Camp Lore - 10. Chapter 10

Andy and I really didn’t have a chance to talk again till Wednesday. We’d nod and smile in the Mess Hall, but Saturday night, I needed to answer a letter from Katie, and I was pretty tired anyway so didn’t even follow Nate and the guys to the girls’ camp.

“Come on,” Steve said. “We never get caught. We go into the fields behind us, cross a couple of pastures, sneak under some wire fences, roll over a low stone wall, and we’re there.”

“It’s longer than the road,” Jim admitted. “But it’s off camp property, so Linden leaves us alone. And we stay on the edges of the fields, so the farmers never care.”

Sunday, I walked to the Rec Hall after dinner with the guys and went into the Canteen after the movie – it was new, and I’d seen it, but it was still a lot of fun. But Andy had to go back to his bunk with his kids before he was free, and after I danced with some girls for a while, I decided not to wait till he came back.

I was again kind of tired. I’d spent Sunday roaming the camp during the activity periods, looking at all the things the kids could do. There were six activity periods – two in the morning, three in the afternoon, and one short one after dinner – plus two general swims – one before lunch and one before dinner. The whole place was kind of amazing, and I’d had it entirely wrong. If I’d known, I probably wouldn’t have fought against my parents.

I apologized to them in a note I sent Sunday night, and they separately wrote back, “We tried to tell you.” But they didn’t push it, and I was grateful.

The camp was less restricted than the kinds of places you see in old movies and felt more like a small college or resort. Kids would sign up for activities and pick anything that was free. If it wasn’t, they’d choose something else they liked and try for the first thing later. Some areas were specialized and stayed open all day, so kids could do exactly what they wanted all summer. They could only ride horses. Or play soccer. Or be in plays – that’s how Greg said he got his start.

Monday night, after the game show that was the evening’s entertainment, I stayed in the Canteen for maybe a hour, mostly dancing or listening to people talk – I didn’t need any more snacks. But Andy didn’t show up. Tuesday, at lunch, he said he’d been on bunk duty, which counselors regularly traded off. A handful of them had to make sure the bunk lights stayed off after Lights Out, and the kids stayed in bed.

Tuesday night, I waited, and Andy was free, but we still somehow missed each other.

“Sorry. I got hung up with Keith – the head counselor...”

“I know who he is...”

“There was a problem with one of the kids’ medications, and...”

He just looked at me, then broke off.

“You don’t want to hear this.”

I shrugged. “No. Not really.”

And we both laughed.

“Anyway, I’ll see you tonight – I promise. I’ll be there right after we get the kids to bed.”

“Great.”

So Wednesday, we were both finally there, and Andy began with a funny story.

“Your friend Nate hit on me again last night.”

I laughed. “When did he become my friend?”

“Well, I see you talking with him all the time. You stand next to each other during the meals, leaning against the wall, with the same leg bent up behind you, and your soles on the paneling. You look like twins.”

“Sounds like you’ve been spying.”

“It gives me something to look at while making conversation with the kids.”

“Nate knows a lot about the camp. I just listen. Besides, I had almost everything wrong.”

“There’s a reverse.”

“Yeah.”

I smiled about that again.

“And you’re right,” I acknowledged. “He does talk a lot.”

“He didn’t last night.”

I looked at Andy, a little confused.

“You’ve lost me,” I said. “When was this?”

“When we met after the Canteen closed.”

“Sorry I missed you. I...”

“Don’t apologize. If you’d been there, this might not’ve happened. So I’d still be curious.”

I still didn’t understand, but said nothing. I knew he’d explain. Plus, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Though, eventually, I had to ask, “Yeah?”

He grinned.

“Sorry. I was messing with you. Sorry.”

“What happened?”

“Now you’re curious.”

He continued to grin.

“I was curious before, and you know it. Now stop being a jerk.”

He laughed.

“It turns out our friend,” he finally went on, “likes a particular activity – something I guess he can’t get as easily as you’d think.”

I waited. But so did he. Then he shrugged.

“There’s almost nothing more,” he admitted. “He’ll upzip his fly for you and let you play. But I’ll bet you couldn’t wrestle him out of his clothes.”

I hesitated.

“Did I tell you I was a wrestler?”

He shook his head.

“No. I was just grabbing an example.”

He waited.

“Are you?”

I laughed.

“I use to be. I quit last year. It hurt too much.”

He reached out and discreetly squeezed my nearest bicep, obviously playing. But it was the first time he’d purposely touched me.

We both smiled, and he said, “Nice.”

I laughed again.

“I’m not sure you could wrestle me out of my clothes, either. So don’t take that for granted.”

He just looked at me.

“I thought it was a given.”

I waited. Then shrugged.

“It may be. I haven’t thought it out yet.”

He laughed.

“Don’t think.”

I laughed.

“It gets me in too much trouble.”

“Tell me about it.”

But he wasn’t agreeing. He wanted details.

I simply grinned and shrugged. “Maybe another time.”

He bargained.

“I told you about Nate...”

“And I’m surprised at that,” I allowed. “I was sure he was straight.”

“He is – he just didn’t find the right girl last night.”

And we both laughed at that.

After we finished, I asked, “Why’d you do it then?”

He grinned.

“I’m always curious – I told you that. And I like to see guy’s faces.”

I considered.

“When they...?”

He nodded, and I tried to work out the logistics. I couldn’t.

“How do you...?”

He laughed.

“I’m not that curious. And I’m never unsafe. So I always finish with my...”

He wriggled his fingers.

“That way I can see how a guy looks.”

I balanced my curiosity with being rude.

“And?”

He hesitated.

“As I said. He gets very quiet.”

He smiled slightly.

“But he’s great to watch. It’s combination of repression and ecstasy.”

I looked across the room. Nate was sitting at a table with three girls – casually – and being the usual Nate. Joking. Laughing. Teasing. Flirting. Overall, happy. I couldn’t pull the images together.

I turned back to Andy – who’d been watching me watch Nate.

“Where?” I asked.

“What?”

“Where’d you go?”

He motioned slightly with his head.

“Out behind the parents’ cabins. There’s a dirt hiking path and a little clearing. With a bench.”

He grinned.

“Wanna see?”

I studied him, not uninterested. But I thought he’d be more subtle.

And maybe he was. Maybe he did just want to show me the bench.

Though I doubted it.

And suddenly, I was less interested.

“I don’t want to be added to your collection,” I half-joked.

And he instantly knew where he’d gone wrong.

“Oh. Hey. Rob. I didn’t mean that at all. Now I’m really embarrassed...”

It didn’t seem put on.

And I was interested again.

“If it happens,” I said quietly – we were still in the Canteen, even if covered by music. “If it happens at all, we’re gonna be equals.”

He thought for a moment.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

He thought some more. Then grinned.

“You’re somehow not as... Naive...? Inexperienced...? Innocent...? ...as I thought.”

I just laughed.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

Then I smiled.

But he was waiting for me to explain.

“Another time,” I told him quietly. And I grinned at him, then left.