The Nomad
by
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Chapter One
I can’t believe how hot it is in this classroom. Thank God I only have today to get through before I’m out of school for the summer. The summer…. Wish I had a crystal ball to let me know what my mom has gotten me into. Doesn’t really seem fair that I had no say so in the whole decision process.
I think they forget that I am 16 and do have a brain that works well enough to have carried a 3.9 average through my entire sophomore year. Besides, who wants to go back to New York and spend the summer with my dad’s parents? Certainly not my dad; I heard him and Mom arguing about her agreeing to send me back for the summer. I guess it was only Grandma and Mom making the decision. That really made my old man hot under the collar and they didn’t talk for a day or so but Mom, as usual, won out. Maybe she’s right, it might be fun. They do live on a lake and there is always the car Grandma says I can have. Oh well, there goes the alarm. Lunch period, the best period of the day.
Man, I can feel the excitement in the quad area today. Looks like I’m going to have to wait in line. I don’t see any of my friends in the front of the line, where I can cut in. There’s Danny, too bad he can’t test as well as he can perform in sports.
“Hey, Danny! How’s it going?”
“Not real good, Scott. My old man is really on me about going to summer school to take as many classes as I can to keep my eligibility up for next fall and football. They’re going to screw up my whole summer with this crap.”
“Gee, I’m sorry to hear that, Danny, sounds like the pits!”
“Yeah, not like you, huh. You lucky dog, you get to go all the way to New York. No parents, no school and what’s this about some kind of car? Is it really yours or do you just get to drive it while you’re back there?”
“Who told you about that?”
“What are you talking about, the whole damn school knows. Your sister, Mickey, has been bragging to everyone from the ninth grade up.”
“That’s just great; the mouth has opened for all to hear! Hey, listen, while you’re out here with all your friends, I’m going to be stuck on some lake with two old people I don’t even know!”
Danny just looked at me and said with the quietest of voices, “Scott, I’d change places with you in a heartbeat.”
About this time, it was my turn to order lunch but for some reason I’d lost my appetite so I just grabbed a Coke and a ham and cheese sandwich and looked for a place to sit, preferably out of the sun.
“Looks like you just lost your best friend,” a female voice on my left sort of whispered.
Christ, I almost jumped out of my skin, not the coolest move to make when the most popular girl in my class and probably the whole school talks to you but at that moment I didn’t feel very cool, just in shock. Why was Amy even acknowledging my existence, let alone whispering to me?
“Why don’t we find somewhere to sit,” Amy said as she walked toward the junior class area and I followed without as much as a moment’s hesitation. “Look, here’s a great place.” We sat at one of the tree seats that were available but not without a few dirty looks saying, “What do you think you’re doing here, geek?”
“The reason I want to talk to you is that I hear you are going to the Catskill Mountains for the summer, is that correct?” I just stared at her until she snapped her fingers. “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?”
“Uh, no, where are the Cats Mountains?”
“They are in upstate New York and it’s the Catskill Mountains not Cats Mountains. What is wrong with you? You always seem to be running your mouth in history class with all the answers before anyone else has a chance. Now all you do is stare.”
All I could think of was “if you only knew what is going through this over-charged mind of mine,” but with her smart-ass remark I did get it together. I responded by telling her, “Yes, I am going to New York for the summer but haven’t got a clue as to where these mountains are.”
Amy just sat there looking at me, eating her Jell-O and acting like it was the most important thing her brain could direct her mouth to do. I almost told her where she could go but before I could she said, “I’m going to be back there for the summer also.”
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About the Book
Join Scott O’Grady when he leaves home to start the adventure of a lifetime. See how this young man fairs when he is put into a world of men and is expected to act accordingly. See what happens when he starts to meet the family he never knew existed before this summer. Be with him when his wise cracks get him into a fight he never saw coming. Stay with him as he weaves his way through the summer becoming more the young man everyone is expecting him to become. Watch as he goes from a guy who couldn’t get a date back home to a young man who is very popular with the opposite sex. Feel his pain while he learns the art of self-defense and finds out who his father was back in the sixties.
While this is going on join in all the excitement as Scott and his family start the resurrection of the legendary Nomad. See how from its resting place in the barn it starts its legend all over again. Listen to all the stories told by the men who lived them back in the sixties. Then go with almost the whole county to see a race that should have happened in 1968 but didn’t and now 18 years later it’s on.
Then as the summer draws to and end see how much Scott has grown not only in size but maturity. Which makes his family wonder how he’s going to fit in back home?
About the Author
Robert P. Bell, is currently retired from all things except writing. Since his early teens he has built and raced automobiles among other sports. He spent six years in the U.S. Navy and upon discharge he became a New York Police Officer. After that he found his career in insurance and followed that till he retired. All through these many facets of life he continued to keep his hand in boxing and automobile building and racing.