally! all hail a/c!!!

  ginormus water park!!! :-D

  hollywood!! studio tour got u suvineer

  guess who got jack blacks autograf?!! hes really fat

  hollywood kap store… indoor rappids!!!

  1 word… disneyland!!!

  water sking on lake tahoe!!!

  snow sking in teh summer!!!

  camped on beach… elk! ur not sposed to look em in the eye… i didn’t… evan did… brave dude!!… nuthin happend :-(

  hiked in rain forest! it didnt rain :-

  seattle… space needle! mariners game!

  DEFINITLY saw a whale this time!!!! dad sawit to

  did u know the eifel tower was in vegas? it is!!! :-o

  hoover DAM!! really big DAM!! DAM!! ;-)

  touch football w/ dad evan n kap guys!!!

  hanglided!!! wo!!! wish u were here!!!

  I didn’t really mean that last bit, but I didn’t want him to know I was glad he wasn’t with us. It was nice to have someone at home to tell about all the cool things I was doing, someone who would be totally jealous. Kai was perfect for that.

  Dad and I got to hang out together a lot, which we never got to do at home, because he was always working or helping the Sisterhood with their many, many issues. As it turns out, he’s a good guy to hang with. He wasn’t so fussy about stuff, like Mom is. He didn’t bother me about baths or changing my clothes or picking up my things. He never said I should avoid junk food or fried food or fast food or carbs. He never checked fat or sugar content on labels. He never nagged me about watching too much TV or playing video games too much. He was kind of cool.

  We bonded, as they say, but in a real guy way, a way he and the Sisterhood could never bond, because they weren’t guys, like we were. This might sound totally cheesy, but of all the amazing things we did on the trip, getting so much one-on-one time with my dad was probably the best.

  I was right. That did sound cheesy.

  “Dad, this is the best time I’ve ever had with you,” I blurted out once when we were standing in line for a roller coaster. “Then again, it’s the best time I’ve ever had.”

  “I’m having a ball, too, Enz,” he answered. “Let’s enjoy it while it lasts. It’ll be over before you know it.”

  Before I knew it, it was over.

  3. Big Changes

  After we checked out of the hotel in Sacramento, Evan and Dad had one more call to make, in Stockton, before we headed home. I stayed in the car. I wasn’t pouting. Pouting is a tactic for getting your parents to do what you want them to do, and there was nothing my dad or mom could do this time. Parents may have all the power in a family, but even they are powerless when it comes to school. School tells parents what to do.

  I didn’t stay in the car to pout. I was mourning the loss of the most amazingest summer vacation in the history of summer vacations. I was grieving the death of total, supreme, nonstop fun.

  Evan and Dad didn’t pout or mourn. That’s because their joyride wasn’t over. They would get to keep driving around in a silver convertible, trying out cool new sporting goods and sportswear, meeting famous athletes and entertainers, staying in hotels, ordering room service, and bouncing on beds. Okay, maybe not bouncing on beds. But they would get to keep on joyriding, and getting paid for it, while I died of boredom in school.

  The first time I glanced out from under my visor, we were on Kearny Boulevard—back in Pasadero already. Then we turned again and, just like that, we were home.

  Mom, Desi, Susana, and Lupe rushed from the house when we pulled up. They swarmed Dad, squealing and chattering and hugging and kissing him, and, of course, asking what he’d brought home for them.

  Nadine brought up the rear. She was dressed like some girl from the olden days going to a tea party: frilly wide-brimmed hat, poufy dress to the ground, ruffly collar and sleeves, black lace-up boots. The only difference was that she was wearing white makeup on her face and black lipstick. Apparently, this was her new look: Goth–slash–American Girl. She liked to change it now and then. Not sure why she chose heavy clothes and makeup in August. In California.

  When she caught up, she said, “Hello, Father,” mostly to the ground. Dad hugged her and knocked her big, floppy hat off.

  Mom was the only one to take any notice of me, which was fine until she started smooching me all over and talking baby talk. That’s when my face got all hot and my vision got all blurry and I realized I was going to cry. No way was I going to cry in front of Evan.

  I wriggled free and snapped, “Stop it! I can’t breathe!”

  She laughed. “So you’re too big now to be hugged and kissed by your mama, Lenchito?”

  Lenchito was my mom’s Spanish nickname for me. Only she got to call me that. Sometimes one of my sisters would slip and I was forced to headlock her till she swore she’d never say it again, or till Mom or Dad broke it up.

  “Yes,” I answered, but she jumped into the backseat anyway and went totally nuts with the stupid hugs and kisses and mushy talk stuff. I fought her off for a while, which was kind of fun, and which stopped the tears from falling, thank goodness. We rolled around in the backseat, wrestling and tickling each other, till suddenly I screeched: “My cap! You’ll bend the visor!”

  Everyone laughed.

  I reached up to check my cap, and…

  “Where is it?” I shrieked.

  More laughter.

  “MOM! Where is it? Are you sitting on it?”

  Oh, the horror I felt in those few seconds. Even reliving it now makes my heart thump in my throat.

  “I got it,” Evan said from the driver’s seat, and held it up. “Figured I’d better get it out of harm’s way. Or, in this case, Mom’s way.”

  I could have kissed him. Not really, but I was really glad he was there and knew what to do. He was a man of good instincts and priorities.

  I took the cap from him, put it on, then checked my look in the rearview mirror.

  Mom and the Sisterhood (minus Nadine) cracked up.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Someone got conceited,” Lupe taunted, and everyone (except Nadine) cracked up again.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “And no wonder,” Mom said, looking me up and down. “Just look at you!”

  “What?” I asked again, trying to look at myself. (Why do people say that? It can’t be done.) “What’s wrong with me?”

  Everyone was looking at me—except Nadine, who had taken out her black journal and was writing in it.

  “There’s nothing wrong,” Mom said. “You’re just so…”

  “Buff?” Evan piped in.

  The Sisterhood (minus Nadine) giggled.

  “Exactly!” Desi said.

  “And tan,” Susana chipped in.

  My sisters (minus Nadine) were looking at me. Really looking at me. And grinning. This made me extremely uncomfortable.

  Mom said, “It’s amazing what a summer vacation can do to a kid.”

  What was all this? If I’d changed, why hadn’t Dad or Evan said anything about it? Maybe because guys don’t usually sit around talking about how each other looks. Plus we’d been together practically every second, and it’s hard to see people change when you’re with them all the time. It’s hard to see yourself change, too. It happens slowly, like grass growing. When I looked at myself in the mirror or in pictures, all I saw was my cap and my amazing new clothes.

  Mom and the girls hadn’t seen me in a month and a half. A month and a half of fun and sun. I bet I had changed. I wondered how.

  I jumped out of the car and bolted for the house.

  I heard Ink yapping and scratching from the
other side of the front door as I approached it. When I pushed it open, he freaked out all over me, jumping and pawing and slobbering and whining. I was glad to see him, but I was on a mission.

  “Down, Ink! Sit! Sit!” I commanded.

  He didn’t obey. Big shock.

  I tore off through the house with him hot on my heels. Nipping at them, actually. I shut the bathroom door on him, then turned to face the full-length mirror. A very tanned Enzo Harpold, wearing a new black T-shirt with a metallic silver Kap logo on the front, untucked, looked back at me. He was wearing a most excellent pair of Kap athletic shoes, white with a blue logo, unlaced, and new baggy plaid Kap shorts. The guy was sharply dressed, that’s for sure. But what about this buff stuff?

  My shirt did hang different: tighter in the shoulders, looser around my stomach. My shoulders looked different, too, somehow. Broader, I guess. I bent my arms and clenched my fists. Hey. There was definition in those biceps. And in my calf muscles, my forearms, even in my neck. I sucked in my stomach and puffed out my chest and—whoa!—I had a chest! One that was actually wider than my stomach, I mean. I turned sideways. My stomach was less pudgy than it used to be. I lifted my T-shirt and did an ab crunch. Not bad! Not exactly washboard, but sort of ripply.

  Now, it’s not like I was a total loser before the trip. I had been built pretty average and was happy that way. Me and Kai had never cared about that stuff. We never looked in mirrors. We didn’t bathe unless we had to. We wore the same clothes for as long as we could get away with it. We were guys. We hung out. We had fun. Who cared what we looked like?

  But now I was looking in the mirror. I was staring in it. I had changed. Big time. Mom and the Sisterhood (minus Nadine) were right: I was buff.

  The cap, I thought. The cap did this.

  I reached up and pulled it off. My hair piled out. It had gotten pretty long. Down to my eyebrows and earlobes. I hadn’t gotten a haircut on the trip. And it was lighter from the sun.

  Uh-oh, I thought with dread. Am I cute?

  4. Little Changes

  When I stepped out of the bathroom, Ink was still there, practically dying for attention. So I gave him some and noticed right off he had changed, too.