Road Trip by Gary Paulsen Read Free Book Online Page B

duck pond. That’s what they call the place off the highway right outside of town where cops sit an’ wait fer fools to speed.”
    “Walked right into that one,” Dad agrees.
    We all stand and exit the bus together. The cop is the poster child for the police academy. Spic and span. I straighten up and square my shoulders as he approaches. Theo slumps against the side of the bus. Has he been wearing that baseball hat all day? I don’t think so, but now the brim is pulled down so low I can’t even catch his eye.
    Mia smiles and waves, like this might be a social call. The cop raises a hand to wave back but then tries to act as if he’s lifting his arm to gesture to Dad to move closer to him. Nice save.
    Dad walks toward the cop and Atticus follows. I suddenly realize our dog is not on a leash, nor does he have a license or ID tag on his collar. My mouth is too dry to whistle Atticus back to me. I can only hope this guy has a soft spot for dogs and won’t add an off-leash violation to our ticket.
    And I know we’re going to get a ticket by the way theofficer taps his citation book against his thigh. Dad’s gotten a ton of speeding tickets. The last one was this morning. So I should be used to the routine by now. But there’s something about a law officer walking toward us writing a ticket that puts fear into my gut.
    “Good afternoon, Officer. How fast did you clock me?” Dad asks. I wish I didn’t know that he wants to find out if he’s broken his personal record.
    The cop looks uncomfortable.
    “I don’t need independent confirmation to know that that bus was going well in excess of posted speed guidelines.”
    “Oh, well, then: How about you let me off with a warning? I’ll drive more slowly, and we can all be on our way.” Dad’s negotiating. That’s how he describes trying to hustle out of a ticket.
    “Do you have a license to drive a bus, sir?”
    “Yes, I do!” Dad pulls out his driver’s license and hands it to the cop with a big grin. “And I’ll save you looking it up on the computer: I already got a ticket for speeding today.”
    “Sir, this is not a joke. Keeping the roads safe is the duty of every driver and every police officer.”
    “Aren’t you going a
little
overboard?” Dad asks.
    “Uh … Dad?” Giving the cop a hard time? That’s the
best
idea you have right now? My head’s about to explode. I glance over at the cop and see the nameplatepinned next to his badge:
Sgt. Laurence
. I wish
everyone
wore a name tag; this is the third time today it’s come in handy.
    “Would it help if I told you I was speeding for a good reason? We’re hurrying to save a dog—a homeless puppy, actually—and staying at the speed limit isn’t getting us there as fast as we need to.” Dad holds up his phone with a picture of the puppy. Sergeant Laurence waves it away. Not a dog person. Bummer.
    “It’s dangerous. There’s a speed limit for a reason and that reason is public safety,” the sergeant says, winding up to give a lecture.
    “I’m a very safe driver,” Dad says with a straight face. I could strangle Dad right now. Or turn and start walking home. Theo looks like he’s considering it.
    “My job is keeping the roads safe, one speeder at a time. And if I happen to write the most tickets in the entire department every month, well, so be it.”
    Oh, great: Dad and the cop are both competitive.
    I catch sight of Gus walking around the cruiser, examining it. He pokes his head in the driver’s seat window and studies the dashboard. Sergeant Laurence must see me looking past him, because he turns, does a perfect double take, and hurries toward Gus.
    “You. Step away from the cruiser and produce your license.” Dad, Atticus, Mia, and I follow him toward the cop car. Theo hangs back.
    “Nicer’n I thought a cop’s ride would be,” Gus tells him. “Speedometer says this thing goes one sixty. You ever taken it that fast?”
    “Got to ninety-eight once, in pursuit, but—Just a