No one says another word all the way back to Rudy Street. I don’t think anyone knows how to respond to Julian talking about his father.

“Catch you later, Elijah,” Bucky says to me when he drops us off at the top of Ms. Birdie’s driveway. Julian grabs his gear and hops out of the truck without saying goodbye to anyone.

“Thanks for the ride, Bucky,” I say, waving to him and Darien as they drive back toward Main Street.

I catch Julian on the porch and stop him before he goes inside. “Hey, what’s going on?”

Julian looks at me, his eyes full. “I don’t think the guys understand how important this is to me. I’ve heard what they’re saying about their fathers and grandfathers, but what about my father? Knowing that he was working to try to stop it?”

“There’s got to be a way to do both,” I say. “Give the guys what they’re looking for and honor what your dad was trying to do.”

Julian shakes his head, looking defeated. “If you have some brilliant plan, feel free to key me in.”

He pulls the front door open and tosses the camping gear into the hallway near the washing machine. I follow him, throwing my bag of extra shorts I never used onto my bed. We find Ms. Birdie in the backyard, pulling at weeds in the flower beds with a huge straw hat on her head.

“Hey, Birdie. We’re home,” Julian says, going out the screen door and letting it slam behind him. I stay on the patio.

“We missed you boys at church this morning,” she says with her eyebrows raised. “I hope you all had a nice little moment of silent prayer at the beach.”

Julian chuckles and gives her a hug. “I bet Pastor Ernie will forgive us just this once.”

“Professor Robles-Garcia has invited us to a potluck at her house tonight, boys. You ought to get your homework finished if you’ve got any. We’re heading out of here around five thirty,” she tells us. “How are you doing there, sweet Elijah?” She waves at me on the porch.

“I’m good, Ms. Birdie. Sorry about church this morning.” I wave.

“Oh.” She fusses at me. “Julian knows I’m just giving him the business. We’ll say an extra prayer over our dinner tonight. The Good Lord knows you don’t have to be in a church building on a Sunday morning to be a good person. And the Good Lord also knows that there are plenty of people with their behinds in those pews every Sunday morning that are not good people.”