Chapter 6

Orange Juice and Peach Snapple

Saturday 9:10 AM

Drake was surprised that he slept all through the night. He was also shocked that Josh

was not in the room to yell at him. He kicked the covers off and relied on his people

skills to get him through the lecture and punishment that he knew was in store for him.

He climbed down the ladder off his bed and brushed his hair. He dropped his comb

when he saw his Mother's reflection in the mirror.

"Mom," He remained calm. "I didn't hear you knock."

"That's because I didn't." She handed him his toothbrush.

Audrey was usually a fair mother who didn't like to punish her children unless she had to.

Megan had her and Walter hoodwinked on her perpetual innocence. It was almost

always Drake and Josh getting punished and sometimes for things that Megan really

did.

"I'll be downstairs in a minute after I brush my teeth and get dressed."

"No, Drake that's not how it's going to work today. Bring your clothes with you and go do

your business in the bathroom. Then you are coming back here."

It was only then that he noticed the suitcase by the door.

"What's the suitcase for?"

"You."

"Me?"

"You and I."

"Where's Josh?"

"Don't worry about your brother. And stop wasting my time, Drake."

"Wherever it is that we're going can I bring my acoustic guitar?"

"That's fine. We'll stop for breakfast along the way."

She was making this more difficult than necessary. But Drake knew not to push his

mother's buttons.

Besides wherever it was that she wanted to take him it was certainly better than

stewing in this house all day and quite possibly getting into another bout of words with

Josh especially if the Creature came over.

Drake had to remind himself that this was his mother not a stranger. He could tell that

she was quite angry and deservedly so.

She probably was going to take him out for breakfast and then maybe an overnight trip

to Los Angeles and then he'd return fresh minded after Audrey talked to him in a neutral

environment and Walter talked to Josh here. Besides he was allowed to bring his guitar

it couldn't be all that bad once the parental duties of his mother were taken care of.

Drake was surprised that going out for breakfast was actually at the restaurant of the

Sheraton San Diego Hotel (& Marina). It seemed a weird place to take a teenager

just to punish him.

"Mom, your silence is killing me."

"Do you want to know what your father and I did last night?"

"It depends." He drank his orange juice.

"We were watching a movie like we usually do on Friday nights. Josh came home with

Mindy and Torey."

Drake almost dropped his fork on his plate. The urge to eat the bacon and eggs was

slowly disappearing.

"I can explain."

"You better. Because do you know the thought that flashed into my head as Josh and

Mindy were explaining things as your girlfriend sobbed uncontrollably? I did not raise my

son to skip school or to disrespect women. So, I doubt very much that you can explain it

all away. But go ahead, Drake, because we have all day."

"I can't tell you why I skipped school and I didn't mean to disrespect anyone especially

Torey."

Drake was not about to lose it. He had to keep his emotions at bay. And he certainly

was not about to reveal his true feelings in front of a crowded hotel restaurant and with

his own mother present.

"We'll get to the school skipping later. I know you like girls and are very popular at

school. But not only did you cheat on your girlfriend but you ditched your date that you

cheated on Torey with to hang out with someother girls at the food court. Am I right so

far?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Drake put his head down.

"And although this part is not your fault you should know how cruel these girls were to

Torey and Mindy. I can't tell you who to be friends with, but you definitely should rethink

some of your choices. Just because a girl is pretty and thinks you're 'hot' and loves the

way that you play the guitar doesn't mean that they care for you as a person. I don't

think you cared for half of those girls. Josh told me you told him once that you don't like

half of the girls you date."

"He certainly has a big mouth."

"Is that all you have to say on this issue?"

"This isn't something a guy wants to share with his mother."

"Drake, you can tell me anything. Despite all of this, I'm your mother and I love all of you

kids."

"If you really must know it's too much pressure, okay? I'm not good at being that one

guy. The steady boyfriend. I can't do it, Mom. I'm not like Josh who likes to be glued to

Mindy. Maybe, I was too much of a coward to explain this to Torey, but you have to know

that I—can you just ground me and get this all over with?"

"We'll discuss your punishment later. And you are not getting the easy way out. When

we get back tomorrow afternoon I expect you to go to Torey's house and apologize."

"Okay. I can't eat anymore. Am I in trouble for that too?"

"No, son," Audrey flagged down the waiter for the check, "I can't finish either. You

really love her, don't you son? I know you don't want to talk about it. Is that what you

wanted to say to me?"

"Yes. I still don't want to talk about it. Where's our next stop?"

"You'll see."

"How come you can't tell me?"

"For two reasons. One it's a taste of your own medicine and two I have my reasons."

"It's going to be a long day isn't it, Mom?"

"That's entirely up to you, Drake."

Mom was tough today. She didn't even allow any music radio or CD to played in the

car on the way to their mystery destination or before that when they were stopping for

breakfast. If she wanted Drake to think about his actions, he did that last night when he

was alone on the back porch waiting for everyone to go to bed. So he admitted his love

for the girl whose heart he broke. There were worse things in this world to reveal to

one's mother. He didn't unravel in the process and he wasn't going to. He almost did

get a lump in his throat when he saw the signs for Burbank he knew (well not the specific

place) that they were going to Santa Barbara where his mom grew up. When her name

was Audrey Miller and she went to the aptly named Santa Barbara High School.

"Mom, We're going to Santa Barbara."

"I knew you'd figure it out, Drake. We still have a little bit to go yet. Do you want to see

my old house before going to the hotel?"

"Why not? Won't the new owners mind though?"

"It's nice to see you caring about what others might think. And no I meant just an outside

look."

"If it were me I'd ask the new owners. It couldn't hurt," Drake took the cap off his peach

Snapple to take a drink, "Mom, I love Torey and I want her back. Yet I don't know how to

be that steady boyfriend."

"Honey, that's sweet. And I don't want to burst your bubble, but you have to realize that

Torey may not even want you back. As I recall this was your second attempt with her."

"I know. I really messed up," he placed his head against the window and closed his

eyes.

It was the only way to stop the tears from forming and Audrey knew it.

To be continued…

Notes: The show never mentioned Audrey's maiden name so I created one for her.