Finally he took her right out the exit. The family might be tired after all of the day’s activities. He figured they would appreciate a ride home even though it was just a few blocks to the golf course.
He went under the speed limit along residential streets leading to Royal Oaks, but it didn’t matter. No one was behind him.
When he turned into the golf course parking lot, he stuck to the periphery, not wanting to get into a jam. The barbecue was still going strong. He could smell the meat cooking and could hear the country swing music playing over the loudspeakers.
A catering truck was backed up to the main building, white-coated workers scurrying back and forth. A girl who looked a little like Becky wheeled a huge trash can toward the Dumpsters.
Cameron watched her for a split second too long. By the time he turned his attention back to where he was going, a second cartload of trash cans emerged from behind the caterer’s van.
Even though he was driving at a snail’s pace, there appeared to be an explosion on impact. Everything in the container erupted—used foam plates and cups, corncobs and gobs of barbecue sauce, wadded up napkins, half-eaten hot dogs, ashes and ketchup. A glob of something—coleslaw, maybe—landed on the windshield with a splat.
Cameron somehow managed to slam the RV into Park and shut off the engine. He leaped out and hit the ground running. “Is anyone hurt?” he asked, the panic back and clawing at him.
A catering worker, whose white coat was embroidered with the name Roy and spattered with red sauce, glowered at him. Roy weighed about two hundred fifty pounds. He had a shaved eight-ball head and, now, a wide streak of mustard on his pants.
“No, fool,” Roy said, “but you got some cleaning up to do.”
“Of course,” Cameron said. “God, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.” He cast about, trying to figure out what to do first. A small crowd had gathered. People pointed and talked among themselves.
Great.
A reporter and photographer came forward, the reporter yelling questions. “Anyone hurt? Whose Winnebago is that?” He turned to Roy. “Sir, did you see what happened?”
Roy jerked his head at Cameron. “Fool wasn’t looking where he was driving that thing.”
The camera lens and the reporter both turned to Cameron. He had the thought that he didn’t actually want to die, but if lightning did happen to strike him right now, it would be a mercy.
There was no mercy for him, he realized as he saw his uncle weaving through the crowd toward him.
Here it comes, thought Cameron. He and his uncle had been getting along great, better than he and his dad ever did. Apparently that was about to come to an end. He’d just be the worthless screwup his dad thought he was; now Sean would think so, too.
“Slow news day, Donny?” Sean growled at the reporter.
Donny was unfazed. “You know this young man?”
“Give me a break,” Sean said, approaching Cameron.
“Hey,” he said.
Uh-oh. Cameron shuffled his feet, waiting for the storm to gather and break. “Hey.”
“So you, ah, you were driving this thing?”
Every excuse in the book crowded up inside his throat, but all that came out was “Yes.”
“Think you can back her up out of the way so you can get this cleaned up?”
Jeez, thought Cameron, with everyone staring at him? “Yes,” he said. He hoped he wasn’t lying.
Sean cast a glance at the windshield with the chunks of coleslaw still sliding down. His face looked all hard, his lips taut and his eyes bright. Cameron had never seen him look so furious before.
“And do you know how to turn on the windshield wipers?” he asked, his voice as taut as the rest of him.
“I think so.” Cameron’s mouth was dry, as though shame had sucked all the moisture out of him. Then he noticed something about his uncle. It wasn’t fury that was keeping him so stiff and taut. It was laughter. He was dying with it, sweating from it.
And finally, he couldn’t keep it in any longer. It came out in long guffaws as he said, “Then I guess you’d better turn the wipers on before you drive that thing again,” he said.
Lily was pleased to see that Red Corliss took charge. Dealing with a garbage can-versus-RV situation wasn’t in his job description, but he didn’t miss a beat as he had Cameron drive him to the nearest car wash. Afterward, they all met at Red’s hotel, because