Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Cool With A "K" PART 9 - CHAPTER 2

Alice, Chris, and I were at the bus stop, the bus to Sunny Day camp waiting for us. Alice and I were frantically attempting to pull Chris off of the stop sign pole he was clinging to.  "Um, Chris, t-that pole is no doubt covered in germs, you know." Alice said gently. Chris's eyes sprang open. "No doubt?" he hollered, "That was what Angie said when Mom told us about Camp! She said, "Oh don't worry Buddy Boy! Camp will have changed, no doubt! Well what if it didn't, huh?" Alice was silent, I leaned over to her, "Don't take it personally, he's just scared." We finally pulled Chris off of the stop sign pole and pushed him onto the bus. "Why?" Alice asked, her huge hazel eyes curious. 
Mouse and Leo were already on the bus. Alice sat down by Mouse. "Story time?" Mouse leaned in, seeing the grim look on my face. Chris sat next to me, window seat. He held onto my sleeve like a little kid. "Yes, Mouse. It's story time." I said. Chris whimpered from behind me. "You might not want to listen," I told him, "I'm telling them The Story." Chris whimpered again and curled into a little ball. Mouse and Alice's eyes got bigger with curiosity. I leaned in again, "Okay, so, eight years ago at Sunny Day camp, when Chris and I went for the first time."
"I was seven, Angela had just turned eight." Chris added.
I nodded, "There is a boy's cabin and a girl's cabin, at least there was eight years ago. The girl's cabin went to the archery field and the boy's went swimming." Mouse and Alice nodded eagerly.
"Chris refused to go swimming-" I started to say, but Mouse interrupted, "Why? He didn't want the guys to see him in a swimsuit?" Chris scowled at her and I sighed, "No, Mouse." I glanced at Chris and he nodded for me to go on. "He was afraid of water."
"Bet he still is." Mouse mumbled, Alice shushing her.
"Anyway," I began once more, "Chris refused to go swimming and the counselors asked him why, he didn't answer."
Chris broke in, his voice wavering, "And later that day, five of the other boys from the cabin, t-they were all a year or two older than me, came out to where I was sitting, by the shore, and one of them said, 'So, Chris, why didn't you go swimmin' taday?' I didn't answer him, I was afraid. He and his gang started slowly walking towards me and he talked. I could feel by bare feet crossing over from the soft white sand to the hard wood dock, but I didn't stop, I didn't want the boys to hurt me."
I pictured seven year old Chris, fully clothed in his spiderman t-shirt and khaki shorts, walking backwards on the Sunny Day dock.
Chris went on, a grim look on his face, "'You wasn't scared, were ya, Chris?' the leader boy had said, I shook my head no and he grinned. He and his gang had stopped walking, I stopped too. I had thought, Why was he smiling? What was there for him to be laughing about? Oh, I found out alright. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the lead kid pushed me, I fell off the dock and into the cold lake water below."
Mouse and Alice gasped, Alice drawing her hand up to her mouth to express surprise, "Oh my gosh, you poor thing!" she said quietly.
"The water was about eleven, twelve feet deep." Chris continued his story, "I couldn't breath, I couldn't swim." He paused dramatically. "I later woke up in the Main Hall of the Big Cabin, where the Mess Hall and such were, A counselor and dozens of girls and boys from camp stared at me. I looked around, searching for my sister. Soon, Angela came to the front, her blonde hair in two ponytails, one on each side. She was wearing a mustard yellow camp t-shirt."
I stared at Chris now, "You really remember this well, don't you?"
He nodded grimly, "I sat up and called for my sister, she looked at me, looking very worried, but didn't move. She looked scared too, as if she was afraid that some weird sea creature had bitten me and I would bite her if she came too close."
I bowed my head slightly, regretting not helping him sooner.
"The counselor gestured for her to come forward and she did, giving me a big hug." Chris went on, "As I cried into my sister's shoulder, I eyed the bullies who had pushed me into the lake, they were laughing. Laughing. They had just pushed a kid half their size into a twelve-foot-deep lake! I will never forget the look of pure evil on Zachary Jones's face that day." Chris stared straight ahead of him, thinking about the epic story of horror that he had just told us.
Mouse grinned and I shook my head at her, "Mouse...." I whispered. She grinned again, "I wonder if Zack still goes to this camp."
Chris grabbed my sleeve and started whimpering wildly, "No, Angie, no! Don't let him hurt me!" he moaned. I glared at Mouse, who was smiling triumphantly. "Don't listen to her, Chris." I said, eventually calming him down.
The bus ride was about three and a half hours long, Chris and Mouse both fell asleep eventually , Mouse drooling on the window, Chris sleeping peacefully with his head in my lap. I talked to Alice most of the time. Leo had happily discovered that Michelle was going to the camp to and he talked to her and listened to her chattering to her friends for almost an hour.

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