Boys Camp

by Kitson Jazynka

  “Okay, now let’s move these kayaks over to the put-in. One person at the end of each boat to help carry,” said Jamie. As the boys moved each of the hollow, plastic boats closer to the water, Jamie asked, “Who here has paddled before—anybody? Canoe? Kayak? Rowboat? Crew shell? Gondola? Punt?”

  “I went canoeing last summer,” said Yasu.

  “I went bird watching in an inflatable kayak last year with my granddad,” said Nate.

  “I paddled a rowboat in a pond once,” said Vik.

  They looked at Zee. “Paddle ball?” joked Zee. “Does that count? That’s a kind of paddling, right? How about Ping-Pong? I’m an ace with a Ping-Pong paddle.”

  “Not quite the same thing,” said Jamie, chuckling. “For one thing, the kayak paddle is double-ended. You hold the kayak paddle with your hands about shoulder-width apart.” She demonstrated, holding the paddle level in front of her, elbows bent. Then she twisted at the waist to show how to paddle left and then right. “Okay, Yasu. Let’s get you in first.”

  Jamie and Yasu each grabbed one end of the lime-green kayak and lugged it to the water. Jamie made a spinning motion with her pointer finger and they turned the boat around, facing back-ward. “Yep, you go in backward,” she said. With his paddle in one hand, Yasu stepped into the cockpit, sat on the seat, and tucked his legs into the hollow space in front of him.

  “Piece of cake,” Yasu crowed.

  “Good,” said Jamie. “Easy does it.”

  The kayak sat with its back end in the rippling water. Jamie bent down and, with one scraping heave, shoved Yasu and his kayak into the water.

  “Anchors away!” Yasu yelled. Afloat with the lake at his back, he tried to balance the double-ended paddle across the opening in the cockpit. He squirmed a bit, rocking the boat, and then righted himself.

  “Bon voyage!” called Zee, waving exuberantly. “Later, gator.”

  “Okay, funnyman,” said Jamie. “Just for that, you’re next.” With two hands, Jamie grabbed an apple-red boat and put it in the same position that Yasu’s boat had been a minute earlier.

  “Aye, aye, captain,” said Zee, saluting. He stepped right up and put one foot into the cockpit. Then he reached down to hold on to the side of the boat while he put in his other foot. The kayak wobbled, but he sat down quickly so it didn’t tip him out.

  “Just slide forward,” said Jamie, smiling. She stood above Zee. “You got it.”

  The rest of the boys launched in quick succession while Zee steadied himself. He quickly learned that if he leaned a little too much to one side, the boat tipped. Too much paddling on the other side, and the kayak veered straight into someone else’s boat. Wham! Soon, of course, with all the kayaks in the water, there was a cacophony of crashing and splashing and paddles whacking against one another as the boys shouted and cheered.

  “Kai-yi-yi-yakkety!” hollered Zee louder than anyone else.

  “Settle down, kayakers,” said Jamie. “Follow me.” She got into her own kayak and then taught the boys to paddle forward, backward, stop, and turn both ways.

  It was fun. Zee was sorry when Jamie called out, “Land ho! All ashore that’s going ashore,” and the boys raced back to the shallow water, climbed out of their kayaks, and then carried them back to the truck.

  “See you tomorrow,” said Jamie.

  Zee led everyone to lunch, singing:

  Row, row, row your boat,

  Gently on the lake,

  Cabin Birchers kayak great.

  It’s a piece of cake.

  Chapter Six

  Later that afternoon, Zee found Will in the wood shop. The room was cool, dark, and dusty, and it smelled of sawdust and turpentine. As Zee’s eyes adjusted, he could see the work tables that lined the walls. Woodworking tools hung from a large pegboard. A vice was mounted on the far table where Will was setting his Ping-Pong paddle to dry after gluing the rubber pad back onto the wood.

  Will looked up as Zee came in.

  “Hey,” said Zee.

  “Hey,” said Will.

  Zee felt around on the shelf for the block he was carving to make a life-sized wolf track print. He had started by sketching a wolf print on the wood, measuring it to be sure that it was the same size as a real wolf print, which a website he’d checked out before coming to camp told him was about four inches across and five inches long. He’d drawn the four paw pads with blunt claws, just like a real wolf’s print would look from the bottom, including the pad beneath the toes that was shaped something like an upside-down heart. Then he’d carved around the edge of the sketch so that the print stood out.

  “What’s your plan for that again?” Will asked, nodding toward the block.

  “I’m gonna press it in wet dirt and make wolf tracks to fool people,” said Zee. “That’s the goal, anyway.”

  “Good one,” said Will approvingly. “This is Camp Wolf Trail, after all!”

  “You bet,” said Zee.

  “So, how was kayaking?” asked Will.

  “Good,” said Zee. “Everybody liked it.”

  “Hunh,” Will snorted. “Not everybody, because I wasn’t there.”

  “I meant everybody from Birch,” said Zee. “We’re pumped for our trip. Gotta pass the test first, though, to be allowed to go on the trip.”

  “Test?” asked Will.

  “A kayak test,” said Zee. “Pass it oar else. O-A-R. Get it?”

  Will smacked his Ping-Pong paddle against his forehead. “Brainstorm!” he said. “I’ve got a great idea. Don’t go on the kayak trip. You’ve got the perfect out—all you have to do is flub the test and then we can work on finding Hidden Falls while the rest of your cabin is away.”

  “Flub the test?” repeated Zee.

  “Yeah,” said Will. “Easy. It’s not like you’re the king of kayaking or anything, right?”

  “No, but—”

  “So, bomb the quiz and skip the trip,” said Will.

  Zee swallowed. He wanted to say, “But I want to go!” He didn’t say it, though, and the words stuck like glue in his mouth.

  ***

  For the next two days, Jamie took the Birch Cabiners out in the kayaks to practice. On the second day on the water, she announced it was time for the test.

  “It’s easy, guys,” she said. “You just have to show me that you can paddle forward, backward, stop, and turn both ways. Who wants to go first?”

  “Yasu always wants to go first,” said Nate.

  “Can I? Can I?” Yasu paddled forward and showed off his skills. Jamie checked off a list from a clipboard she had stowed in her backpack. After Yasu passed the test, Kareem, Nate, Sean, and Jim did, too.

  “You’re up, Zee,” said Jamie.

  Zee wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to go on the trip, but he felt terrible about disappointing Will. It was disloyal. On the other hand, he knew he shouldn’t intentionally fail the test. That wouldn’t be fair to Jamie; it would be like lying to her and to the rest of the Birch Cabiners.

  So Zee followed Jamie’s instructions: paddle forward, paddle backward, stop. No sweat.

  Then …

  Jamie told Zee to turn, and in doing so, he rammed into Kareem’s boat. Clonk.

  It was an accident! Really.

  “Hey!” yelped Kareem as his boat rocked wildly. Trying to steady it, Kareem whacked the water with his paddle, which sent a wall of water cascading over Jim and Yasu, who splashed Kareem back.

  “Splash fight!” somebody shouted. In no time, a full-blown, all-out, take-no-prisoners paddle-splash fight was churning up the lake as though a hurricane had hit. In the end, somehow, Zee landed in the water.

  “Anybody else up for a dip?” joked Zee. “Come on in, the water’s fine.”

  Everyone laughed—except Jamie. “Not so fine, Zee,” she said. “You have officially failed the test.”

  “I failed?” said Zee. He pulled his kayak ashore using the tow rope attached to its bow.

  “Yeah, solidly,” said Jamie. “You can’t always be the
funny guy. Following instructions counts, and being safe on the water is no joke.” She turned to the rest of the boys, who were unusually quiet. “We leave tomorrow, guys,” she said. “Pack up tonight. Launch is right after breakfast.”

  The boys looked at Zee, who for once had nothing to say. Silently, they all paddled their kayaks back to shore and hauled them out of the lake.

  “Zee, stick around,” Jamie called.

  He looked up, his heart pounding under his life vest. “Me?”

  “Yes, you.”

  “See you back up at Birch,” said Kareem. Jim gave Zee a sympathetic look, and Nate gave him a gentle wallop on the back, along with a look that said nothing but, What were you thinking?

  As Zee watched his cabin mates leave, he had a sinking feeling. He’d be truly bummed to miss the overnight kayak trip with the Birch Cabiners, even though that’s what Will wanted him to do. Suddenly, Zee felt rebellious. Why should he miss out on the trip? Who was Will to tell him what to do?

  “Hey, Jamie,” Zee said. “I’m really sorry.”

  “I saw what happened out there,” said Jamie. “I know you didn’t hit Kareem’s boat intentionally. But you sure did get into that splash fight intentionally, even though you knew you were still taking the test.”

  “Yeah,” said Zee. “I blew it. But … well … I mean, do you think you could give me a second chance?”

  Jamie tilted her head. “I don’t hand out second chances easily,” she said. “Give me a good reason why you deserve one.”

  Zee thought. And as he did, he stared at the kayaks pulled up onto the lakeshore. Their bottoms were sort of scuffed and muddy. Suddenly, Zee grinned. “What if I scrubbed the kayaks and hosed them clean?” he asked.

  “Do that and help me load them on the truck and you’ve got a deal,” said Jamie. “Work first. Makeup test after.”

  “Deal,” said Zee. He stuck out his hand to shake, and Jamie slapped a wet sponge into it.

  ***

  Later, wet, tired, and dirty, Zee was on his way back up to Birch Cabin when Max called through the window of the camp office, “Zee! Package!”

  Zee ducked into the small room. Max stood and picked up a large package from the floor. “Here you go,” said the counselor.

  “Thanks, Max,” said Zee. He recognized his grandmother’s handwriting on the package. He stepped out the door and ran into Will.

  “Hey, I heard the good news,” said Will. “Excellent work! You threw the test. Now you don’t have to go on the kayaking overnight trip. Oooh, what’s in the package?” Will grabbed the box.

  “About the kayak trip,” said Zee, hesitantly. “Actually, I am going.”

  “What? But they said …”

  “Yeah, I know,” said Zee quickly. “I messed up the test. But I actually didn’t mean to. I apologized and Jamie gave me a second chance to take the test, and I passed it.”

  “So, you actually want to go?” asked Will. He tossed the box back to Zee, hard.

  “Yes, I do,” said Zee.

  Will frowned. “But we agreed—”

  “No,” said Zee, firmly and carefully. “I didn’t agree. It was your idea that I flub the test and boycott the trip. You came up with that idea all on your own.”

  “Okay, Zee-row,” Will said coldly. “Go yuk it up kay-yukking. I’ll find Hidden Falls. And I’ll do that all on my own, too.” Then Will turned on his heel and stalked off.

  Zee watched him go, feeling partly mad and partly sad. He sure did wish it had not come to this: a choice between Will and kayaking. If only Will had not been so stubborn! It felt as though Will was gripping their friendship so tightly that he was strangling it. Was this the end of Will-n-Zee?

  Just then, Sean came up from behind and jumped on Zee’s back. “That’s not a care package, is it?” he asked.

  “Looks like it,” said Zee, grateful for the distraction.

  “Is it from your grandmother?” asked Jim, appearing at Zee’s elbow with a bunch of other Birch Cabin guys. “I remember your grandmother’s package from last year. Cookies, brownies …”

  “Those little cakes with the filling,” added Erik, drooling, “and the gigantic bag of those crunchy cheese things.”

  “I don’t think she sent any of that this year,” said Zee. “She’s gone all healthy. There’s probably broccoli in here.”

  “Yeah, right,” said Yasu. “I’m not letting you or your box out of my sight.”

  “Me, neither,” said Kareem. “You’re not lone-wolfing it with that package, my friend.”

  “We’re not letting you scarf it down all by yourself,” added Erik. “In fact, I’ll carry it for you.” Gently, Eric pried the box away from Zee.

  Zee had to grin. His buddies from Birch were pretty funny. He was sorry about his fight with Will, but he’d be sorry to ditch the trip with the Birch Cabiners, too. Now, as Eric took the box, Zee said, “Go ahead.” He shrugged and held his hands palms up in surrender. “Gram knew you guys would radar in on any treats. She packed enough for us all, I’m sure.”

  Back at Birch Cabin, Erik sat down with the package. He shook it gently. Then he noticed the neat lettering on the package label. “Master Zenith Doyle,” he read. He asked Zee, “Zenith? Your real name is Zenith?”

  “It is,” admitted Zee, bracing himself to be teased.

  But instead, Jim said, “Totally cool. Doesn’t zenith mean ‘the top’ or ‘the best’ or ‘the ultimate’?”

  “I guess,” said Zee. “Something like that.”

  “You must be named after your grandmother,” said Yasu. “I think she’s ‘the best’ about sending care packages.”

  “Yeah,” said Sean. “It’s like she’s our Gram, too.”

  All the campers peered over Erik’s shoulder as he opened the box. When they saw what was inside, they were so surprised that they were stunned silent for a second.

  “Origami paper?” asked Jim.

  “Origami paper,” repeated Zee. “Told you Gram was not into sweets anymore.”

  The smooth squares of colorful paper smelled floral, like a gift shop. Zee was afraid the boys would be disappointed, but Kareem fished into the box and pulled out a pamphlet with instructions for making many different kinds of paper airplanes. “Paper airplanes!” he yelled. “I love making those.”

  “Let’s make ’em, and then fly them in the rec hall after Archery,” said Yasu.

  “After that,” said Zee, “let’s each write our favorite Skeeter Concoction on our plane and hang all the planes from the tree next to the dining hall to thank Skeeter for all the pies.”

  “And to give him a hint to make more!” cut in Erik.

  “It’ll be a Skeeter Fleet Sweet Treat Tree,” said Zee.

  “Say that three times,” joked Zack.

  “That, that, that,” said Zee.

  “Good one, Zee-nith,” said Jim.

  Zee looked down at the fragile plane he was making. He hadn’t quite shaken off his disagreement with Will. But even if he didn’t feel “the best,” he didn’t feel like “Zee-row,” either, thanks to the guys in his cabin.

  Chapter Seven

  The next morning after breakfast, the Birch Cabiners hiked down to the dock where Carlos, Jamie, and Skeeter—closely watched by Cookie—were packing supplies in the dinghy that Jamie would tow across the lake.

  “Thanks for the tree full of planes,” said Skeeter. “I’ve never been thanked in such a high-flying way before. I didn’t make pies for your trip, but I did pack up some crispy leftover bacon for you to put on your cheeseburgers tonight.”

  At the word bacon, Cookie sat up, tilted his head, and stared intensely at Skeeter.

  “Cookie, don’t give me that look,” said Skeeter. “You got your bacon already.”

  Making the saddest, hungriest face possible, Cookie looked back at the cooler, sighed, sank down, and rested his jaw on his paws.

  “Okay, Birch Cabiners,” said Jamie. “To your kayaks!” One by one, with quick, smooth heaves, Jamie laun
ched the boys backward into the water.

  Zee led the boys singing:

  Row row row your boat,

  Gently on the lake,

  Cabin Birchers kayak great,

  It’s a piece of cake.

  As they shoved off, Cookie jumped in the water and splashed around doing a clumsy dog paddle. His long ears floated on the surface of the water like big brown, oblong lily pads attached to his head. Enthusiastically, he paddled after the kayaks.

  “Hey, Cookie! Come on back, buddy!” Skeeter called to his dog. “Sorry, fella. You don’t get in the lake without your life vest. You know that.”

  Cookie didn’t seem to care about water safety. It was clear that he just wanted to stick close to his friends—and the bacon Skeeter had packed. But still, as Zee watched, the obedient dog U-turned in the water and paddled back to the shore. Cookie stood next to Skeeter, cast a long face toward the boys in the departing kayaks, lifted his nose to sniff the air one last time, and then shook himself dry, pelting Skeeter with lake water.

  ***

  “Keep your paddles moving, guys,” said Jamie. She was in the lead as the group set out across the lake. “Try to paddle quietly. No bubbles, no waves, no wakes, no fancy stuff.”

  Zee relaxed. It felt great to reach forward, slip the paddle into the water like a knife into soft butter, then p-u-l-l back, using his core muscles against the water’s resistance. His smooth forward stroke made his kayak slide through the water with ease. Up ahead, Zee saw Yasu and Erik racing, trying to outdo one another, churning the water white as they plunged their paddles into the water wildly, first one side, then the other. But Zee hung back, thinking, It’s kind of a relief not to be the jokester. He liked this break from being the guy who pushed the limits all the time, the guy he was when he was part of the trickster duo, Will-n-Zee. And anyway, hadn’t he learned the hard way that Jamie was no-nonsense about nonsense?

  Sure enough, Jamie called out to Yasu and Erik, “Let’s stay together, boys. No showing off. Just smooth sailing, with me in front. I’m Point, and you know that means that I’m—”