Chapter 35: The Greyhound
On the last day of the term, Percy and I shoved our clothes into a pair of suitcases.
The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like us, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. We were a nobody, from a family of nobodies.
They asked us what we'd be doing this summer and We told them we were going back to the city. "Oh," one of the guys said. That's cool."
They went back to their conversation as if we'd never existed.
The only person we'd dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover but as it turned out, We didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as we had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.
During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to Percy that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, Percy always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.
Finally Percy couldn't stand it anymore.
He said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"
Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-----what do you mean?"
Percy confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.
Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"
"Oh . . . not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"
Chapter 36: The Greyhound Breakdown.
"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."
His ears turned pink.
From his pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you both need me this summer."
The card was in fancy script, it read something like:
Grover Underwood
Keeper
Half-Blood Hill
Long Island, New York
(800) 009-0009
"What's Half-----"
"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um . . . summer address."
Percy's heart sank. Grover had a summer home. Percy never considered that his family might be as rich as others at Yancy.
"Okay," Percy said glumly. "So, like, if we wanted to come visit your mansion."
He nodded. Or . . . or if you guys need me."
"Why would we need you?"
It came out harsher than We meant it to.
Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, James, the truth is I----- I kind of have to protect you guys."
We both stared at him.
All year long, we'd gotten into fights, keeping bullies away from him. We'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without us. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended us.
"Grover," We said, "what exactly are you protecting us from?"
There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.
After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover, Percy and I filed outside with everybody else.