The next morning, the guys gave Stanley the honorary D-Tent wake up call. Magnet pulled the blanket off of him, X-Ray shoved him off of his cot into the mess of tangled sheets, and Squid threw a glass of ice-cold water in his face. (A role I think he enjoyed a little too much.)
We all laughed as Stanley sputtered and scrambled to stand up, also being startled by the blaring of Mr. Sir's loud, out-of-tune trumpet. "Wha- what's happening!" He tripped over the sheets at the foot of his cot, landing on the top of the mattress. He yanked the blankets off of him, realizing what was going on. "Yeah, thanks you guys." Sarcasm was all too apparent in his voice as he stood up and walked over to his suitcase to get dressed
I slid on a jumpsuit over a gray T-shirt, and pulled my hair back into a long braid. It was becoming easier to get up every morning, despite the trumpet and late nights. Actually having the energy to bother doing my hair was a milestone for me. It meant I was getting used to the camp routines. The digging wasn't so hard as when I'd started, and my hands were still soft, but in the process of becoming calloused over. It was almost a blessing not to be the new camper anymore.
Pushing away my thoughts, I joined the others at the library in time to watch Stanley grab the taped shovel.
Idiot
X-Ray immediately snatched it away and tossed a new one down at Stanley's feet. I grabbed a honey tortilla as Magnet came up to the new guy. "You picked the taped shovel. It's smaller than the rest of them."
Squid joined them, happily munching on breakfast. He patted Stanley on the shoulder. "Smaller shovel, smaller hole." He explained, and left him to walk next to me.
I wasn't hungry, and had only taken a few bites out of my tortilla. Normally, I would have scarfed it down on sight, but today I didn't feel so famished as soon as I woke up. Maybe because I was actually starting to eat more than bread and water during dinner. (Like I said, adjusting to camp.) Squid licked the honey off of his fingers from his previously finished tortilla, and stared at my barely touched breakfast. "You gonna eat that?" He asked.
I handed it to him, and we walked in comfortable silence to the digging site. The wind was starting to pick up, and sand was blowing all over the place. We all shielded our eyes against the dust before settling at the digging site a half mile away. Mr. sir pulled Stanley aside and gave him the usual song and dance of digging.
After he was given instructions, I watched as Stanley was struggled to get his shovel into the ground. After hacking at the dirt with the blade, he tried to hop on top of it, and fell almost immediately. Dust flew up around where he landed, settling in his curly brown hair.
"One down, ten million to go," Mr. Sir called over his shoulder as he started his walk back to camp. Stanley got up, dusted himself off, and emptied a bit of his canteen into the dirt. He then poked around with his shovel, turning up some dirt that had become softer due to the water.
There you go. I smiled and started my own hole. It wasn't long before the sun came out, but took more time for the blistering heat to settle in. The seemingly merciful sun had decided to give us a break that day.
It was about damn time.
It was 10:30 when half of my hole was done, and the rest of the guys were about in the same spot.....except for poor Stanley. He'd started his hole too close to both Zigzag's and Squid's and their dirt piles were beginning to form in Stanley's attempt at a hole.
"Hey, can you guys toss that somewhere else? It's getting in-" Stanley started.
"Shut up!" The guys cut him off.
"Yeah, watch where you're throwin' your dirt, Stanley." Squid snickered. The rest of us laughed along with him.
Stanley rolled his eyes. "Goddamn." He groaned.
We dug and dug and dug until Mom pulled up in the water truck. We all hopped out of our holes to get in line. Stanley got the place in front of Zigzag's.
Big mistake.
Zigzag took Stanley by the collar of his jumpsuit and pushed him down to the next person's spot. He was shoved all the way down the line until he ended up behind Zero in last place.
We all grabbed water from Mom, and went back to digging. Fifteen minutes later, Zero pulled himself out of his hole, slung his shovel over his shoulder and began the trek back. Stanley called after him, asking if he was really done. The rest of us explained that Zero was the fastest digger in the entire camp.
Stanley groaned, and went back to work "Stupid dirt, Stupid shovel." He mumbled under his breath as he tossed shovelfuls of sand into his pile.
I glanced over at Stanley's hole and cringed. He still had another three and a half feet to go. At this rate it would be sunset before he was finished. I swept the thought from focus and continued on my own hole.
"Stupid no- good, dirty, rotten pig stealing great great grandfather."
Hearing Stanley grumble about digging for the next twenty minutes was the motivation I needed to get out of there.
"Damn dehydration, damn sand, damn-" He continued for what seemed like an eternity.
After a few deserved complaints, he should have just sucked it up. Any more complaining after 2 minutes makes you a nuisance and you deserve whatever you have coming.
"Fu-!" Stanley continued.
In that case it was Squid tossing a handful of water at Stanley's face. "Goddammit! Quit your whining!" Squid menaced, standing over the new guy. "Just shut up, and take your punishment like a man." He scolded, stomping back to his hole, and grabbing his canteen. He barely picked up his feet as he sauntered back in the same direction Zero.
Way to make an exit.
Stanley wiped the water from his face, and stared right at me. "Your boyfriend's a real ass," he crossed his arms.
"Shut it, Stanley." I grumbled and went back to digging. "And he's not my boyfriend," I added.
It was another twenty minutes before I pulled myself out of my finished hole and walked to camp with Magnet. X-Ray had finished ten minutes before us. We left Zigzag, Armpit, and Stanley behind, X's silhouette in the distance to guide us.
When we finally reached the tents, I grabbed my stuff, went to take a shower in the warden's cabin, and met the guys in the wreck room. Zigzag was at his usual spot on the couch watching TV, and Armpit was grabbing a pool cue.
I plopped down next to Zig on the couch. The feeling of sitting down after digging for fourteen hours was like the equivalent of taking your bra off at the end of a super long day. Maybe better?
Nope, not possible
"Where's Stanley?" I glanced around the room.
"Probably still digging." Zigzag answered, his eyes remaining glued to the screen. "Still had a foot to go on either side when I left."
I instantly felt a pair of hands on my shoulders, and tensed up, preparing for another altercation with A-Tent neanderthals. I looked back, and was overwhelmed with relief to see Squid behind me. He grinned, and hopped over the back the the couch, plunking down next to me. He put an arm around me, and I laid my head against his shoulder, grateful for something to lean against.
"That was quite an exit you made earlier." I said, closing my eyes and trying hard not to teeter from consciousness to sleep.
"Guy was pissing me off." Squid scoffed.
"Not like he's any stranger to cold water." I replied, remembering Stanley's camp wake-up-call he'd received earlier that day.
"But he did make time from his bullshitting to tell your girlfriend what an ass you are." Zigzag added.
Squid looked over at Zig, then me. "Girlfriend, huh?" He smirked
I elbowed him in the stomach. "Shut up." A slight blush appeared on my cheeks
"What?" He snickered. "I kinda like it."
I rolled me eyes. "New guy's right, you are an ass."
"Proud of it, babe." Squid's smirk grew bigger. "And you're still sitting here, so that's telling me I don't have to change."
"Well, if you're gone, who'll defend us from the evils of bitchy complaining?" I shrugged. "I guess it's up to me to feed your ego. You know, for the greater good."
"If that's the way it has to be." Squid kissed me on the cheek. We all just sat there together watching what looked like an episode of New Girl. It wasn't long before I fell asleep on Squid's shoulder, and X-Ray's hand on my arm yanked me back into consciousness.
"Dinner." Was all he said before walking off in the direction of the mess hall. Squid pulled me up from the couch and we headed over to grab our food. My stomach growled in response to moving, and I started to walk a little faster.
Oranges, beans, rice, and white bread never looked so appetizing in my life. I scarfed it down quickly, barely paying attention to the conversations circulating our table.
Stanley had only wandered in a few minutes before Squid and I sat down. He was struggling to keep his eyelids open and each step he took looked like agony. He was dirty, like he'd been rolling around in the dust, sweat still clinging to his skin. When he plunked down at the table, a cloud of dust and sand shot up into the stale air.
"You look like hell, man." Magnet nudged him in the shoulder. "First hole's the hardest, right?"
"Yeah." Stanley barely mumbled. He grabbed his fork, and the muscles popping in his shoulder made the loudest crack. I cringed in response, stiff shiver spiraling up my spine. I couldn't stand when people cracked their bones or popped their muscles.
He and I both ate in synonymous silence while the rest of D-tent made loud conversation around the table until Mr. Sir inevitably kicked us out like he always did. After he screamed at us to get out, we all went back, and Stanley left to take a shower.
Magnet pulled out some cards, and we all played a few rounds of five card draw. I passed around a bag of mini Hershey bars that had come in the package my brother sent me a few days prior.
Squid laid next to me on my bunk while I put my multiple trios of cards on the floor to keep track of my points. I cuddled up next to him, resting my head on his chest, and he would whisper in my ear what to do when I couldn't figure it out. Eventually got, I got into the swing of things and he silently gave me kisses as I played,
until we heard a gunshot.
Stanley came running back to the tent, scared out of his mind. He threw his stuff down on his bunk, and sat down, resting his head in his hands.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" He tried to catch his breath.
Squid and I sat up.
"Man, what happened?" Armpit asked.
"I was- and then a- this lizard- Mr.Sir shot- I- oh my god- dead-!" Stanley stammered.
"Yellow spotted lizard?"
Stanley nodded.
Zigzag shot up from his cot, sprang over to Stanley, and stared him right in the eyes. "What color was its blood?" He smirked, intense blue eyes nearly sparking.
Stanley was at an even greater loss for words. "I don't-."
"Man, I wish I could've seen it!" Zigzag interrupted. "Bang!" He mimicked the sound of Mr. Sir's gunshot. Armpit snickered along with him.
"If Mr. Sir didn't shoot it-" X-Ray started.
"Stanley, you'd be in a hole." Magnet finished.
"Did you know each one's got exactly eleven spots?" Zig asked, eyebrows raised and psychotic smile more apparent than ever.
Squid turned to Stanley "But if you ever get close enough to count 'em..." He slashed a finger across his throat. "You're dead."
Armpit sat down in his cot and turned to Zigzag. "Man, it's the lizards we work for. We build their houses for 'em. Yesterday I saw like ten of 'em in one hole."
"We ain't digging for no lizards." X-Ray interjected.
"No? Then who are we digging for, man?"
"Like Mr. sir said, we're digging to build some character." X-Ray grinned.
We all burst out laughing, and continued with our card game while Stanley regained some composure. He was still spooked from the lizard, and none of us bothered to console him. That was, until Magnet seemed to take pity on him, and tossed the bag of chocolate over.
Stanley looked at the candy like one would look at a bright, colorful sunset after a cloudy day. Like the fireworks were to me, that chocolate was probably the most normal thing Stanley had seen since he got to camp. What a comforting thing that was. Much to everyone's objections, I told him he could have the rest of the bag, and in that moment, I think I was taking pity on him, too.
Squid must have noticed my concentration as I tried to figure it all out. He kissed me on the cheek and tilted my head so I was looking at him. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at me. "Whatcha thinkin'?"
I smiled and pressed a hand to his cheek softly, My thumb running over his cheekbone. "I'm just tired." I gave him a small smile.
Squid kissed me on the forehead, then my cheek, then my lips, and pulled a blanket over the both of us. "Me too." I laid my head on his chest, and felt his arm wrap around me, drawing me in even closer. "Night." He whispered before X-Ray turned out the light.