Chapter Nine

Kimmy

Tuesday

We're driving around the great state of Minnesota (Finally!) on our way to see my great-grandmother who lives in Bloomington. I'm am completely bored out of my mind. Mr. T is actually trying to start some kind of sing-along called "Sweet Betsy From Pike" or something like that. I mean, who wants to hear about some chick who climbed a mountain with her boyfriend and a bunch of animals. Really, Mr. T? You know the most dorkiest songs ever written by man. D.J, no offense to your dad. I know you love him, but come on...

Sorry you're so bored, Kimmy. I love my dad, but he can be annoying...like right now...

Well...that's okay. I'm not going to let your dad's attempt at singing ruin my day. I'm seeing my great-grammy!

Speaking of that, Kimmy. What's your great-grandmother like?

You'll see, D.J. You'll see...

"Did you ever hear tell of Sweet Betsy from Pike, who crossed the high mountain with her lover Ike! With two yoke of cattle and an old yeller dog. A tall shanghai rooster and one spotted hog..." Mr. T continued singing. He'd been singing for the same lyrics for fifteen minutes, but it seemed like eternity. It was a pure nightmare. He was ruining my vacation.

"AGH! I can't take it anymore! Please stop singing or I'll shoot myself!" I shouted.

Stephanie looked amused. "Thank you!" she replied. I gave her an ugly look.

Mr. T smiled. "Am I annoying you, Kimmy?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Good. Then I'll keep singing then," he replied.

"Good one, Dad," Stephanie replied.

"Well, isn't he annoying you, too?" I asked.

Stephanie grinned. "Too bad for you, Kimmy. You haven't been on enough of the family's car trips. Whenever Dad starts singing, D.J, Vicky and I just whip out the ol' earplugs. I noticed you don't have any. Sucks to be you, doesn't it?"

Stephanie smirked. "And don't even think of stealing mine," she added, sticking the earplugs back into her ears and picking up her copy of Tiger Beat magazine.

I looked at D.J. She had a pair of earplugs along with Vicky. Steve was listening to his CD player with the volume turned up.

Someone save me! I thought. I quickly covered my ears with my hands, trying to drown out the noise of Stringbean. I remember my family's car trips. We always had singalongs, but none as droning and annoying and monotous at the same time. Mr T. just wouldn't shut up.

I ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. The door drowned some of the noise, but that suited me just fine. I put the toilet lid down over the bowl and sat on it, moaning to myself. Why did I ever agree to go on this trip? I thought.

I went for a lot of reasons. One, 'cause I love D.J. Two, to annoy Stringbean and Miss Squirt. And three, my great-grandma.

Just thinking about my great-grandma, it dawned on me that we were close to Bloomington. I had to call her!

I dug into my pocket and fished out my cell phone. I quickly dialed the number and waited for her to pick up.

Ten rings later, she finally picked up. "Hello?" she asked.

My great-grandma has a pleasant voice, from what I remember. The last I saw her was five years ago at a Gibbler reunion. I remember her yummy fish, corn, cucumber and clam chowder she brought.

"Hi! Great-Grandma Carriee? Remember me? Kimmy? Your great-granddaughter on my dad's side? The Gibblers?"

"Oh! I remember you! I remember all the chowder you ate at the reunion! You ate so much of it, it made you sick! How are you?"

"I'm fine. It's really great to hear from you! Listen, we're on our way to your house. I gave Mr T the directions to your place. We only have a few more miles to go and then we'll be in Bloomington on the way your place!"

Great-Grandma Carriee sighed. "Well...Kimmy. I know I should have called you sooner, but there's been a change of plans."

"Huh?" I asked, confused. "Whadda mean?"

"I'm not at my house. I'm at the Mall of America. I drove to the mall to look for some cute oven mitts to put in my kitchen...but then I got hooked on this mall! Kimmy, have you been to the Mall of America before?"

"Um...no," I replied, frowning. Quite frankly, I didn't even want to go to another mall. Throught our trip, we'd been stopping in mall after mall. And I love malls, but I wasn't in the mood to go walking through another one. Listening to loud, bland, and corny music, watching little kids throw temper tantrums and walking...walking...and more walking.

I didn't really want to hurt my great-grandmother's feelings, either. So I put on a false, cheery tone in my voice and said," Uh...sure. Can't wait." I gave a reminder to myself to kick myself for lying.

"Great! Meet me at the front entrance at the mall. I'll be wearing a bright red fedora when you see me, okay? I'll see you there!"

"Okay. See you there!" I replied.

I groaned and walked out of the bathroom. Mr. T was in the middle of singing 'Polly Wolly Doodle' until I tapped his shoulder.

"Kimmy, I'm-" he began.

"There's been a change of plans, Mr. T," I replied.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I just called my great-grandma. We're not meeting her at her house. We're meeting her at the Mall of America. She's waiting for us there"

"WHOA! Did I just hear you say The Mall of America?" Stephanie replied. "We're going to the Mall of America?"

"Yeah. So what?" I asked.

"So what? So what? Kimmy, do you even know about The Mall of America?"

I stood and thought about it. "Um...It belongs to the government?" I guessed.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "You can besuch a dimwit sometimes," she replied. "No. The Mall of America is the biggest mall in all of the US! It's like...the size of the Louisiana Superdome. It's got 520 stores, a movie theater, a high school,a wedding chapel,a university, an aquarium, a amusement park and plenty of nightclubs like Planet Hollywood. We have to go there!"

Vicky looked excited. "Oooh! Stephanie, you've been reading up on the Mall of America, too? They have a Bubba Gump Shrimp Resturant there."

"You know, I can't believe they have 520 stores there and all that other stuff. We'll find everything we need! Dad, you can probably find some good cleaning utensils around," Stephanie replied.

Mr. T grinned and nodded in agreement. "Well, who am I to ruin a good shopping trip? Okay, we're going to the Mall of America!"

We drove on. About an hour later, Mr. T followed the exit signs that pointed directly to Bloomington and The Mall of America. After we exited off the highway, we followed more signs to the mall. And then...

"There it is! I see it! Look!" D.J shouted.

What D.J. was pointing to was actually a bunch of flags. The flags were surrounded by 3D statues of each letter spelled 'T-H-E M-A-L-L-O-F-A-M-E-R-I-C-A'.

And sure enough, right in front of the mall was my great-grandmother. She was the only one wearing the fedora. She was also wearing a bright yellow tunic, tight red capri pants, black high heels and had her hair all frizzy. She reminded me of...me. I grinned. I think she could have left the tunic at home though, I thought.

"Wow, Kimmy...your great-grandmother looks..." Vicky began.

"She's a great mess," Stephanie remarked.

"Stephanie, don't make any more rude comments about Kimmy's great-grandmother. She may wear bright, gaudy clothes but..." Stringbean replied. He cut himself off when Great-Grandma Carriee ran to the RV.

"OOOOH! KI-MMMMM-Y!" She shrieked, scaring a few of the people coming and going out of the mall.

I opened the door of the RV and threw my arms around her. "OMIGOD!" I squealed. Great-Grandma Carriee beamed. "Kimberly Louise Gibbler, it's been five years since I last saw you. You look stunning!"

"Stunning?" I heard Stephanie mutter. I gave her a quick fleeting stare and then turned back to Great-Grandma Carriee.

"Great-Grandma Carriee, I'd like to introduce you to my second family. This is my best friend D.J," I replied, pointing to D.J. "Um...Stringbean, his wife, Squirt, and D.J's boy-"

"It's nice to meet you Mrs...Ms..." D.J replied, looking stumped on what to call my great-grandmother.

"Please. Just call me Carriee. My name is Carriee Lucille-Elizabeth-Marie Gibbler. My name has an extra e in in it. My parents meant to name me 'Carrie' but my father didn't know how to spell it, so he just assumed there were two e's in the name. Anyway, I'm sorry. I didn't catch your real names," she said, smiling.

D.J smiled back. "Well...Carriee. I'm Donna Jo Tanner, but everyone calls me D.J for short. This is my younger sister Stephanie, my boyfriend Steve Hale, my dad Danny and his fiance Vicky Larson. We have more family members, but they're down in the southern region of the United States. We're all going to Maine to see my dad's cousin."

Great-Grandma Carriee shook hands with everyone. "Nice to meet everyone. Nice to meet you, D.J. I remember Kimmy mentioning you at the reunion five years ago. You seem like a fun person."

D.J. shrugged. "Thanks," she said shyly.

Great-Grandma Carriee beamed. "Well, I assume everyone wants to go into the mall, right? Well, let's go in. But be careful. This mall is like nothing you've ever seen before!"

Great-Grandma Carriee held the door open for us and into the mall we went.

My first thought when I saw it was: Baby, check out this baby! The second I stepped in, it looked like the mall would never end. There had to be thousands of people in the place.

Stephanie jumped up and down. "Let's go to Camp Snoopy!" She replied.

"Let's go to Underwater Adventures!" D.J replied.

"No-let's go to Bubba Gump Shrimp!" Vicky replied.

"Let's shop!" Stringbean replied.

"I want to eat first," Steve replied.

"Well, you know, that's a good idea. I haven't eaten anything since I've been here. What does everyone want to eat? There are at least 30 food places here or more," Great-Grandma Carriee replied.

Mr. T looked around in awe around the whole mall. "Wow. A person could easily fit at least ten malls in this place," he replied.

Great-Grandma Carriee clapped her hands together in anticpation. "Well, I suppose we start exploring the great Mall of America. Should we split up?"

"Yes!" Everyone replied.

"Okay...If we're going to do that, then I'll go with Vicky and the rest of you can split up anyway you want." Mr.T suggested.

"I'll go with Steve," D.J replied, grabbing her boyfriend's hand.

"I want to go with Deej," Stephanie said.

"But-" I began to protest. For some reason, I was hoping D.J would want to come with me. After all, I am her best friend.

Great-Grandma Carriee grabbed my shoulder. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, Kimmy. When does everyone want to meet back?"

Mr. T looked at his watch. "I guess four hours is enough time. After all, this is a huge mall. Carriee, where do you want to meet?"

"How about at the end of the day, we go to...Camp Snoopy? Is that okay?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Okay, everyone. Meet at Camp Snoopy in four hours, alright?" Mr. T said.

"Got it, Dad. See you guys later! Bye, Kimmy. Have fun with your great-grandmother," D.J said, waving as she, Steve and Stephanie disappeared in with the crowd of shoppers and tourists.

I turned around. Mr. T and Vicky were also gone. It was just me and my great-grandmother.

"Kimmy, where do you want to go first?" Great-Grandma Carriee asked.

"Uh...Anywhere you want to go," I replied, stumped. There were 520 places here, so how could I possibly choose?

"Well...We can go shopping. You have any money?"

"I brought plenty of money, but I don't know where to go. Have any suggestions?"

Great-Grandma Carriee clapped her hands. "Let's go see if they have any fish, corn, cucumber and clam chowder at any of these food places."

"I have a better idea," I replied, my mouth watering. "Let's go buy someclam chowder, find some place that has corn, buy a salad with cucumbers and buy fish chowder and mix it up. I don't think they sell that speciality here," I replied.

Great-Grandma Carriee smiled. "Good idea, Kimmy. Well, let's go if you're hungry," she said.

Finally feeling more comfortable, I put my arm around Great-Grandma Carriee and let her guide me through The Mall of America.

"Man, I'm stuffed," I replied.

"Me, too. That was scrumptious," Great-Grandma Carriee replied, putting a hand to her belly.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked.

Great-Grandma moaned. "Kimmy, there are so many things to do inside this mall, I don't know what I want to do. What do you want to do?"

"You mean I can choose?" I asked.

"Of course. You're my great-granddaughter. It would be a crime not to let you decide something for us to do."

I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. "Let's go to Jillian's for some bowling!" I exclaimed.

"Ah...I'm a pretty good bowler. Back in my youth, when I was your age, I even had the boys beat. I was known as 'The Queen Pin'!

I laughed and put an arm around Great-Grandma Carriee. "Let's go. Maybe you can teach me some special ways to bowl."

Great-Grandma Carriee smiled. "You got it," she said.

Great-Grandma Carriee and I spent the whole day shopping, taking a quick hour to watch a movie, duck inside the aquarium, the Lego Center, and Planet Hollywood. And we still had time to talk. We talked about my family, D.J, school, my boyfriend Duane, and the trip. When I told her about our encounter with a bear in Wyoming, she laughed so hard, I thought she would wet herself.

"Kimmy, it's just so good to see you again. Your sense of humor hasn't changed the last time I saw you," she said to me on our way to Camp Snoopy.

"I get it mostly from my dad. But D.J's friend, Joey Gladstone...now he's a riot. It's too bad you couldn't get the chance to meet him. He's funny."

We stood at the entrance way to Camp Snoopy, waiting for the others.

"Kimmy, after Camp Snoopy, you'll be leaving. I probably won't get the chance to say this to you, but I really love you. I know we've only seen other twice, but you're still my great-granddaughter and I'll always love you. You've made me very happy today. Someone my age, I don't get very many visitors and friends or whatnot. I'm glad I got the chance to see you. You've made my day."

I stood, both stunned and happy at my great-grandmother's revealations. I impulsely hugged her and she hugged back.

"Oh, this is cute," A voice replied, sounding familar. It was D.J's voice. D.J had returned with Stephanie and Steve.

"You guys have fun?" I asked.

"Yeah, we did. But you should have seen Steph. She was a total wacko," D.J said.

"I was a nice wacko," Stephanie corrected.

"Whatever. Well...Dad and Vicky called me from Vicky's cell phone. They won't be joining us for Camp Snoopy. They're at Bubba Gump Shrimp, eating."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Steve exclaimed, grabbing D.J's hand.

"Wait for me!" Stephanie yelled, running after them.

I shrugged at Great-Grandma Carriee, who just laughed. The two of walked into the amusement park.

Inside thesuper-largeamusement park,all of us rode all the roller coasters and the thrill rides. Great-Grandma Carriee and I rode the fastest roller coaster together. The two of us laughed. I was a little shocked that someone her age could even ride a roller coaster.

After the park day was over, we all headed back to the RV, where Stringbean and his squeeze were waiting for us.

As everyone said good-bye and a quick thank you to Great-Grandma Carriee, I gave her a hug and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks for spending the day with me," I said to her.

"No prob. Just remember to keep in touch with me now that we're in much better touch. I love you,"

"Me, too," I said.

I smiled at her before walking back inside the RV. Inside, everyone was talking about their day at The Mall of America.

"I've seen such a huge mall! Can we go back?" Stephanie asked Mr. T.

"Next trip, we'll see," he replied.

"So many places to eat! I've never seen so many eateries in all my life!" Steve exclaimed.

"Yeah, you must have spent at least half of your spending money on food," D.J quipped, giggling.

Steve grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Bubba Gump Shrimp was a dream! So much memorbilila from Forrest Gump," Vicky replied.

"They had a six-foot cardboard figure of Forrest inside the place. I took so many pictures," Mr. T said.

I didn't join into the conversation for once. I was too busy waving to Great-Grandma Carriee as we drove away from the parking lot back onto the main road. Her figure got smaller and smaller the more we drove away. And the more we drove further onwards, the more I felt I was going to miss her.