When I woke up the next morning the car was already moving.

“Where are we?” I yawned and lifted myself up onto one elbow.

As soon as my head was higher than my belly I belched.

“Well good morning to you too!” Mom said with a chuckle.

“Oh sorry!” I said and then groaned, “Ugh! That tasted terrible!”

“Canada,” John answered as to where we were.

“Canada?” I nearly shouted, “What are we doing way up here?”

“You’ll see!” was all Mom would tell me.

“Hungry?” John asked.

“Starving! I could eat a whale!” I said sitting up and suddenly remembering that I was waking up wearing a diaper for the second morning in a row. Before my brain engaged my mouth opened, “I-I’m still wearing a diaper!”

“That’s my boy!” John started to say, “Sharpest hook in the tackle box!”

“You were sleeping so soundly that we didn’t want to wake you up.” Mom said, “And besides, it looked like it could hold a lot more anyway.”

“But…” I started to object, and then stopped when I realize I didn’t know what to say.

“And besides, this way we don’t have to stop until we get to where we’re going. We’ll be able to make better time.” John added.

Mom handed me a piece of cold chicken that Mrs. Doleshire had sent along with us and I sat back into the seat to sulk. We stopped about an hour later and I thought to myself, “Finally I can get out of the wet diaper and into some normal clothes!”, but that’s not exactly what happened.

“Alvin, don’t argue!” Mom said sounding tired and more than a little irritable, “Just lie down so I can change you!”

“But Mom I don’t wet when I am awake!” I was so worked up that I actually began to cry, “I don’t want to wear a diaper now! I’m not a baby!”

John returned from going pee and when I spotted him I cried out, “John tell her I don’t need…”, but I didn’t even get to finish before he snapped at me.

“Do as you’re told and don’t argue with your mother or so help me, I’ll pull you out of that car and whip your bare behind right here in front of God and everyone!” he yelled.

“NOOO!” I shouted and earned a smack across my face by Mom.

It has been so long since Mom had struck my face for any reason that it honestly scared the fight right out of me.

“Now lie down!” she ordered and I reluctantly laid myself on the seat without even taking off my seatbelt.

When she was done taping a fresh diaper onto me she tried to slide my jeans on over it, but the diaper was too thick and she couldn’t get them to zip let alone snap.

“Oh!” She said as if a light bulb had gone on above her head, “Honey, could you see if there are any larger pants in one of those bags of clothes the Dolshire’s gave us?”

John popped the last bite of his chicken leg into his mouth before getting back out of the car again. It didn’t take him long to find pants that would fit over the diaper although I had been hoping he wouldn’t find any and Mom would have to let me wear my underwear and regular jeans.

Mad doesn’t even come close to describing how I was feeling; I was so dang hot that if someone would have cracked an egg over my head it would have started sizzling. I didn’t talk to Mom and John the rest of the morning. Even when they offered me something to wash down the chicken, I didn’t reply. It wasn’t until Mom asked, “Are you done being a brat yet? Because you are welcome to stay in the car while your father and I go in there.”

Still buckled in place, I leaned forward to look out the front windshield to where Mom was pointing and I don’t think I believed what I was seeing until Mom said, “There it is; the ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum’!”

I screamed, “ARE WE GOING IN?” when I saw the giant skyscraper lying on its side with King Kong standing on it.

“We sure are!” John said sticking his finger into his right ear; he then jokingly added, “However, we don’t have to if you don’t want too.”

I started bouncing on the seat only held in place because I had on the seatbelt. “YES—YES—YES, I WANT TO GO! I WANT TO GO!!!”