It was the following morning down at the space coast in Florida.
Tater drove his pickup truck down a street in Atlantis with his trailer full of his mower equipment. Tater had strawberry blonde hair with a reddish goatee and beer gut. He chewed tobacco behind the wheel of his pickup.
Todd sat in the passenger seat and read a book on the history of the Space Shuttle Program.
Tater glanced over at Todd and frowned. He leaned out his door window and spat chewing tobacco outside. A car headed toward him in the other lane.
A woman was behind the wheel humming along to a song on the radio. Tater's chew splattered on her front windshield. She turned on her wipers, smearing chew all over her window. She was pissed!
Tater glanced again at Todd noticing residual chew dripping off his chin.
"You know Little Tater. I have an excellent book on the fundamentals of fishing. My father gave it to me. I could get it out later tonight," he said.
"No thanks," Todd said, rolling his eyes.
"How about playing a little ball tonight? Some batting practice?" he offered.
"I'm busy all night," Todd replied, concentrating on his book.
Tater frowned. “He never wants to do anything with me!” he whispered.
It remained a quiet drive in the pickup.
Tater drove to the Magellan Middle School and pulled into the parking lot.
He drove to the front entrance, where parents dropped off their kids. Tater stopped his pickup truck at the curb near the front doors.
Todd grabbed his books and opened the door.
Fourteen-year-old Rocky Adams and fourteen-year– old Buster Wilson were nearby.
They always wore black T- shirts with black shorts.
They walked past Tater's pickup.
“Later, Little Tater," Tater said to Todd as he stepped out of his truck.
Rocky and Buster stopped, snickered, and pointed at Todd.
Todd saw Rocky and Buster and wanted to die.
"Please, dad! I hate that name!" he said, glaring at Tater.
Todd slammed the door shut. Tater felt terrible. He leaned over to the passenger window.
“Sorry, Taaaa, Todd," he said and stopped speaking.
Todd ignored Tater and ran to the front doors of the school.
Tater drove his pickup truck away, looking hurt.
Todd got to the front door with Rocky and Buster hot on his tail.
Rocky and Buster jumped between Todd and the door.
"Look, Buster, it's little Tater!" Rocky said with a chuckle.
"Why Rocky, he looks like a little nerd instead of a Tater," Buster added with a chuckle.
Other kids gathered around and looked anxious for fists to start flying in the air.
Todd got mad. "Buster, at least they don't call me stupid for flunking," Todd blurted out at Rocky and Buster. He cringed, realizing he opened up his mouth without thinking.
Buster got furious and clenched his fists, arm cocked, ready to pounce on Todd. “You’re lucky you’re on school property,” he said. “But be aware!” he added, touching his clenched fist on Todd’s nose.
Todd’s legs shook, his eyes crossed, staring at Buster’s fist touching his nose. He opened the door and rushed inside.
Inside his school, Todd ran down the hallway with Buster and Rocky hot on his tail. They screeched to a halt seeing Mr. Whipple. Mr. Whipple was the dorky school principal who stood at the other end of the hallway with his arms crossed.
"Get to your class, boys and girls!" Mr. Whipple yelled, and it echoed in the hallway.
Todd, Rocky, and Buster walked to their classroom and entered.
Later that day, Todd sat in class with Ricky to his right and Lucy Powell, a twelve-year-old cutie blonde to his left. He often glanced over at her with hearts in his eyes.
She whispered to Betty Berry, a twelve-year-old tomboy, in front of her.
The teacher was a thirty-year-old male who sat at the front desk with a flower Lei around his neck. He had his feet on his desk and read a brochure on Hawaii. This would be his summer vacation.
The clock on the wall indicated 2:50 p.m. and was moving ever so slowly, as everybody in the classroom thought.
Rocky and Buster lay their heads on their desks and slept. They barely passed this year after the second time around.
All the other students watched the clock. It crept closer to 3:00 p.m.
Ricky noticed Todd glancing at Lucy with love in his eyes. He poked Todd in the arm and motioned for him to talk to Lucy.
Todd got nervous, shook his head, and indicated there was no way he would do such a thing.
"It's now or never," Ricky said, leaning over to Todd.
Todd looked at Lucy while she doodled in her notebook. He leaned over and opened up his mouth to say something. He chickened out.
Ricky shook his head with disappointment.
The second the hands of the clock hit 3:00 p.m., the school bell immediately rang out.
The teacher shot up from his desk while all the students jumped up from their desks.
The teacher and all the students arrived at the classroom door simultaneously. The student in front of the pack opened the door. They all tried to squeeze through the opening at the same time.
The teacher pushed through the bottleneck of anxious kids and bolted out of the classroom.
He raced through the hallway.
The outside of Apollo Elementary School was quiet. A low rumble sound emitted from inside the hallways.
The front doors slammed open, and all the students raced out of the building.
"School's out! For summer!" many kids sang out, running away from the school to their summer of freedom.
Todd and Ricky ran amongst the crowd of kids and ran down the sidewalk in front of the school.
Rocky and Buster strutted not too far behind them.
The two bullies picked up their pace and ran up to Todd and Ricky. They smacked the boys upside the back of their heads as they ran past them.
Todd and Ricky got scared. They got relieved seeing Buster and Rocky run down the sidewalk.
A little while later, Todd and Ricky walked through some woods near the power plant. There was a dirt path through the woods the boys used to walk to the Kangaroo convenience store. Those trips were for sodas and other sweets. The kids littered the path with candy bar wrappings and soda cans. They tossed the evidence so their parents wouldn't know they munched down on sweets all the time.
Todd and Ricky walked down that dirt path and came upon a grass field. In the center of the field was a large oak tree with a wooden tree house painted black with a skull and crossbones. A piece of scrap wood sign hung above the door of the tree house. The sign had “Property of Buster and Rocky. Keep Out!” painted with white spray paint. A make-shift wooden ladder provided access.
Todd and Ricky spotted the tree house and picked up their speed with caution.
Rocky and Buster stepped out from behind a large pine tree by the path.
Todd and Ricky stopped dead in their tracks.
Rocky and Buster circled them like Indians circling wagons. "Well, well, it's little Tater," Buster said while he clenched his fists. "I still owe you a whopping for that comment this morning."
"Sorry, Buster. I didn't mean you're stupid for flunking twice; I meant," Todd said. His legs shook in his pants.
Buster picked Ricky up by his shirt and hung him by a rear pants belt loop on a broken pine tree branch.
Buster and Rocky closed in on Todd with clenched fists.
"Get ready for the whopping of your life!" Rocky snarled at Todd.
Betty walked down the dirt path with Lucy.
Lucy spotted Ricky hanging from the tree branch and Todd being circled by Buster and Rocky. She knew those two bullies were up to no good, and she was mad. If it was one thing that got her furious, that was a bully.
She rushed over to Buster and Rocky and immediately pulled up on their exposed underwear, giving them wedgies.
They cringed in pain while they turned around and saw Betty with dukes ready to fight.
"I whipped you once. I can whip you both again. It's your choice, Buster and Rocky," Betty threatened with her white-knuckled fist, ready to pounce on them.
Rocky and Buster looked fearful of Betty.
"Sorry. We don't beat up girls," Buster said as an excuse.
They made a quick beeline to their tree house.
Betty and Lucy looked at Todd, who looked scared to death. They noticed the huge wet spot in the crotch of his pants.
The girls chuckled and walked away down the dirt path.
Todd cringed. Something didn't feel right. He glanced down at his crotch and noticed his huge wet stain. He turned a bright shade of red, watching Lucy and Betty walk down the path, still chuckling. He knew they knew.
A crack sound. Ricky’s tree branch snapped, and he slammed hard into the ground. He got up in a little bit of pain and saw Todd's wet spot. He felt sorry for his best friend.
"Lucy will never like me now. She's gonna think I'm a pee in your pants coward," Todd said. He hung his head down in shame. ”I am such a coward," he added, staring down at the dirt.
Ricky placed his arm around Todd's shoulder.
He walked Todd away. Ricky tripped over that broken tree branch. He fell, landing face-first into the dirt.
From their tree house, Rocky and Buster laughed at the sight of Ricky and his dirt-covered face.
Todd helped Ricky up to his feet.
"Let's go land on the Moon. That'll make you forget your troubles," Ricky said.
"Naw, I'm going to go home. We'll play later," said Todd.
Todd and Ricky went their separate ways home through the woods.
Inside Todd's home, he rushed into his bedroom and slammed his door shut. He changed his pants and sat on his bed and pouted. He prayed Lucy would forget about this whole incident when the new school year started.
Later that night, at Todd's home, he sat depressed at the dining room table. At the table were Lilly, Tater, and Christina, his fourteen-year-old sister. Christina had a mouth full of shiny braces.
They ate a steak dinner with mashed potatoes and corn and drank sweet tea from Publix.
Todd picked at his steak with his fork.
Lilly noticed and was concerned. "What's the matter, sweetie?"
Todd shrugged his shoulders.
Christina got an evil smirk. "I heard he peed his pants in front of Lucy. The love of his life!" she blurted out. She blew goofy kisses at Todd.
He shrunk deeper in his chair, still embarrassed of his earlier behavior.
Tater looked ashamed of Todd. "How did this happen?"
Todd remained silent.
Christina squirmed in her seat as she couldn't resist blabbing again. "Betty Berry saved Todd from a beating by two bullies," she cried. She followed by a huge grin, proud she squealed on her brother.
Tater looked over at his son. "Todd, you need to learn to stick up for yourself. Want me to teach you some of my fancy boxing moves?" Tater said, boxing the air. He punched his glass of ice tea, spilling it on the table.
Lilly frowned at Tater, who immediately used his napkin to soak up the spill.
Todd picked at his steak on his plate and stared at it.
Lilly felt sorry for Todd. She gave Christina a stern look of disapproval for her actions.
Christina could care less, as she loved picking on her little brother.
"I know what will cheer you up, Todd," Lilly said. She got up from the table and walked out of the living room.
Todd looked curious about what she was going to do.
Meanwhile, Ricky ate dinner with Louie, his thirty– year-old father, and Rose, his thirty-year-old mother.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I got that letter I was expecting, and I have some great news for you, Ricky," said Louie with a huge grin.
Ricky's eyes lit up. "I'm going to Space camp?" he said with sparkles in his eyes.
"Oh no, you got accepted into the Little Harvard Prep school in Melbourne. You're starting this fall," Louie replied.
Ricky sank in his chair over that news. "But, I want to," he said.
"Yes! You want to be a dentist and take over my practice," Louie said, interrupting Ricky.
"No!"
“Sorry, son. But you'll be thirteen, and you need to stop those foolish dreams of going into space. Being a dentist is our family tradition."
Ricky sank lower in his chair, wanting to cry.
The telephone rang from the kitchen.
Rose got up from the table and went into the kitchen. Ricky picked at his food.
Rose came back and sat down at the table.
"Want to spend the night at Todd's?"
Ricky's eyes lit up with joy.
Back up in space, the Lunar Module orbited Earth with thousands of space junk attached. It grew and was eight miles long and about seventy feet thick.
A tracking station was on the top of a wooded mountain in the Colorado Rockies. Its control room was buried underground.
Its primary function was to track all the space debris that orbited around Earth. It was part of the Space Spy Agency, a secret division of the Department of Defense.
Inside the room hung a "The Space Spy Agency – Peek A Boo We See You Room" sign on the rear wall.
In the room were consoles where men and women monitored radar screens for the space above Earth. And if the truth got out to the media, they also could spy on anybody down on Earth. They used their secret Peek A Boo We See You satellite launched three years ago. They launched their You Can Run, But You Can't Hide satellite as a backup two years ago.
Herbert Johnson was a thirty-year-old engineer that worked at his console. He was bored and propped his chin in his hands, glancing at his radar screen. Everything was nominal as usual. His eyelids drooped shut. He fell asleep.
A beep and another beep sounded from his console, causing his one arm to give out. His forehead slammed hard into the console. He woke up and glanced at the monitor rubbing his painful forehead. His eyes widened in shock.
"Wilbur!" he cried out, staring at his screen.
Wilbur Wilfred, a nerdy fifty-four-year-old man,
rushed up to Johnson with a bottle of Maalox in his hand. He was the Chief and a nervous fellow who worried too much. That's why he drank Maalox to soothe his upset stomach.
"What's wrong, Johnson?" asked Wilbur.
Johnson pointed at his radar screen, and Wilbur saw a small green blob around a green Earth symbol. "I've never seen this before," Johnson said, concerned.
Wilbur got a sour look on his face. He rubbed his belly. He opened up his Maalox bottle and took a swig. "Keep an eye on it and give me periodic updates," he replied; he rushed away, scared.
Johnson stared at the green blob on his radar screen. He was no longer bored.
It was later that evening at Todd's home, and the doorbell to Todd's house rang.
Tater walked over and opened his front door. Ricky entered with a sad face, his sleeping bag and backpack in hand. Louie stood on the front stoop with a sad face.
Ricky moped down the hallway.
Tater looked concerned. “What’s wrong, Louie?"
"He doesn't want to grow up and be a dentist and take over my practice," Louie said.
"I know that look. Little Tater, I mean, Todd, doesn't want to go to business school. Then afterward, he could help expand my business. Can you imagine having lawn services all over the state of Florida? I could be the grass assassin king of the entire state," Tater said with dreams in his eyes.
"Space travel is such a huge waste of money. We need to spend money fixing up the planet," Louie said.
"You know it," Tater nodded in agreement, as he was still bitter over losing his job at the space center seven years ago.
Ricky moped into Todd's bedroom. Todd sat on his bed and still pouted from the earlier confrontation with Buster and Rocky.
Ricky went inside the cardboard spaceship. He set his sleeping bag on the floor next to Todd's sleeping bag.
Todd entered the cardboard spaceship, and they both sat down on top of their sleeping bags.
On TV was the "Be An Astronaut" logo for another video game.
"My father will put me in some dumb private school this fall. He still wants me to be a dentist," Ricky said.
"My father still wants me to help him cut grass for the rest of my life."
"I don't want to work in people's spit all day!" Ricky said.
"Mowing over dog poop is no fun either!" Todd added.
Ricky and Todd looked at the TV screen.
"Let's watch the Right Stuff ? It's on channel thirty- five in a few minutes," Todd said.
“Why not. I love that movie."
Todd picked up the game controller and pressed a button.
On TV, the game went off, and a commercial appeared with a Disc Jockey from "The Beach" radio station.
"To celebrate the reopening of Space Camp, our radio station, The Beach, is having a contest. The winner wins a free trip for two at Space Camp near the Kennedy Space Center," the Disc Jockey said from the TV.
Todd and Ricky craned their necks at the TV, interested in this golden opportunity.
"This also includes free astronaut training for two. How do you ask? By being the first caller to answer two questions about the Apollo Moon landings. Listen tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. Call One Eight Hundred The Moon," the Disc Jockey said.
Todd and Ricky looked at each other. They rushed out of the rocket ship.
Todd and Ricky rushed over and sat at his computer. He opened up NASA's website and found information on the Apollo program. They studied the computer while scrolling through information on the Apollo Moon landings.
They stayed up all night studying information on the Apollo missions. They used the Internet and Todd's space books.
It was five in the morning, and they turned on the Star Wars movie. It wasn't long before Todd and Ricky fell sound asleep.
Forty minutes had passed.
Lilly and Tater entered Todd's bedroom in their pajamas as the movie woke them up.
"Those boys can sleep through a tornado," Tater said.
Lilly turned off his DVD player and his TV. She walked over and gave Todd and Ricky a kiss on their cheeks.
Lilly and Tater left his bedroom.