How to Ruin a Summer Vacation (Ruined Series #1) Read Free Page B

walk twelve steps before we're there.
    "Come with me while I get a cart," Ron orders.
    "I'll just wait here," I say, because I want him to know I refuse to take parental orders from him.
    He crosses his arms across his chest. "Amy, with the drama you just created back there I'm not about to play the trusting fadder right now."
    I'm on a roll and can't resist. "You haven't been good at playing the loving fadder, either," I say, the words rolling off my tongue as if someone else is making me say them. "What kind of fadder can you play, Ron? You know, so I can recognize it when I see it."
    Ron doesn't show anger too often, but even in the small amount of time I've spent with him I know by the sounds he makes or the change in his breathing patterns when something gets in his craw.
    "Don't think you're too old to get punished by me, young lady."
    I have my famous sneer ready. "Get a clue, Daddy Dearest. Being here with you is punishment enough."
    21
    I'm not usually this rude, truly I'm not. But my resentment toward Ron and insecurity about his fatherly love makes me act bitchy. I'm not even aware of it half the time. I guess if I'm rude to him, I'm giving him a reason not to love me.
    Breathing pattern change. "Wait. Here. Or. Else," he says.
    He stalks off, but I can't just stand here. I scan the airport and my eyes focus on the one thing most teenagers can't resist.
    A Coke machine. (Insert harp music here, because that's what's playing inside my head.)
    I walk through the crowd as if in a trance. Cold Cokes are calling out to me, "Amy, Amy, Amy. I know you're hot and cranky. Amy, Amy, Amy. I know you're sweating like a disgusting pig. Amy, Amy, Amy. I'll solve all of your problems."
    I touch the Coke machine and immediately feel refreshed. I get ready to put my money in the inviting slot and for the first time in twenty-four hours I feel a smile coming on. It's comforting to know even in the Middle East Coke is available. Then I look at the price. My Coke addiction is about to cost me a sizeable amount of cash.
    My mouth goes wide and I give a little shriek. "Seven dollars and eighty cents? That's robbery!"
    "That's the price in shekels," a mother with two children hanging on her says in an Israeli accent. "Seven shekels and eighty ah-goo-roat."
    22
    "Shekels? Ah-goo-roat?" I don't have shekels. And I sure as hell don't have ah-goo-roats. Or goats if that's what she'd said.
    I only have American dollars, but I find a sign that indicates a bank is in the airport. I follow the sign, heading straight for the bank. It's at the other end of the terminal. If I hurry, Ron won't even notice I'm gone.
    But as I get to the bank, there's a line. To top it off, the biggest group of slowpokes are in front of me. I should go back to the baggage claim area, but I don't want to lose my spot in line. If these people would just move a little faster, I'd have my shekels and ah-goo-roats for my Coke in no time.
    When I look at my watch, I wonder how many minutes I've been waiting. Ten? Twenty? It's so easy to lose track.
    Finally, I'm next. I take a twenty-dollar bill out of my wallet and hand it to the banker dude.
    "Passport?" he says.
    "I just want to exchange money," I clarify.
    "Yes, I understand. I need your passport number for the exchange."
    "My ...dad has it," I say. Ron took it after it was stamped so it wouldn't get lost. "Can't you just give me shekels without it?"
    "No. Next," he says, then hands me my twenty back and looks behind me for the next customer.
    My mouth drops open. I wasted all this time for a Coke and I still can't get one. Unbelievable.
    23
    I head back to the baggage claim and spot Ron. He's talking to two soldiers and when he looks my way, my first instinct is to run in the opposite direction. I did nothing wrong. Yes, he told me to stay put, but I swear I thought I'd only be gone a minute.
    Call it teenage intuition, but somehow I don't think Ron will listen to my explanation with an open mind. He tells the soldiers