Chapter Two

Michelle

Monday

Okay, D.J. Here's my entry in this trip journal for you.

First of all, I'm writing this while lying flat on my back on the bed in the back of the RV. We've been driving for hours. Maybe more, I'm not sure. Anyway, yesterday, we stopped at a Burger King for dinner and a Holiday Inn for the night. The very next day, we continued driving. Uncle Jesse says we're about an hour away from San Diego and then we'll go to the SDZ. Nicky and Alex seem to be excited...I think...

I'd been in that RV for hours. It was a relief to get out and stretch and breathe some nice fresh air. In fact, the only time I remembered leaving the car today was the bathroom break and that was three hours ago. About five hours more of driving, Nicky was flushing paper towels down the toilet and Aunt Becky was beginning to fuss at Uncle Jesse.

"Jess, the kids are bored and restless. Can't we stop somewhere and take a break?" she begged.

But Uncle Jesse shook his head. "No way. San Diego's about an hour away. Besides, I packed away some of their favorite toys," he said. He called Joey. "Joey! Can you get the boys' toys out of that bag? They're over there," he said, pointing to a corner near the bunk bed Denise and I share.

"How much longer do we have to get there?" I asked crabbily.

Joey set the toys down near the twins. "Are you bored, Michelle?" he asked.

"Duh!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, this is BOR-ING!" Denise agreed.

Aunt Becky glared at Uncle Jesse malevolently. "I don't blame you one bit, you guys. We wouldn't be so cramped and bored if someone would stop the RV for twenty minutes-"

"Beck, the faster we visit all these other places, the faster we'll get to Tennessee."

Aunt Becky snorted. "We? Who's 'we'?" she asked.

Uncle Jesse looked a little sheepish. "Okay, me. Me, okay? What's wrong with rushing a little?"

Aunt Becky stared at Uncle Jesse incredulously as if to say 'Is he serious?'

"Hello! This is our vacation, too! Why should we rush our vacation time just so you can see some stupid Elvis museum?"

"Hey, Elvis is not stupid! You're the one who wants to go to New Orleans and sample Cajun food and look at boring French museums!"

Aunt Becky looked furious, but she turned to Joey and Aunt Wendy for help. Aunt Wendy shrugged and Joey shook his head. "Hey, he's your husband," he said.

Denise tapped my shoulder. "C'mon. Let's play cards or something. Those grown-ups are starting to get on my nerves," she whispered.

I nodded in agreement. Denise and I went into the middle of the RV and found a card table. We both played games of gin rummy and go fish. About twenty games of cards later, we heard Aunt Becky reply, "Oh! There's a rest area about a mile away. Jess, we have to stop."

"C'mon, Beck. We have no time for-"

"Jesse Katsopolis, I thought we talked about this! This is not just your vacation and I won't let you dictate everyone else's. Now, stop!"

"But-"

"Stop the damn RV!" Aunt Becky yelled furiously.

Whoa. I think time stopped when Aunt Becky started yelling. Joey's eyes widened. Aunt Wendy looked from Aunt Becky to Uncle Jesse in surprise. Nicky and Alex stopped playing with their toys and Denise and I looked at each other in shock. It wasn't so much that we heard swearing, but what bothered us most was the fact that we'd never seen Aunt Becky so mad before. Ever.

Uncle Jesse looked more surprised than everyone else. He blinked stupidly and then nodded. "Uh...Sure, Becky," he stammered. He drove towards the exit to the rest area. I noticed the hurt in his voice.

Aunt Becky looked very guilty. "Jess, I'm sorry. It's just that-"

"No, no. You don't have to apologize. Becky, you're right. I'm being selfish and-"

"But I shouldn't have yelled like that. I'm sor-"

"You don't have to apologize, alright? Can we just drop it, okay?" he asked forcefully.

Aunt Becky nodded meekly and stared out the window. Everyone else just fell silent. Even Joey and the twins. It made me feel sick to my stomach. All of a sudden, this trip was turning out to be a drag and no fun. I wanted to go home. But most of all, I wanted Dad. He could make me feel better. I didn't want to go to Four Corners if this was what the outcome of the trip was going to be; Fighting and arguing.

When I couldn't stand the silence any longer, I went into the bathroom and found Nicky and Alex, both crying.

"Guys, what's wrong?" I whispered, closing the door gently.

"Mommy and Daddy fighting," Nicky explained.

"Wanna go home," Alex added.

"But I thought you wanted to go to the zoo," I reminded them.

Nicky shook his head stubbornly. "No! Wanna go home!" he shouted.

I sighed unhappily. Nicky and Alex were feeling the same way I was.

"I'm not happy about this either, okay? But we have to brave and put on a happy face. You don't want your mom and dad to know you know that they've been yelling at each other. It'll spoil the vacation."

But, to no avail, the boys still refused to reason with me. So I grabbed both their hands and took them out of the bathroom. We'd stopped at the road stop by then by some old picnic tables. Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky were still going at it. Furious, I stood right between them and replied, "I hope you're happy! You've got two people who you've got some explaining to do!" I yelled coolly, cutting right through the argument.

All the adults stared at me dumbfounded and surprised. They looked at the twins' tearstained faces and my furious and red one. Without waiting for an answer, I stomped away, back to the RV. I ignored the calls of Uncle Jesse and the others. I wanted to find a payphone somewhere so I could call Dad or Vicky or D.J. so that one of them would come and pick me up. But I also knew that they were far away from home, probably in some other state, so they wouldn't turn around from wherever they were and come to Southern California just to pick me up.

Then I'll just find my way back to San Francisco, I thought. I smiled at the thought. I just had to leave. I was tired of boredom. Tired of silence. But most of all, I was tired of all the fighting.

I slammed the door of the RV and proceeded to pack up my suitcase. I was so flustered and unaware that someone was behind me, so I just kept putting all of my things into my suitcase. When I had put the last T-shirt away, I picked up my heavy suitcase and proceeded to leave. A figure was blocking me, so I screamed.

"Shhh! Munchkin, it's me," the figure replied. It sounded like Uncle Jesse. It was hard to see in the semi-darkness of the RV.

"Uncle Jesse?" I asked a little uncertainly.

"Of course it's me. Who else would call you 'munchkin'? Anyway, what's with the suitcase?"

I stared at him in disbelieve. He really had no clue?

"I can't take this anymore. You and Aunt Becky are fighting and Nicky and Alex are sad and this vacation isn't any fun because it's boring and everyone's mad. I'm going to go back home and wait for Dad to come back," I informed him in an angry and breathless rush.

Uncle Jesse's face fell. "I was wondering why you were so quiet. You don't want to go back home. Your dad won't be back in two weeks. You don't want to stay there by yourself, now will you?"

"It doesn't matter. At least I won't have to hear you and Aunt Becky yelling at each other," I said.

Uncle Jesse sighed. "Ouch. Listen, Michelle. I'm sorry you're upset about everything that's been going on today. I think your Aunt Becky had a good reason for yelling at me. I have been a bit of a jerk, I'll admit. C'mon, let's sit down. I want to tell you something," he said, leading me towards the card table.

Once we were set, he plunged on. "Michelle, I'm sorry if this vacation hasn't been any fun. I mean, once you think about yourself, the vacation does become boring."

"But why were you acting like a jerk? I mean, before Aunt Becky yelled at you?" I asked.

Uncle Jesse sighed again. "Well, Shorty, it's kinda of a bit of a long story," he relented.

"I'm all ears," I replied, perking up a little. I loved to hear Uncle Jesse's stories.

"Well, alright. You see, when I was about your age, my family always went on summer vacations like this one every year. But we always went somewhere that I didn't want to go or somewhere that was out of our price range. The last vacation was when I was about thirteen or so, but at that time, I was tired of them, so I was put with my aunt at her place. Man, it was a drag, though."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, because she was so strict and mean and bossy...Cramped my style. Anyway, when this vacation came about, I got carried away because I was finally going someplace I wanted to go for a change. But, I was acting like a jerk. So, I'm sorry. Are we forgiven?"

I gave him a half-smile. "I guess so. But can I ask you something?"

"Name it."

"Promise me you won't fight with anyone on this trip?"

"Well, I can't guarantee that," he replied.

"Huh?" I replied, bewildered.

"If Joey hogs the bathroom one more time..."

I giggled and rolled my eyes. Uncle Jesse laughed. "Hey, Munchkin, let's shake on this, okay? Like old times, alright?"

"No more arguments?" I asked.

"No more arguments. Deal?"

"It's a done deal," I said. We both did our little Elvis shake and sealed the deal.

"So, have you apologized to Aunt Becky yet? Has she apologized to you?" I asked.

"There's no need," a woman's voice replied from behind, startling us. We turned our heads to find the voice. The voice belonged to Aunt Becky, who was standing by the door.

"Were you eavesdropping?" Uncle Jesse asked.

Aunt Becky nodded. "I couldn't help it. I mean, Joey and Wendy sent me in here to apologize to you and Michelle, but I happened to hear you guys talking by mistake. I'm sor-"

Uncle Jesse shook his head. "No more apologizing, either. Beck, look, I know I've been a jerk. This vacation was supposed to be fun and you had every right to snap at me. Someone needed to kick my butt and tell me I was doing something wrong. 'Cause I know I had no clue."

Aunt Becky giggled. "Well, okay. We can let bygones be bygones and enjoy the rest of the trip. And this vacation can still be fun, you know. You said there's only an hour until we get to the zoo, right? So...you wanna..." She trailed off.

Realizing I was still here, Aunt Becky and Uncle Jesse stared at me. "Uh, Michel-" Uncle Jesse began to say.

"I'm outta here," I said, quickly leaving. I smirked as I closed the door. Giggling and some other sounds were right behind the door.

Outside the RV, Aunt Wendy, Joey, Denise and the twins all were waiting expectantly.

"Well?" Joey asked.

"Well what?" I asked.

"Is everything okay? How are Mr. and Mrs. Katsopolis?" Denise asked.

"Oh, they're fine. They apologized and it's great," I replied.

Aunt Wendy and Joey breathed great sighs of relief.

"I think I'll have a quick chat with them," Aunt Wendy replied.

"Not just yet. Uh, they're..." I trailed off, blushing.

Aunt Wendy got the message immediately. "Oh, okay. Good. Okay, I'm driving?"

"Doing what? What are they doing?" Joey asked.

"Never you mind, Joey. Michelle, can you and Denise buckle up the twins, please?"

"Sure," I replied.

Denise and I carefully and gingerly set Nicky and Alex in their booster seats. Then we sat down in our seats as Aunt Wendy turned the ignition and we slowly drove away from the rest area.

About an hour and a half later, we arrived to the San Diego Zoo. And what fun did we have! We saw monkees, apes, lions, birds, and reptiles. We rode in a tram and went on a safari. We visited different areas of the zoo and saw polar bears and other different things. After four hours, we took a lunch break at a small hot dog stand.

"Are we allowed to feed the animals?" I asked, swallowing the last of my hot dog.

Uncle Jesse slurped his Coke. "C'mon, Munchkin. You read that 'Do Not Feed The Animals' sign, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. But Joey didn't."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I pointed. Everyone turned around and looked. Joey was trying to slip one of his hot dogs to a chimpanzee through the bars.

"Oh, shhh!" Aunt Becky shushed, giggling. She quickly took out her camera.

Meanwhile, the chimp stared at the hot dog for a second. Then he grinned and without warning, politely threw it in Joey's face; ketchup, relish, mustard and all.

Aunt Becky snapped the picture and we all laughed hysterically.

"Man, I wish Danny and the others were here to see this," Aunt Wendy replied, wiping the tears out of her eyes.

Aunt Becky wiped her eyes, too. "Well, they will when they see the pictures I took," she replied.

Joey came back, wiping mustard off his face.

"Hey, he made a great shot, huh?" Uncle Jesse asked, laughing hysterically again. Joey glared at him.

"For your information, he wasn't hungry," he said.

"Did he tell you that when he whipped that hot dog at you?" Aunt Becky teased. We began laughing again except for Joey.

We left the zoo and went back to the RV. Joey showered and the rest of us sat while Aunt Becky drove.

"Okay, tonight, we'll be staying at a Hilton hotel for a couple of days and then we'll be on our way to Arizona," she told us.

"Grand Canyon, here we come!" Joey exclaimed in his Yosemite Sam imitation.

I smiled as I sat snugly in the soft chair next to Denise as we drove down the semi-dark highway. I began to fall asleep as the sun went down across the sky.