Camp Life

by Lucinda Maison

  Chapter 28

  Light of Day

  Dara swam with sure, measured strokes. Ten laps to go. Her mind occasionally touched on the events of the day before, but mostly she focused on her breathing, the rhythm of her arms and legs, the sensation of slipping lightly through water.

  Drew stood at poolside and watched her thoughtfully. So graceful…she made it look effortless, and he knew first-hand it was anything but. Pulling goggles over his eyes, he dove in, gliding far under water, and surfacing in a smooth freestyle.

  Dara heard someone enter the water, spared one glance, recognized Drew, and continued with her workout. Lap by lap they crossed and recrossed the pool. Dara kept on with the crawl while Drew switched off every other lap, fly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle. When Dara finally finished, she floated on her back while Drew did a few more laps.

  Staring at a cloudless sky, she thought about her mom and dad. They’d been pretty quiet at the fire the night before. Her dad hadn’t even said anything about her holding hands with Drew. It was strange…a few short weeks ago, she would have been so worried about what her dad would think, whether he’d approve or, more likely, disapprove. Now, it wasn’t like she didn’t care, but it didn’t rule her life anymore. Rules…she hadn’t thought of a single Rule in days. She tried to think of some of her Rules, but they just wouldn’t come. She pictured a heavy-lidded chest with “DARA’s RULES” stenciled on the outside, saw herself hauling it onto a raft and pushing it out into a river. She watched it float out into the current, the front edge of the raft catching the first small ripples, the chest bobbing slightly as the raft rode the ripples and gained momentum. She saw herself standing on shore, waving goodbye. No more Rules, she thought without regret.

  “Man, haven’t done that in a long time!” Drew panted as he flipped onto his back and floated near her. “I didn’t think I was that out of shape!”

  “It’s why I can’t take much time off. You lose it so fast!”

  “Yeah, and skateboarding doesn’t exactly give you the same workout.”

  She lifted her head out of the water and looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “Not even close,” she said dryly, letting her head fall back again.

  Drew put his feet on the bottom, the water half way up his chest. He grabbed her arm as she floated by and pulled her to him, one arm wrapped around her waist. “Wait till I’ve been playing lacrosse for awhile. I’ll be, like, totally ripped.” He flexed his free arm, laughing, and it was evident to Dara that he must have been doing something more than skateboarding.

  She put her hands on his shoulders, leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. “Send me a picture, OK?” She pushed against him and he let her go.

  His eyes turned serious. “I will. I’ll stay in touch…you don’t have to worry about dealing with your dad all alone.”

  “I know.” She returned his gaze. “Having you to talk to…you and Caroline both…I know it’s going to help get me through whatever happens. I just hope…I hope I get to see you again sometime. I’m going to miss you a lot.”

  Drew closed the space between them again. He thought of a number of things her could say. In the end, he said simply, “me, too” and let his actions speak for him as he tried to put all of his feelings into his kiss.

  Dara drew back, smiling through eyes brimming with unshed tears. She squeezed his hand and turning, waded to the steps and out of the pool, just as Ron and Shelley walked out of the exercise room.

  “Mornin’,” Shelley greeted them, eyes twinkling. While they worked out, she and Ron had kept a discreet eye on the kids, lest the PDA escalate unacceptably. It came with the territory, as counselors at a camp with teens.

  “Drew, do you want to give Mischief a last ride today? I was going to take Jake and his mom on the south trail, into the valley.” He shifted his gaze to Dara. “You, too, Dara. You liked Nate the last time you rode, didn’t you?”

  Drew and Dara looked at each other and came to a silent agreement.

  “Sure,” Drew answered. “We’ll go. Thanks.”

  “I’d like to ride Nate again. He’s so sweet.”

  “Uh huh, unlike Squidward. You know, I rode him for two hours the other day, and he waited until he got back in his stall to relieve himself of a mountain of horse poop. Smiled at me while he did it, too,” Ron complained.

  Drew and Dara laughed.

  “Job security for you,” Shelley said, helpfully.

  Ron shot her a baleful look. “I’m going to change. See you all at breakfast.”

  “I’d better go, too. See you in a bit,” Dara said to Shelley, giving Drew a soft look.

  “Well done on your treasure map,” Nicky commented, fondly pushing a strand of brown-blonde hair off his forehead. “When he sees it, your dad will set you more work on the ship, the next time you go.”

  Jim tossed his head, sending the wayward strand back across his forehead. “I’m counting on it.” He stared at his mother measuringly. “I know that with dad, I’m learning a lot of things first hand and it’s great experience…but I still want to go to school at James Cook.” He named one of the best marine studies universities in the country. “I know it’s expensive, but I’ve been saving and I’ll work hard…”

  She held up a hand. “I know. Your dad and I have already talked about it, and we’ve figured out the finances. It’s still a few years off, but, well…It’s up to you to get yourself accepted, and give it your best; if you do that, we’ll handle the tuition.”

  Jim’s eyes lit up and he jumped straight into the air, crowing with triumph. “Yeah!” He pumped his fist, wrapped his arms around his mother, and spun her around in a circle.

  She laughed breathlessly, feeling such joy at his happiness. He’d always been a funny kid. Old and young at the same time. Some people would call him an old soul, she supposed. She didn’t know if it was more of a nature/nurture thing, just that it was her privilege to share his life, to teach him and learn from him, to love him and be loved by him.

  “Can I have a spinner hug, too?” a small voice piped nearby.

  Nicky turned and saw Teddy watching them, a Mickey Mouse ball cap sliding down over his ears.

  Jim spotted him and swooped in, clutched Teddy to his chest and twirled him around and around.

  “Whoa!” Teddy exclaimed after Jim set him down, staggering around and giggling at the same time. “Do it again!”

  Jim tugged the brim of Teddy’s cap. “I think you’d better get your balance back first.” He looked past Teddy and saw Jake walking with his mother toward the lodge.

  “Oy, Jake!” he called out.

  “Hey, Jim,” Jake and his mother changed course to join the Roberts and Teddy.

  Jim told him about the school he would attend, earning a high five from Jake. They talked about plans for the day and it was decided that Jim would join the horseback ride. Jim was hoping he could talk Corinne into it, too. Nicky didn’t do horses, and would be happier visiting with friends at the lodge.

  After two more spinner hugs for Teddy (not nearly enough, in his opinion), they headed for the lodge and breakfast.

  “I vote for the pool,” Caroline stated with decision, positive she did not feel like hiking or horseback-riding. She ladled another large spoonful of scrambled eggs on her plate, and added a couple of melon slices.

  “Sounds good to me,” her dad said, looking to her mom for agreement. “Drew’s going riding and we can relax by the pool.”

  Toby and his parents, as well as the twins and their parents, had also planned on spending a good part of the day at the pool. Toby didn’t get the chance to swim at home very often and he wanted to make the most of it. Besides, Caroline would be there, and she was always fun. His parents would probably swim a little and read a lot.

  “Corinne, what are you going to do?” Toby looked across the table at her.

  “I’m going riding. Ron’s taking a group out to the valley.”

  “I want to go swimmi
ng!” Allison declared.

  Corinne’s dad smiled. “That settles that, I guess. We’ll be going to the pool then, too, while Corinne rides…good thing it’s a big pool!’

  As the day progressed, adults and kids swam, hiked, rode, read, played volleyball, lacrosse, and baseball, hunted tadpoles and lizards, baked bread, and ate well. For some, it was a chance to relax and have fun with each other in ways they didn’t typically get to experience. Others had a harder time relaxing and relating, but the opportunities were there for all.

  Chapter 29

  Let’s Put on a Show!

  At dinnertime, the kids who were to participate in the show that night grew excited or nervous, by turns. Some, like Patrick, thrived on performing. Others were anxious about being up in front of an audience, even if they knew a lot of them well.

  Corinne was extremely thankful she didn’t have to perform. She was looking forward to watching Caroline and the others. It was hard for her to believe that just a few weeks earlier, she had despaired of having good friends, friends who would back you up and cheer you on, not cut you down and rip you apart. Now, she had Jim, a solid presence watching her back, Caroline, Toby, Jake, the twins, and more…even Cal and Rocky. It felt good, really good. She looked across the table at her dad, entertaining Allison and Teddy with an old magic trick she had seen dozens of time. As he finished, Allison clapped her hands and Teddy pleaded “again!” He was a good guy, her dad. And her mom had traded him in for…well it didn’t make any sense to Corinne. She loved her mom, but she was very glad she lived with her dad. And he got over it, so why shouldn’t she?

  Jim leaned over and whispered, “What’s going on under all that hair? You look like your brain is working overtime in there.”

  Her halo of blonde curls was bisected by a narrow, blue and green paisley scarf she had tied in a knot at the nape of her neck. “I’m thinking I’m pretty lucky, after all.”

  He smiled. “I’m feeling lucky myself.” A split second later, his brows drew together in consternation. “I just meant…I didn’t mean…” he stammered, uncharacteristically flustered.

  “What are you talking about? Oh.” She began to laugh. “You doofus. I didn’t take it that way.”

  “Just making sure.” Jim looked relieved. He concentrated on finishing the rest of his pulled pork sandwich with grilled onions and peppers, looking forward to the cheesecake Noreen had promised for dessert.

  Ron walked to the front of the room after judging that most people were done with dessert. “I hope you know how lucky you are to have tasted Noreen’s homemade cheesecake.”

  Jim slid his eyes to Corinne and found hers brimful of laughter. His lips quirked up in a wry grin.

  Everyone clapped with much appreciation, and Noreen gave a small curtsy. “As you all know, we’re going to have a very special show tonight, put on by some of the local talent.” Ron winked at Patrick. “It will take us awhile to get dinner cleaned up and the stage and seating arranged in here, so please give us an hour and then come back, ready to be entertained.”

  When they reassembled in roughly an hour, the lodge dining room had been transformed. The sofa and TV had been pushed against the far wall, and the stage area outlined in blue duct tape. Two large speakers flanked the stage, and the back wall behind the stage was draped with dark blue cloth. A room divider hid the back door, presumably allowing the actors to go outside for changes without being seen. The dining tables were stacked on top of each other at the edges of the room, and rows of folding chairs and benches faced the stage.

  Kids and parents filed in and the rows quickly filled. The noise level was high as people talked and laughed, adjusted their seats, called out greetings to others on the opposite side of the room, and generally got settled in. The lights clicked off suddenly and the sound dropped to a low hum. A couple of spotlight-type floor lamps were turned on, illuminating a row of kids dressed in heavily padded white pants with suspenders of wide white ribbon, and cotton balls stuck to their eyebrows. The audience hooted and clapped, and the kids onstage grinned. The speakers emitted a crackling sound, followed by the beginning strains of the Oompa Loompa song. The choreography was less than perfect, as was the lip-synching, but it was even funnier that way. One girl turned the wrong way and smacked into the boy next to her, knocking them both down. Awkward in their augmented pants, they helped each other up, but were having trouble standing, they were laughing so hard. This earned them some elbowing from the Oompa-Loompas on either side of them, and they straightened up and managed to finish on time and almost in synch with the rest of the group.

  People clapped wildly and stomped their feet, and even Dara’s dad was smiling. The Oompa-Loompas took a group bow and hustled off stage as fast as they could shuffle. The lights dimmed again, and the audience could hear loud whispers and hissed instructions before the lights came on again.

  Caroline stood alone on stage, wearing a baggy greenish costume decorated with large squares, and a green hoodie. Her dad frowned at her mother. “What is she supposed to be?”

  Her mom shrugged. “I don’t…oh, she’s a turtle. I mean, a tortoise.” Her eyes lit with comprehension. “Like her treasure map, the Galapagos!”

  Caroline ambled slowly around the stage and was joined by two others wearing blue socks and outfits decorated with white feathers. Another person walked across and then off the stage, carrying a sign that read “Galapagos”.

  “We are blue-footed boobies,” said one of the kids on stage with Caroline. There was general laughter, which grew raucous as the “birds” began performing the dance of the blue-footed boobies. Someone in a Jurassic Park T-Rex costume crawled on stage and sat with his held tilted in a lizard’s one-eyed gaze.

  “What the…?” Corinne thought, then heard someone behind her say, “Oh, I get it. It’s an iguana.”

  Caroline came to a halt center stage and faced the audience. “My dream is to study wildlife in the Galapagos Islands.” People applauded and she headed offstage, along with the “birds”, then Jim appeared, standing in the middle of a cardboard boat that he held at chest level.

  The iguana mimed diving into water, slithered around, and worked his way off stage. “I want to be a marine biologist and study sea life,” Jim declared. People clapped again, and Jim bobbed up and down as if he were riding swells. A kid wearing a wig with very long dreads circled the boat in a rhythmic shuffle, and no one could figure out what he was supposed to be. A girl with yellow sponges covering her t-shirt appeared as Jim sailed off stage. The girl chased the bobbing rasta kid with a net that looked suspiciously like one of the homemade lacrosse sticks.

  The puzzled murmurs continued until a voice behind the stage called out in a nasally, wistful voice, “Oh, Squidward, don’t you just love jellyfishing?!”

  Talking erupted in the audience, and while most of the words could not be distinguished, “SpongeBob” came through loud and clear. The “SpongeBob” on stage stopped and said in a loud, clear voice, “I want to be an animator and work on cartoons.” She chased the “jellyfish” off stage to the sound of applause, at the last moment handing off the net/stick to Sean, who bounded on stage dressed in Ron’s old lacrosse uniform. He dropped a lacrosse ball into the pocket and cradled it as he ran around the perimeter, dodging and weaving. “I want to be a professional lacrosse player,” he yelled, and joined a group of about 8 kids who had appeared on the other side of the stage. The group circled around in a kind of scrum and then the circle widened to show a girl in the middle. She smiled widely. “I want to have more friends!”

  The action on stage kept changing. One boy wanted to go to Disneyland, another wanted a puppy, and someone else wanted an “A” in math. A boy who wanted to understand girls got a big laugh, as did a girl who said she wanted her little brother to stop making disgusting noises during her favorite T.V. show. Parents and kids clapped and clapped until their hands were almost sore. The lights finally went out and there was a long pause before the next act.

/>   When they came back on, Jim, Jake, and Sean were sitting in chairs at the side of the stage. Patrick and Caroline were standing next to each other, their hands in the front pockets of their jeans, both wearing t-shirts that read “Vote For Pedro”, apparently written with a Sharpie.

  “Oh, no!” someone called out. Patrick frowned, and nodded to someone off stage to start the music. As soon as the two of them started moving, someone began clapping in time to the music and others joined in. Jim looked around, a bemused expression on his face, Sean looked bored, and Jake’s old sneer had reappeared as he watched the dancers in apparent disbelief. Patrick’s lanky body looked closer to Napoleon’s, but when Caroline took center stage with spot-on Napoleon moves, Jake couldn’t keep a straight face, losing his sneer and laughing until he was red in the face. Jim and Sean lost it when Jake did, and instead of staying in character and scoffing at the dancers, they rolled in their chairs along with the rest of the audience. The applause was thunderous when they finished, and the dancers were panting and grinning ear to ear.

  There were more acts to follow, but it was hard to top the Napoleon Dynamite dance. Two kids did a funny skit demonstrating building up and putting down. Toby and Teddy were a hit as Dumbledore and a very short Harry Potter, respectively. Patrick had coached Toby relentlessly, and was rewarded when he heard Toby do a very fair imitation of Richard Harris saying “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

  Another couple of kids acted out having different identities and different nerves that got touched or buttons that got pushed. They had tried to get Jake to perform one of the parts, but he flat out refused. He was much happier watching that part of the show, instead of being in it.

  The last act was pure fun and involved everyone who’d been in the show. They all came on stage in various costumes from the previous acts, and sang the theme song to SpongeBob Squarepants, looking so absurd that everyone had to laugh. Kids in the audience jumped on stage with them and joined in, making it a rousing finale. When the last chorus had been sung, an exhausted and happy group took a final bow. The parents and counselors gave them a standing ovation, Nicky letting loose with several piercing finger whistles. Ears ringing, performers and audience members came together and walked out into the night.