Roberto & Me by Dan Gutman

bigger problems in the world.
    I had never taken hippies seriously before. It had never occurred to me that they were anything more than silly cartoon characters who said “Groovy” all the time and walked around with peace signs, flowers, and funny clothes. To me and my friends, they were a joke, a Halloween costume.
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    As I was thinking about all these things, I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, Wendy was shaking me awake.
    â€œRise and shine!”
    I don’t know how long I slept. It had to have been a long time, because it was dark out. Peter was in the driver’s seat now, so they must have made a stop somewhere. Sunrise was still asleep, her head resting on my shoulder. It felt nice.
    The van pulled to a stop.
    â€œWhere are we?” Sunrise asked, stretching.
    â€œAt a rest stop outside Cincinnati,” Peter said. “We’ve been on the road for 11 hours.”
    We used the restrooms, and I asked Peter if hewould be able to drop me off at Crosley Field, where the Cincinnati Reds played. He said he didn’t know where it was.
    â€œDo you have a GPS?” I asked.
    â€œA what?”
    â€œForget it.”
    We piled back into the van, and Sunrise was able to direct us to Crosley Field, which was only about a mile from her house.
    â€œCan we drive you home?” Wendy asked Sunrise.
    â€œI’m not sure I’m ready to face my parents yet,” she said. “Can I hang with you a while, Stosh? Until I get my courage up?”
    â€œSure,” I said.
    I saw the big CROSLEY sign, and we pulled over in front of the ballpark. Peter and Wendy got out of the van to say good-bye.
    â€œLast chance,” Peter said. “You can still come with us to Frisco.”
    I shook my head. “Thanks, anyway,” I said.
    Peter and Wendy hugged both of us. They had been incredibly nice, driving us all the way to Cincinnati.
    â€œHey, man, I gotta ask you,” Peter said, “if you’ve really seen the future, what’s gonna happen? Did we change the world? Will the war end? Did all our protesting make a difference?”
    I had been expecting him to ask that question. I wasn’t sure how to answer it. Of course the world changed since 1969. A lot. But I’m no genius. I didn’tknow what caused the changes. Maybe hippies like Peter and Wendy were a part of it. Or maybe the changes would have taken place no matter what they did. Who really knows for sure?
    â€œThe war is going to end,” I finally told them. “President Nixon is going to resign. The women’s movement and gay rights movement are going to really take off. And America is going to elect a black president in 2008.”
    â€œNo way!” Peter said. “Far-out!”
    Peter and Wendy were ecstatic, jumping up and down and marveling at how their generation was actually going to make a difference and change the world for the better.
    I went to give Peter a high five and he went to give me a low five. We met somewhere in the middle.
    â€œI bet after this the government will never get away with starting a senseless, undeclared war against some country that was no threat to us,” Peter said. “No way America is gonna make that mistake again, huh?”
    â€œUh…” I said, “listen, I gotta go find Roberto Clemente.”
    â€œPeace, man,” Peter said, giving me a bear hug.
    â€œHey, Stosh, I want to give you something,” Wendy told me. She climbed in the van and came back out with a string of love beads and a headband. Wendy put the beads around my neck while Sunrise adjusted the headband.
    â€œThere,” Wendy said. “Now you look like one of us.”
    I thanked them, and Sunrise took my hand. We were walking away from the van when Peter rolled down the window.
    â€œHey, one more thing,” he called out. “If you really know the future, who’s gonna win the World Series this year?”
    The 1969 World