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Barrie cringed when his dad said rocking out. Somehow it sounded cool when his friends said that kind of stuff. But not when his father tried it.
The Lost Boys were their favorite band. His parents had gotten him a ticket as a gift for his birthday and agreed to extend his curfew since he was turning twelve and graduating from elementary school. Michael and John had also convinced their parents and scored tickets to the sold-out concert. They were all going together. It was like some kind of sign—his favorite band coming to town the day after his birthday. Barrie couldn’t wait.
“Let’s see…oh, I know!” Dad went on, tapping at his tablet with great enthusiasm. “What about a family trip to the maritime museum this weekend?”
His father smiled at him expectantly. Barrie frowned, fiddling with his spoon. While not as bad as algebra, that didn’t sound like much fun.
“Uh, what’s a…maritime museum?” he asked cautiously.
“Oh, it’s super exciting!” Dad said in a voice that made Barrie pretty sure that it was the exact opposite.
His father pulled up the website on his tablet, then flipped it around for Barrie to see. Images of old ships flashed across the screen, under the heading “The New London Maritime Museum—Where History Comes To Life!”
“It’s located out by the marina,” Dad said, tapping again at the screen. “It’s a museum dedicated to naval history.”
“What’s that mean?” Barrie said.
“It means boats, Goober,” Rita said snarkily. She loved showing off how much more she knew than he did.
“And not just any boats,” Dad added, flipping through the website. “This museum specializes in pirate history.”
He pointed to a ship with a black-and-white flag printed with a skull and crossbones. The name was painted across the hull in ornate script:
Barrie studied the image, feeling unsettled. The skull seemed to stare into his soul.
“You can even tour an old pirate ship,” Dad went on. “Doesn’t that sound amazing?”
“Uh…maybe,” Barrie hedged, not wanting to disappoint his dad. But what he really wanted to do was to hit the skate park with his friends, not tour some boring old boat museum.
His father was a big history buff. He loved anything tied to the past. But most of that stuff was just boring if you asked Barrie—or saw his straight B minuses on his history quizzes. It all happened a long time ago, so why should he care?
“Great, then I’ll grab tickets,” Dad went on, oblivious to his son’s total lack of interest. “The whole family can go on Sunday. We can have some nice family time.”
Now it was Rita’s turn to look stricken. “But I was supposed to see a movie with my friends—”
“Rita, it’s for your brother’s birthday,” Mom said in her stern voice. “You can see a movie with your friends another time.”
“Yeah, stop behaving like a kid and act your age,” Dad added with a frown.
Rita flung her spoon down and pouted, but she knew better than to argue the point further
. That could only result in the worst-case scenario for any teen—losing car or phone privileges. Or worse yet, getting grounded.
Mom ignored Rita’s silent temper tantrum, which happened on a regular basis, and turned her attention to Barrie.
“Then, on Monday, you can have a party at the skate park with your friends after school,” she said. “On your actual birthday. How does that sound?”
“Oh, I can?” Barrie said, perking up and feeling slightly better. “And I can still go to the concert on Tuesday, too?”
“Yup, it’s not every day my little guy turns twelve. How about a cake?” Mom said, picking up her phone to call in the order. “What flavor?”
“Triple chocolate fudge!” the whole family said in unison, then laughed. It had been Barrie’s favorite since before he could talk.
“Good choice, Son,” Dad added, still chuckling.
Even Rita couldn’t think of anything snarky or negative to say about chocolate.
“Love you,” Barrie said with a grin. His parents really were the best, even if they annoyed him sometimes.
