Dirt and sun. Nothing but the pair of them for miles. A small speck was visible through the bus windshield, and the further we traveled down the dirt road, leaving dust behind us, it seemed to slowly get bigger.
"Camp Green Lake"
The place where they sent the teenagers that couldn't be controlled, or 'bad seeds' as my mother put it. I didn't think that I needed to be here, in fact I was surprised that I had gotten into any trouble at all.
My wrists were beginning to get bruised from the handcuffs that were put on to tight back in Houston. But what did they care if I lost all feeling in my hands. Ok so I was exaggerating just a little bit but really, wouldn't you think that they would be treating me just a little differently since I was going to be the first girl at this all boys camp?
Nope, this was the big time as my father had put it. I had apparently reached the limit of what my parents could put up with and was sentenced to 12 months at this camp.
As we got closer it started to look more like a penitentiary to me. Guys, all wearing orange jumpsuits, were walking around. Some of them were showering in what looked like a shower, but it didn't look to much like it, and the others were just lounging about. It didn't look at all what I expected it to be, well a lake might of been nice since the name of the camp was Green LAKE. But now I was in the middle of no where.
The bus pulled to a stop and the officer who had handcuffed me to the pole in front of the seat walked back and undid them. I hastily started rubbing my wrists as he ordered me to get off the bus.
When I did I immediately wished that I hadn't. The boys were staring at me. Maybe it was because I was wearing a white wife beater and a black bra. Maybe it was my tight faded jeans. Or maybe it was because I was the first girl they had seen for months.
I heard a few whistles and hoot's from the guys as I followed the officer into a small shack of a building where an older man was crunching on sunflower seeds.
"Sit." He barked and I was in no mood to disobey.
"Scotty Jerald. The first girl that Camp Green Lake has ever had."
I think he was trying to make a joke, but it was hard to be sure.
"You are to call me Mr. Sir. Any time you speak to me you will call me by my name. Is that understood?"
"Yes Mr. Sir," I replied in the most bored voice that I could come up with.
"Now follow me." He got up and lead the way outside and down a deck to another room. A tall slick haired guy was standing in there, with a bored look plastered all over his face and immediately straightened up when Mr. Sir entered the room.
"You will have two pairs of clothes, one is for work, the other for relaxation. In three days you'll wash your work clothes and then your other pair will become your work clothes. You understand?"
"Yes Mr. Sir."
He grabbed a two pair of orange jumpsuits and tossed one to me.
"Get this on."
"Only if you turn around." Did he forget already that I was a girl?
"I'm getting ready to leave in a minute, ever day you will dig a hole, five feet deep and five feet in diameter. Your shovel is your measuring stick. You understand?"
"Yes Mr. Sir."
"Alright, Pendanski will be in here in a minute to show you around. If you need anything, well you better just not need anything." He said with a stupid smirk before leaving me with the slick haired guy.
He had to be about 17, a year older than me, and he just watched me as I set down my bag and started to undress in front of him.
It didn't bother me, well it did to a certain extent, but I was here for one reason and this guy wasn't it. I pulled the orange jumpsuit over my bare legs and tied it around my waist, I left on my wife beater and sat down on the floor to tie up the boots that they made me exchange my converse for.
I made the mistake of sitting with my back to him and as soon as I got my boots tied I stood up and stretched my arms. Almost immediately I was grabbed from around my waist and shoved into the crates that held everything.
"You stupid bitch get off me." I said trying to kick time, but he pinned me down with his hips.
"It's been a while since I've got to touch a girl." He said, running his hands down my collar bone and gently grazing one of my breasts.
"Get your greasy hands off me pig," I screamed, wiggling is his grip.
That's when one of my feet made contact with his shin. He grunted a little but didn't back down, instead grabbed me around the throat and lifted me a few inches above the ground. I clawed at his fingers but it did no good.
"You'll learn who to respect around here girl if you don't want to wake up in a six foot hole.
But he didn't finish his threat, someone had grabbed him and pulled him off me. I slid down onto the floor, still rubbing my throat but otherwise fine.
"Leave her alone Rocky. Mom's on his way and you'll get a longer sentence."
The guy called Rocky just glared at me before walking back around the desk. The guy who had come to my rescue offered me a hand off the floor.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"What's going on in here?" Asked a scrawny little man from the door way.
I picked up my bag as the guy replied a simple nothing.
"Well Scotty, I see that you've already met Ricky, let's go get you introduced to the rest of your tent mates." Said the man, I followed him out beside Ricky.
"The names Zigzag." He whispered before we reached a tent.
The man you I guessed was Dr. Pendanski lead the way inside.
"This will be your cot, and this is -" But the other guys in the tent cut him off with the introductions.
"Arm pit"
"X-Ray"
"Magnet"
"Squid"
But the boy in the cot closest to the door didn't say anything.
"And that's Zero" Said the overweight kid who said that his name was arm pit.
"They all have their little nickname but I prefer to use the names that their parents gave them."
"The one's society will recognize us for, yadda yadda yadda, we've heard it Mom." Snickered X-Ray. He seemed to be the leader of their little group.
"Well just make sure that Scotty here feels welcome." He said before leaving. I didn't think that he liked being corrected by the boys he was supposed to be counseling.
I tossed my stuff down on to the cot that was covered with a thin blanket. It was already hot as hell and it was only almost dinner time.
All the guys were sitting on their own beds, just watching me. It was really annoying, but since I had the bed closet to the back, right beside ZigZags bed, I was able to turn around and stare at the tent until the dinner bell rung.
One more thing to deal with. . . More boys.
