Crimson Summer - Chapter Eleven

“Keith”

"Just another beautiful day," Keith said, staring out at the Lake, the sun starting to set beyond the tree-line at the water’s edge. Some of the other counselors may have been contained a note of sarcasm there, but not Keith. He absolutely loved the fresh air and constant physical activity. Being here was a nice reset from the constant struggles of the real world, where he constantly had to be at his best and train without any reserve. Not like that mattered anymore though.

The letter had come during that day’s afternoon activities and Keith knew it was a mistake the moment he decided to open it. The anxiety had gotten to him and he couldn’t stand to wait. Instead, he asked Louis to watch his group so that he could open the letter and the celebration could start early. Celebration . . . riiiiight.

At least he had a beautiful view like this to come to in times like this. He was just able to stare at the lake, watch the sun's rays bounce off it, and try to forget all of his worries. It used to work before. Now he couldn't keep his mind off anything that didn't involve that letter in some fashion. No, this was the last thing that Keith needed to be thinking about and he knew it. He needed to just take his mind off of it, however impossible that may have seemed.

Most of the clothes he brought to camp could be considered "workout gear" so he didn't even need to head back to his cabin after finally making the decision to go for a run; he was already dressed for it. Going for a jog was always his way of sorting out his thoughts, put things in a better perspective. Back when he needed to decide between which scholarship he was going to take, he went on a 14 mile run to clear his head. From the beginning of the run to the end, his mind ended up changing completely and he was grateful for the journey. Otherwise who knows what school he would have ended up at?

Keith darted towards the forest, jumping onto the path that had become his usual route, weaving in and out the trees with ease. It was hardly wide enough for one person to carefully walk on, let alone run, but he had taken this path for the past two weeks now, and had it mapped out carefully in his head. The entire route was four miles, and provided for quite the workout, so Keith found himself taking it anytime he needed to cool down.

As he continued down the path, his blood pumping and sweat collecting on his brow, his thoughts wandered. What was he even going to do next? This was supposed to be his chance to get to the next level. To make his passion into a career. The tears formed and started dripping down his face almost as much as the sweat beads that continued to pour out of him with each step. The salt in them burned a little but he powered through, using the pain as a motivator.

Keith must have taken his eyes off the ground in front of him for a split second because before he knew it he was tumbling forward, slamming into the trunk of a giant tree. The force of hitting it almost took his consciousness from him but instead just left him dizzy and lightheaded. He remembered in all the movies what it was like to be knocked out, waking up hours later with a lump on the head and no memory.

Instead everything just felt foggy and he didn't know what was happening at first. He couldn't have been out for more than a millisecond and could still vividly recall the fall. It couldn’t have been that bad. So much for the movies . . .

Keith’s fall must have made quite the noise because before he knew it, Diane was running down the path, a look of concern on her face.

"Hey are you --" Diane started to ask but stopped herself as soon as his saw his face full of tears, "Oh my god, what's wrong?"

“I fell it’s not a big deal,” he said, trying to pick himself but Diane quickly stopped him.

“Oh yeah then what’s this?” she said as she wiped a tear away from his cheek.

“I just. . .” Keith started but quickly everything came rushing to him. The disappointment his parents would feel. The lack of respect he’d get from everyone that once respected him. Everything he’d lose because of one stupid decision.

The tears started up hard and he couldn't have stopped them if he wanted to. Everything about his life was now up to question, all because he didn't put his best foot down. He didn't try with all that he could. He couldn't have. Otherwise things would have worked out just how they had in high school and then college. Things always worked out. Always.

"I just . . . I don't even know what I'm doing. All this training, all this love for the game, what does it amount to? So I can just be head basketball coach at a high school that sees me as a disappointment," said Keith through tears.

"What happened, Keith?" Diane sat down next to him, putting a consoling arm on his shoulder.

"They turned me down. Didn’t even give me a shot before they took every dream that I’ve ever had away from me. How can they even do that? I had tryouts scheduled and they just told me not to come. Didn't even want to bother. God dammit!" He punched the ground next to him in frustration. How could this be happening to him? He may have been a complete mess but how could he be wrong? Those bastards screwed up, not him.

"What? The pros?" Diane asked, still confused as to why exactly he was so upset. Keith wasn't surprised, it was an odd situation to have stumbled upon: a man who could barely get words out through the blubbering mess he'd become. Dad would be so ashamed of me right now.

"I don't even know what free time is. Everything has been spent preparing for this. Every waking moment. Watanka? I wish I could go to a camp like this when I was younger. It was always basketball camp or football camp or baseball camp. Any camp that made me better. Better at a fucking sport that doesn’t even matter anymore. All for some non-existent ‘next-level.’ I needed them to succeed. It was one after the other. I always had another thing to go to. I didn't have summers off. I didn't sit around playing video games with my friends late until the sun went down then rose again. I wasn't that kid. I didn’t get to be. I was an athlete. That was my identity. And now what am I?" Keith finally caught his breath and looked at Diane who just looked at him with sad puppy dog eyes. Is she even listening to me?

"Wow. Just when I thought you were Superman and didn't have any weaknesses" she swooned.

"How am I even supposed to succeed? My entire life I just assumed I'd be playing a sport professionally. Coasted my way through school because of it." Keith sniffled, trying to hold back more tears. At this rate, he'd be out soon. "I'm not even sure I could do basic algebra now. Heck, most of the time I did do my homework, it was just from online answer books. Now what? I'm just a dumb jock who's gonna wind up working in a factory. I should have just listened to my dad. I should have tried harder."

"Keith, I could be totally out of line with this but it seems like you're looking at this all wrong. You don't need to be anything you don't want to be. You seem to think there are only two options: playing professional basketball or going to a factory. Why do those have to be the only things? Why can’t you just find another approach? Why does having this one thing not work out mean the end of the world to you?"

"You just don't get it."

"What's there to get? Go somewhere else. Go to Europe and play. A lot of people do that. Hell my friend Jeannie's brother has been playing in Europe for two years and he played for a division III school that never made the playoffs. There are options. Sometimes you just have to open your eyes a little wider to see them."

Diane was right, Keith knew that, but it was still hard to actually admit to.  It didn't matter anyway because there was no way his dad would let him do that. As soon as word got to him –hopefully not until Keith had some time to digest the information himself – he was sure to be driving up, wanting to come up with a game plan. Find other farm teams to try out for. Everything that he knew about getting to get to the next level. Keith had had enough of it. Enough of everything.

                “What’s the point in playing if it’s not what I set out to do?” he asked, immediately thinking that it sounded better it in his head than out loud.

"Honestly, I can't even believe you even think like that. So what, one thing got in your way.  So you're just going to quit? Sounds pretty childish to me." Diane's words cut deep. She was completely right and Keith knew it. He was acting extremely childish. Why would one obstacle mean everything is over? Granted it was a big obstacle but still. It just reminded him of how much things had just been given to him throughout his life. Was he even worthy of the life that he yearned for? He was naturally gifted so he had a litany of options in school. No matter what sport he did, he excelled at it. In basketball, he was the point guard. In football, he was the quarterback. In baseball, he was the short-stop and clean-up batter. He was always in the spotlight and he always thrived in it. But it had all come so naturally that it didn't even require much thinking on his part. Did he even deserve it?

By the time schools were seriously looking at him for college athletics, he just took the best scholarship on the table. It was a choice that was in front of him, no reaching out necessary. They came to him. The scouts courted him at his games, chatting up his dad, and usually offering to pay for some kind of meal at a get-together. This trend seemed like it would continue but suddenly the phone calls stopped coming. Now he was two  years removed from school, with several failed walk-on attempts under his belt, barely able to stay afloat while he chased his dream to become a professional athlete.

“Thanks,” Keith said, truly meaning it.

“Oh yeah, sure. Little miss Diane and her infinite wisdom. We all know how much everyone appreciates it.”

“Yeah, well I do. So thank you.” They both smiled at each other, looking anywhere but at each other’s eyes. Keith wasn’t sure if it was because she liked him or if she was embarrassed by the way his face looked covered in tears.

“I’m going into the city in a couple hours. Would you like to come with?” Diane asked. That was out of nowhere. A trip to the city was all that Keith needed right now, especially with Diane. Was there an implication here? Should he be nonchalant about it? Should he be more straight-forward? Fuck it.

“Okay, but only if it’s a date,” he said as bluntly as possible.

“I . . . well yeah,” she was barely able to get it out through her nervous laughter.

“Then I’ll meet you at your cabin at seven,” he said, finally having a smile come to his face.

“You better clean yourself up,” she said and he finally noticed just how dirty he was from the fall. His knee was pretty banged up as well, with blood dripping out from it. It looked worse than it felt though, with Keith able to ignore it for the most part.

“You sure you don’t want me to look like this? I figured I’d be going for the deep woods survivalist look.” She provided him a chuckle.

“Just let me go jump around in the mud a bit so I can get on your level and we should be good to go,” she said, smiling uncontrollably. “I need to get back to the kids though. One of the boys thought he lost his grandfather’s watch during our scavenger hunt today so I had to go look for it. Thankfully it was just on top of one of the stumps next to the fire pits. Didn’t prevent me from getting eaten alive on my way out here though. Little bastard better be appreciative.”

“Here let me. . .” he said, holding out his hand to help her up, “You know, those kids don’t realize how good they have it. I don’t think anyone else would have gotten that for him.”

“Oh, so you’re saying you wouldn’t have?”

“Me? Of course not. It’s lost for the ages.” He grinned wide, his eyes darting back and forth between her eyes and her lips.

“I’ll see you in a bit, hard ass. Keep your head up.” And with that she was gone, leaving Keith to stand there, grinning like an idiot. It may have been small, but it was finally a win. And god knows he needed it. One unfortunate fact remained: he still needed to deal with his father.

Deciding he could probably use the extra pump before his date, he started back down the trail, this time paying a little closer attention to the path at his feet. His knee throbbed throughout the run but he powered through it, finally returning to his place after a four mile run. He returned to an empty cabin and was able to quickly make it to the showers, unoccupied thankfully. For some reason the kids were all in the dining hall. A little early isn’t it? Looking forward to a little privacy, he found himself annoyed somewhat to find Louie inhabiting the cabin when he returned from the showers. The six pack at his feet – half gone – didn’t help matters.

“Dude you were supposed to watch my group for me,” said Keith,

“Calm down. Al and Marion are doing some safety lesson. All the kids are with them. The counselors have officially been dismissed for the night. Looks like I really interrupted a difficult time in your life. Enjoy your spa day?” Louie had a slight edge to him. The kids must have gotten to him.

“Huh. . .  wonder why she didn’t tell me that?” Keith said, almost under his breath.

“What? Who?” Louie asked abrasively.

“Diane. I just saw her. She didn’t mention anything about it. Guess that makes sense why she was able to leave her group,” Keith trailed off towards the end, almost just saying it to himself.

“Diane? That girl’ll take any excuse she can to go smoke a cig in the woods. She thinks no one’s wise to it but I can smell that shit on her from across the lake. Wait, why were you in the woods with her anyway?” he asked suspiciously.

“Running. You know me. You won’t believe this though, I’ve got a date." Keith was excited to be able to tell someone of his success but he was still confused by Louie. Had Keith mentioned that he saw her in the woods? How could he have known she was there?

“You know, somehow I do believe it,” said Louie, rolling his eyes, “Diane I take it?”

“Hey, you know you could be a little more happy when good things happen to your friends. It’s not always a slight on you. Life is rough for all of us.”

"Yeah, that perfect six-pack and those All-American good looks must make your life pretty tough to navigate. I bet you only have like . . . three girls that think about fucking you in a given day.  What a rough fucking life," said Louie, his tone somewhere between annoyed and complimentary, "You don't even realize how much that is not a normal thing. At all. I wish I had that many girls even thinking about me. Doesn't even have to be sexual. Could just be ‘Hey, that guy sure is pleasant.’"

"And how exactly do you know they're not? Are you a mind reader? If anything I’d say you’re the master of anti-social situations."

"Because I don't look like you and that makes me qualified,” Louie reasoned, “I'm the guy that girls think to themselves – or even out loud – 'he was funny.' And that is it. Positively the only thing. My face comes up and that is literally the only thought that comes to their head. Their brains won’t compute anything differently."

"Your self-confidence is just oh-so appealing, Louie."

"I’m very confident in myself. I'm just not delusional. I'm not one of those funny guys who beats himself up because he can't get the hot girl. I get it. I'm the guy who gets the girl who wants to sleep with the funny guy. Can’t say they’re the most mature but hey, I’ll take ‘em.”

Poor Louie, Keith thought to himself, Just doesn't seem to get it. Maybe he'll figure it out one day.

"You know, someday you're gonna meet a nice girl that is your perfect fit and all your resentment towards women will just disappear." Keith tried to give him some advice, make him see that being so negative wasn’t going to help him in the long run, but he knew where this usually lead.

"I think I'll just follow the normal path,” Louie said, cracking open a beer he’d retrieved from his mini-fridge. Apparently the six pack at his feet was empty.

"Which is?" Keith asked, genuinely curious of what Louie’s idea of “normal” could be.

"Just marry someone I can barely tolerate and grow stagnant with till eventually death takes us both." He sipped on his beer as if to reward himself for a job well done. Oh Louie.

"God you're a negative person, Louie."

"Which is it?"

"Which is what?" Keith asked, clueless.

"Are you calling me God or Louie, because I usually prefer one name per sentence when possible?"

"See, you're a funny guy. Use that charm on a girl."

"Yeah right," Louie chuckled, "Hasn't been working out for me so far."

"Oh come on, what about that girl you thought you might get with? You seemed pretty confident about that when we were talking at the fire."

"Well, some guy with a six pack decided to come along and swoop her up instead. So it looks like I’m shit out of luck.” Louie raised his beer in a fake salute.

Oh crap. The thought had never even entered Keith's mind that Louie could be interested in Diane. He had mentioned having a crush on some girl but Keith always assumed that it was Marion. He couldn’t help but feel like a complete idiot, cringing at his own ignorance. He was parading it in front of Louie without even realizing.

“I'm sorry, Louie, I didn't even . . . Honestly, I thought –"

"It’s fine," Louie interrupted, "It was just a little crush anyway. Not like I had a shot. Would be kind of stupid to call dibs on something that wouldn't happen anyway. No hard feelings."

Louie patted him on the shoulder and walked over to his bed, grabbing a book and immediately diving into its pages. They sat there in silence for a while, with Louie reading his fantasy book and Keith throwing a baseball up into the air as he lay on his back, essentially playing catch with himself. Every now and then Louie would shoot Keith a glare, as if asking him to leave the cabin.

“Look if you don’t want me to go on the date –“ he started but Louie was quick.

“Okay then I don’t want you to go on a date with her!”

“—then I’m sorry and hope you realize what you’re asking is extremely immature,” Keith finished.

“I don’t know why you said anything then if you weren’t going to change your mind.” Louie greatly resembled a child having a temper tantrum, straight down to his crossed arms and pouty look.

“Because I thought you were going to be a mature adult and say ‘No, don’t worry, it’s fine. It’s not like I had a thing with her anyway. Go for it.’”

“Go for it? You think I’m gonna tell you to go on a date with the girl I’m into? Are you out of your mind?” Louie was getting sloppy now, a little slur to his words and violent stomp at the end of his sentence.

“That’s what an adult will do! It’s not like I’d be mad if you got a date with her. It’d mean she was into you and I’d be happy for you. That’s how adults handle situations. This isn’t high school.”

“Oh it’s just so easy to be happy for someone in hypotheticals isn’t it? Bet you’ve gotten your way your entire life. You know, it’s not so easy for the rest of us,” Louie threw barbs at Keith but he refused to bite. He wasn’t going to be dragged down into a stupid argument.

“Your negativity is really affecting me right now, so I’m gonna take the mature route and leave the situation.” He tried being as calm as possible. He just needed to leave and get some fresh air before either one of them said anything they regretted.

Not wanting to come back to the cabin, Keith patted his pockets and searched for his wallet. He grew a little more worried with each pat that yielded no results. It wasn’t in any of them. What could he have done with it?

“Crap. Have you seen my wallet?” Keith said, looking in his previous days clothes. It has to be in here somewhere.

“Wallet? Nah, man. I don’t think so. Can’t say I really check for it when I’m in here though, I’m usually too busy being negative.”

“It’s got to be in here somewhere,” Keith ignored Louie’s comment. He didn’t have time to deal with his childish games.

“When’s the last time you had it?” Louie said, finally being useful.

It was then that Keith realized exactly where it had to be. He had his wallet at breakfast and he hadn’t been back to the cabin, so it had to be with him on the run. It must have fallen out when I whiffed it on my run. It made sense that, that would be where it was, but it was the last thing he wanted to deal with. He was already dealing with enough bad energy right before his date. But he couldn’t exactly take Diane out without money. It happened to be a vital component of the whole date experience and the last thing he needed for his ego was for Diane to pay for the date.

Keith left without saying a word to Louie, not really wanting to deal with whatever insult he had stored up. Now that he was out of beer there was no telling where he’d go with his jabs and Keith had more pressing matters to tend to.

Once he reached the forest’s edge he looked down at his sports watch: 6:40pm. He still had plenty of time. Darting off down the path, he made sure to keep his eye on the forest bed, not wanting to have to go through that incident again, not to mention having to shower on top of that. Soon he came upon the area where he had fallen – obvious due to the disturbed foliage and snapped sticks from his fall. Then there was the giant tree that he had run into. How could he forget that? Some of the bark was peeling off from where his knee scraped up against it. He leaned down, scoping the area for any signs of the wallet.

Off in the distance he could hear kids playing and someone yelling about staying out of the water. They must be out of that safety meeting, Keith thought, smiling at the thought of what it’d be like to be a kid at the camp. To get to enjoy all these things without any worries or fears of what the next day will bring. God damn I wish I was a kid again.

He spotted the black leather of his wallet peeking out of a mound of leaves. It would have completely blended in if not for the giant maize and blue M that adorned it. He leaned over, picking it up and wiping the dirt and soot off it. That could have ended very badly.

A hooded figure rose up behind him. Keith didn’t even notice it until it was too late.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The thought of this moment had entered their mind over and over leading up to this moment but never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined the rush that would follow. The cold steel of their blade cut at Keith's Achilles tendon, slicing it in half and sent him flying to the dirt and foliage like a ragdoll. He grabbed at his leg, still not entirely knowing what was happening. He half shouted but a swift kick to his throat stopped that with a CRUNCH. The blood splatter was more intense than expected, nicking what must have been an artery. Keith tried to stop it with his hands but instead gave himself crimson gloves, the flow just too much to stop. His eyes moved from his wound, up to his would-be killer, showing nothing other than absolute terror. Their appearance sent shivers down his spine with the black hood leaving just enough light, to see the white mask. Expressionless. Fearless. Remorseless. Their blank stare, piercing through the dark abyss of the eye holes, a nightmare in and of itself.

"Please, I don't know why you're doing this but just . . . please stop," Keith pleaded in a gravely tone, finally able to get some words out that were more than whimpers. The blood continued to rush from his heel, a pool forming at his feet. His face grew paler with each passing second. The wound gushed and gushed – more than expected. Keith was quickly losing his strength. It wouldn't be long, with his face nearly ghost white. No, it wouldn’t be long at all.

The first of many.

They plunged the long blade down again, finishing the job. Keith no longer struggled. He no longer whimpered. He just laid there. That's all he'd ever do. Just lay.

END CHAPTER ELEVEN.

NEXT CHAPTER: "MARION"

Crimson Summer - Chapter Ten

“Ralph”

Ralph never considered himself a morning person. Usually his nights would be spent watching Adult Swim and playing guitar, so mornings were less the start of his day and more the end of it. So it was surprising to him that when the giant bell at the front of the cabin started ringing, and he found himself awaking with ease. Maybe he could get used to this whole camping experience.

Maybe it was because he was sick of hearing about the camp and introducing himself to others that he just wanted to start the actual summer camp experience. Find out what it was like for himself. He wanted to get past the awkward stages of learning the routine and the people around him. It was his first time at camp and he just wanted to feel comfortable again.

It helped that Ralph was placed in, from what he could tell, the best group. His counselor, Louie, seemed pretty laid back and fun, reminding Ralph of this senior who got kicked out of school for bringing in special brownies for all the teachers. The previous day when they had to introduce themselves, Louie just said to talk amongst themselves. "You're gonna be here for a month. Forcing you to learn each other's name at this very moment doesn’t do any of us any good and just forces you to hate me," he had said. Judging by the crazy outburst in one of the other groups, Ralph decided he was right.

The days here couldn't be any worse than the boredom that came with summer vacation. At least at school he was forced to be social, over break he’d just spend time in his room, playing old video games. It was probably the reason he looked forward to camp so much: forced interaction. Even Louie's "Hey dudes, time to get your shower on so we can all get some grub" was a welcome change. Louie was either really good at his job or really bad, but either way the camaraderie was nice to Ralph.

Finally deciding it was time to start the process of getting up, Ralph stood, reaching under his bunk to grab his toiletries. Pulling the bag onto his bed, he was completely unaware of the open zipper and everything proceeded to fall to the floor. He looked up, ready to be made fun of by one of the other boys. It was prime joke material. He awaited their harsh words, laughter and finger pointing. Only that didn't happen. Those actually awake just looked over, sometimes saying to themselves, "That sucks" but otherwise just going about their own business. The guy next to him, completely covered in tattoos and therefore a little scary, quickly stepped in to help.

"Shit man, talk about bad luck," he said, putting Ralph's toothpaste and deodorant back into the bag.

"Yeah, that would be my middle name," Ralph said, a little intimidated by the large tattooed man who he questioned was even young enough to be at Watanka.

"Tell me about it, man. I've just been waiting for something like that to happen to me. Let me tell you, you think you have bad luck? You should hear my life story. I may as well have bad luck as my first, middle, and last name. Oh yeah, name's Santa," he said, extending his hand.

Ralph couldn't help but immediately chuckle. It wasn't just that he said his name was the alter ego of old Saint Nick, it more had to do with the fact that he was also a large Mexican man covered in tattoos. An odd nickname for anyone with that appearance but even moreso given his age of what couldn't have been more than seventeen.

"Before you even ask, my Christian name is Santiago and my first tattoo. . ." he pulled up his sleeve, "Was this bad boy!"

He revealed a tattoo of Santa Claus, a very colorful and extravagant image featuring a stereotypical Saint Nick, but one you may find in a picture in your grandmother's house. It fit in nicely with the other tattoos, some featuring tribal symbols but most just old cartoons characters.

"Okay, good to know.  Was a little thrown off at first."

"Yeah, most are. Grams always used to call me it so that means by sister’s would, which then meant my schoolmates would so it just kinda stuck. Trust me, a bunch of gangbangers shouting for Santa is a pretty entertaining sight to behold.

Ralph wondered if the name had any gang affiliation after he used the term "Gangbangers" but he was too scared to ask. For one, he didn’t want to offend him but more importantly, he didn’t really want to be the type of person that would ask that question. Why should it matter what his past held? They were at the camp now and all equals so why would it matter if he had some trouble hundreds of miles away. After sitting in silence for a few moments, he soon realized how rude he was being by not offering up his own name, so Ralph rectified it.

"Well it’s nice to meet you, Ralph. Honestly, after yesterday I wasn't sure how this camp was gonna go," Santa continued, "I felt like a fucking pariah. Had one of the counselors say some nice things to me cause she liked my Foghorn Leghorn tat, but outside of that it’s been nothing but terrified looks."

                “Ever think about just wearing some sleeves to cover them up?” Ralph said, trying to offer up any kind of helpful advice.

                “Ha! As much as I’m sure others would appreciate it, I doubt that’d really solve the problem. Still got that very visible aspect of the whole being a big Mexican. Not to mention the thought of wearing long sleeves all summer long has me sweating already.”

Ralph showed sympathy but understood where the others were coming from. Santiago was large, tattooed, and held himself like he had just come out of gangland. It wasn't exactly the most approachable appearance, especially given most of the campers’ trepidation towards socialization in general.

It wasn’t like he fell into that category as well. Ralph certainly had a little concern the night before when he realized his bunk was directly next to said scary-looking person. Those fears were quickly absolved after talking to him for a few moments. In fact, Ralph wasn't sure if there was a nicer person in the camp -- besides that one wacky counselor.

"Well I need to get to that shower before these other guys actually manage to get out of bed. Santa don't do cold water."

Unfortunately for Santa, as he would find out shortly, there was no such thing as "hot" water at Camp Watanka. No, at best one could sometimes achieve air temperature water, which still felt absurdly cold. Ralph found this out when he stepped into the shower and it felt like a bucket of ice was dropped over his head. As mad as he was at first, he saw the silver-lining, telling himself, Hey at least you're awake now. Too many mornings of this though and Ralph was sure he would get sick.

When he exited the shower, cold and shivering, Ralph went to the sink to brush his teeth. It was cramped and he could only get access to the sink to moisten the bristles of his toothbrush. So instead he opted to go outside and just spit out the winterfresh/spit concoction brewed in his mouth. In front of "The Bathhouse"-- as the sign on it read -- Ralph looked around hoping to find a water spigot.

His eyes wandered freely, finally landing on the toweled up midriff of a perky girl. Realizing exactly what he was doing, he looked up, staring directly into the eyes of the midriff's owner. Busted. Quickly trying to counteract the perception, he quickly looked away, trying to avoid the look of disgust that was sure to adorn her face. He could hear giggling behind him but he kept his eyes forward.

Off in the distance, he spotted a water spigot next to the lake; only problem being its current occupation by a girl washing her hair. Ralph wasn't sure he wanted to risk it, with the other girls' giggling still resounding in his head, he decided that anything would be better than just standing there. Then he started debating whether he should just go over or just wait.  But before he could even make up his mind, he was standing at the spigot, the girl leaned over, washing soap out of her hair. Apparently his legs had decided.

"I just need one more minute. Having a little difficulty getting this shampoo out. Dang water pressure," the girl said, not even looking up at Ralph, “Be happy you’re not a girl and don’t have an entire mane of hair to deal with.”

"You know you might have better luck in the showers," Ralph said, his voice cracking a little.

"Nuh-uh. Nooo thank you. That place is an absolute madhouse. At least this water doesn't turn me into a human popsicle."

"You've got me there. I didn't realize water could be that cold without freezing.”

She laughed at his dumb joke, a heavy tomboyish laugh. He wasn’t sure if it was pity or genuine but he’d take it either way. She finally looked up, getting the final suds out of her hair. She grabbed the towel that lay in the grass and started drying her hair vigorously. Ralph took notice of the Superman shirt she sported. He hadn't met many girls that liked to wear superhero shirts. None of the girls back home would do that. Maybe that's why girls always seemed like such aliens.

"So either you like Superman or you're looking at my boobs. Considering these are solid A's, I doubt it’s the latter. So you like Kal-El?" she said, throwing Ralph off completely. He could hardly make a sentence in his own head, much less with his mouth. The longer he stayed silent, the more suspicious he looked in his motives. Ralph knew this yet he still couldn't manage a word.

"Okay, maybe you were looking at my boobs -- or lack thereof."

"No, no, no! Sorry, my brain just kinda locked up," Ralph finally blurted out, figuring honesty was probably the best option. At least, that's what his mom would always say.

"So your answer is. . ." she was still playing with him, wanting to see how he got out of this situation.

"Oh yeah, I'm big into Superman. Christopher Reeves though, not that Henry Cavill stuff," he added, wondering if he'd just made his second friend this morning. Maybe this camp thing wouldn’t be all too bad.

"Oh god,” she exclaimed, “Do not even get me started. Man of Steel has got to be one of the worst superhero movies I have ever seen. That was like Daredevil bad. It's like the director of some cheesy action movies with a fetish for slow-mo decided to never read the source material or look at the previous movies."

This comforted Ralph, immediately responding with a passionate, "Yeah, what a mess. Literally. How many buildings did they have to destroy in that end fight? Hell, Smallville pretty much just isn't even a town anymore. It's just rubble. So we are now supposed to cheer for a guy that lets his home town get completely destroyed -- massively aiding in the destruction in fact."

"I'm pretty sure the Superman we all know and love would be smart enough to not take down skyscrapers full of people," she said, finally done drying and deciding to wrap the towel around her head.

"At least half a million people died during that fight. At least," he said, gurgling at the end as he rinsed his mouth of toothpaste.

"And then he's so fucking upset that he has to kill Zod, the guy who just tried to destroy the world, right after not being upset at all over the hundreds of thousands of human beings that were crushed to death due to that little scrap. How heroic." The sarcasm rolled off her tongue with ease.

"And don't even get me started on Lois Lane in that movie. She makes some of the stupidest decisions ever, yet we're supposed to commend her for being so brave. For what, wandering off in the middle of the Arctic and being lucky enough to stumble upon an alien spacecraft, where she moves through the world like an idiot in a horror movie. 'That's a big alien spacecraft. Better go explore it!'"

"Margot Kidder was so much better. My boyfriend is insane and swears that Kate Bosworth was the best Lois Lane. He said 'She resembled the comics Lois the most' or some crap. She’s a go-getter willing to take calculated risks; not scaling a glacier at 2am. I promptly drug tested him shortly after but the results came back negative," she said, laughing. Ralph was still recovering from the use of the word boyfriend. Sure, he didn't even know this girls name but she was actually into Superman. And good Superman too! It was hard to not be at least a little disappointed. Still, at least he met someone he could talk to. And a girl at that. Plus who knows, maybe it could turn into something down the road.

"Do they have tests for insanity? Because you might need to do that. As much as I hate Man of Steel, I may hate the Superhero Soap Opera known as Superman Returns even more," Ralph said, trying to steer away from the boyfriend.

"Tell me about it. I about ended things the moment I found out but he likes Doctor Who so he's not all that bad." She looked over at her cabin where the over-enthused counselor was corralling the girls into lines, trying to get them all ready to go to breakfast. "Well, well, well. Looks like it's my cue to leave. It was nice meeting you. . ."

"Ralph. . . Lieber. And you--"

"Sally. If you can remember that then I'll love you forever. Everyone always seems to remember it as Sandy or Sarah. Even got a Sal once, which I guess is right, but I think grandpa thought I was a boy the last couple years of his life so I’d still count it as a miss."

"Would dream of forgetting," he said, but she didn't give him a response. Was that too much?  Was she weirded out by it? He didn't have time to ask, not that he would have, because before he knew it she was sprinting off to her line for breakfast.

"Ralph!" someone yelled from off in the distance. Ralph looked towards it and spotted Santa, waving his hands, trying to get his attention, "We gotta go to breakfast, dude."

Ralph made it back in just enough time to grab his glasses off his bunk. He quickly joined up with his group, headed by Louie, and then marched over to the flag pole to begin the day’s activities. First there were a couple of morning rituals to be had, something that caught him off-guard, but it made sense quickly given where they were lined up.

The pledge of allegiance was harder for Ralph to remember than he thought. It was even harder for him to recall when the last time was that he even had to recite it. Probably elementary school. It just wasn't something that ever entered his life. Maybe if he was more into sports then he'd have been exposed to it more. Instead a slight chuckle came to his body, drawing an intense stare of disapproval from one of the counselors. He couldn't help it, the whole thing seemed silly. He half expected to go start coloring or craft something out of construction paper.

Ralph was half-expecting a prayer or moment of silence but instead Big Al stepped out from the main office and moved to the head of the lines. He had a big huge smile on his face, calling some of the guys 'sport' as he passed by. Ralph noticed the huge name tag that read "Big Al” firmly attached to the breast of his shirt. Finally settling in, and receiving a happy greeting from his counselors, Al looked out on the camper’s with a massive grin, soaking in the surroundings.

"The first official day. It's exciting isn't it? Couldn't have asked for a better morning, could we,”

“Absolutely not, beautiful morning,” the chipper woman behind him said.

“Yes, Carol, the best.” Al seemed to think the question was rhetorical given his annoyed look when Carol spoke up.

They were right though, it certainly was a beautiful morning. The fog was starting to fade and streaks of light shown down on the lake, giving it an ethereal glow.  Any place that can look like this can't be that bad.

"And while I wish that every day would be as beautiful as this one, I know that's just not likely. Now, now I'm not trying to be a gloomy Gus.  Some days are going to be brighter and warmer than others but I promise you, the good days will outweigh the bad ones. Just like your experience here at Watanka. Don't let a few things get to you and ruin your time.”

“Beautifully said,” Carol chimed in again. Ralph noticed Louie at the back, barely able to contain his laughter, causing some of the other counselors to smile and chuckle to themselves.

“Now, there’s a couple things that I need to go over. Yes, the rumors are true and given the massive heatwave hitting us this summer, we’ll be providing extra swimming time,” Al paused, waiting for applause but only receiving it from the counselors, mostly Carol. “And I also wanted to announce the addition of new activity! Thanks to our friend Keith over there, we’re going to be able to reopen an old classic. The Archery range!”

This actually drew some excitement from the camp. Ralph had overheard the previous night that the Archery range had been closed because someone was murdered there. He didn’t believe it, especially given that it came from the Belar twins, and needed clarification. So he went to Louie about it and his laughter was all Ralph needed to know that he had been ribbed. Stupid twins.

“Yes, yes it’s very exciting. As some of you know, I’ve been wanting to bring that range back for years but lack of equipment just wouldn’t allow it. Step in, Mr. Tucker over there who has graciously donated several bows and dozens of arrows. Yes, he’s been a swell addition to the crew. I think he might have something to say,” Al said and motioned Keith over to join him.

“I’ve been bow hunting since I was about nine so I know my way around a bow and arrow,” Keith said, “Al has been gracious enough to provide me with the opportunity to pass on this fun hobby to you. I mean, who doesn’t want to say that they learned how to shoot an apple off their friend’s head?”

Al’s eyes grew wide and Ralph could just imagine the number of lawsuits that Al could see in his mind after that comment.

“I’m kidding,” Keith interjected, “That’s not really what we’re going for. I welcome anyone that wants to come join. I promise it’ll be a blast.”

Keith looked at Al, clearly no longer wanting to talk, which Al happily obliged him, sending him back to his group.

“So y’all have that to look forward to. We’ve also obviously got rock climbing, kayaking, and . . . pottery, amongst other things. So you can. . .”

The sirens started subtly but then their presence was felt more and more as the source drew closer and closer. At first Ralph just assumed it would start to fade, an ambulance passing through to a nearby town, but instead the sound just grew louder and louder until finally the headlights emerged through the morning dew, a pair of flashing red and blue lights up top. The police vehicle was driving up the dirt road with some urgency, drawing a look of concern from Al.

In fact, all the counselors looked a little worried. Marion was whispering something to Al. It looked like Louie tossed a baggie of something into the bushes, but of what, Ralph couldn't be sure. Carol just stood, hands behind her back, rocking backwards and forwards, heels to toes. She seemed amused by all of the excitement more than anything. 

"Maybe we should get these hungry campers to breakfast," Al suggested, his voice booming.

Carol agreed, starting to usher the campers towards the dining hall. The other counselors followed suit. Except for Marion who followed Al to the cop, who had just exited his vehicle. His partner stayed in the vehicle, doing something on the laptop. The cops seemed suspicious of the camp, but Ralph wasn't sure if he was just reading into things. Cops always intimidated him and seemed like they were sniffing out trouble. Even though Ralph was far from a troublemaker, his fear of the law was real.

While Al and the Marion sorted out the situation with the cops, Ralph was ushered into the dining hall with the rest of the campers. No one knew what was going on but that didn't stop the rumor mill from churning up ridiculous theories.

"Alice told Tommy that Nancy said they found a bunch of marijuana plants out in the woods and that they belong to Al. Said that's how he's been making his money all these years and that the camp is just a front. He must be loaded and he's just stuffing it all away, waiting to run off to Aruba or something."

"I heard that they found a bunch of kiddie porn on Al's computer so they're here to take him away. Probably why he runs this camp. Gets pictures of us boys for his collection. God, I can’t even imagine how many cameras are around here."

"No, no, no. You're wrong. They came because Al murdered his wife. See, he decided he finally had enough and took her out back and wam. That’s why he's been so happy."

"Al doesn’t have a wife."

"Exactly."

Ralph found it amusing that no matter who was telling the story, the reason the cops were here was always to get Al for something. It wasn't like Al was a bad guy, but no one liked to see authority crumble more than a bunch of pre and pubescent kids. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been too bad because the police left without taking Al. Or doing anything. In fact, Al seemed to be in an even better mood after the police had left.

Getting his breakfast -- two waffles doused in syrup and three sausages -- Ralph made his way over to Santiago, who was saving him a spot.

"I don't know man, you really think it's not at least a little real?" Santiago was engaged in conversation with the boy to his right. Ralph thought his name was Chase.

"No it absolutely is fake. It more like a simplistic ballet routine sometimes featuring tables . . . or ladders . . . or chairs," Chase said.

"Those hits are real as hell though man. They be like bam, bam!" Santiago mimed chair shots, even giving his own reaction to receiving a chair shot, something that required flailing arms that ended up hitting the poor girl next to him.

"If you keep doing stuff like that, I'll argue wrestling with you any day," Chase laughed. The girl Ralph had seen by Chase's side the night before came out of nowhere and took Chase away, whispering something into his ear. Whatever it was, they left in a rush.

"Probably going for a bit of the ole in out," said Santiago, right when the two were out of earshot.

At first Ralph didn't get the joke, shooting Santa a look of confusion. By the time he got it, Santa had already moved on, mentioning something about basketball. Eventually, the conversation ended up exactly where Ralph had expected it to: the police that morning.

“I don’t know, it all seems pretty normal to me,” Santa shrugged it off, “If there was actually a problem then someone would have been arrested. That’s how it works.”

“Still it could’ve been something serious,” stated Ralph.

“And you’re worrying about it, why?” Santa asked. And he was right. Why was Ralph worrying about why they were there? It didn’t matter so long as everything was okay. And the police left didn’t they? They wouldn’t have just up and left and things weren’t okay. So it had to be fine.

“You’re right, it’s stupid.”

“Chances are they just found weed on one of the counselors. Hell, did you see how much Louie was sweating during all that? I think that one brunette girl snagged the bag that he ditched. You

But there Louie was, standing over with Keith, and he looked as calm as can be. In fact, it was Keith that seemed to be nervous and freaking out. They were speaking in hushed tones but Ralph could see it on their faces that something had happened. His curiosity got the best of him and he started over towards them, wanting to find out for himself. Upon reaching them, Keith was ready to leave, brushing past him and saying to himself under his breath “I am so fucking dead.”

“What was that about?” Ralph asked.

“Don’t worry about it. He’s just having a rough day,” said Ralph, taking a huge swig of coffee.

“What’s there to worry about? Is that why the cops were here today?” Ralph asked these questions at lightning speed, drawing a look of ire from Louie.

“Woah there, easy detective. Nah, man. Don’t worry about it. What can I do for you . . . Ralph.” Louie said this last part as if he was just drawing a name out of an invisible hat and just lucky to guess the correct one.

“I was . . . uh,” he stumbled over his words, trying to think of something, “I was just wondering if there’d be time to go back to the cabin, I forgot some sunscreen.”

“Sunscreen?” Louie asked, befuddled, “You realize Santiago has some, right? You know, in that place you were just sitting?”

Sure enough, there sat a big bottle of sunscreen right where Santa was sitting.

Congrats Ralph, you are the world’s worst liar. Also, unimaginative.

The rest of the morning went pretty seamless, with the excitement from the police slowly fading with the rising sun. Ralph went with his group to the kayaks, the first activity of the day. He was excited for it at first until Louie that explained since it involved being in the water, they'd have to go over safety protocols. It's not like it mattered though, his parents already signed his life away, giving up any right to sue outside of negligence. This was all just window dressing.

By the time Louie was finally done going over safety, it had gotten hot. So hot that Ralph could feel every piece of clothing he had on, sticking to his body. Did I remember to put on deodorant? Ralph thought to himself, trying to subtly check and make sure he had no pit stains. He was relieved when he saw that he didn't but quickly suspicious when an odor hit his nostrils. Was that him? Or was it one of the other campers? Ralph squeezed his arms to his body, trying to avoid letting the smell escape.

So Ralph's mind was a little preoccupied when Keith had brought his group over to join Louie's shortly before lunch. He said he needed to make a phone call and that it was really important. Ralph would go and ask Louie but he knew he’d be receiving the same derision as before. Whatever it was, Ralph still didn't know enough to put anything together. Outside of Keith’s short outburst, it was all a mystery.

So while Ralph had listened in, making sure not to miss out on any vital information, all he could think was, You are so fucking dead.

END CHAPTER TEN

NEXT CHAPTER: "KEITH"