Camp Green Lake:
Tent A: Striker, Mastiff, Scourge, Stigma, Spit, Bone, Pig
Tent B: Alpha, Finch, Lump, Griz, Ripper, Puppy, Dynamite
Tent C: Cracker, Squirt, Spike, Ace, Tox, Matchbox, Tiger
Tent D: X-Ray, Squid, Armpit, Magnet, Zigzag, Zero, Caveman (me)
Tent E: Boo, Easy, Snail, Toad, Drooler, Twiddle, Blue
Counselors: Ms. Lewis (Tent A), Ms. Quigley (Tent B), Ms. Mogensen (Tent C), Dr. Pendanski (Tent D), Ms. Rockton (Tent E)
Other staff: Mrs. Ma'am (Louise Walker), The Warden (Warden Wood)
I was on my way to 18 months at Camp Green Lake, in a Texas Youth Authority bus, with four of my friends. Three of us were white, and the other two African American. We had been found guilty of committing a group crime. We snuck over to the local volunteer fire department one night, and shot the siren that was on their roof with four guns, while it was going off. The siren fell to the ground, and we were busted. The judge gave us the choice of prison or Camp Green Lake. We chose Camp Green Lake. There wasn't much to see on the 9-hour drive. Mostly just fields of hay and cotton. The bus wasn't air conditioned, and the heat was almost as stifling as our handcuffs. We were on the same road for most of the trip. Eventually, it turned from paved to gravel. After 9 hours, I could see several buildings in the distance, and beyond them, I saw a lake. There were literally hundreds, if not thousands, maybe even millions of holes in the ground, some with boys in orange jumpsuits digging in them. As we approached the buildings, I noticed a sign that said TOWN OF GREEN LAKE. There were only 2 other people on the bus, besides us. The driver, who was an older, slightly-overweight man, and the guard. The guard sat across from the driver, wearing sunglasses. A rifle lay across his lap. The bus hit a bump, and slowed down. "Welcome to Camp Green Lake," the guard sighed. The bus came to a stop. The guard unlocked my handcuffs, and it felt good. "Thanks for the ride," I said to the driver. "Boys, follow me," said the guard.
We got off the bus. "Yo! Fresh meat!" I heard someone yell. The guard led us into a small building. A sign on the door said OFFICE. A woman in her early-50s was sitting with her feet up at a desk, watching the news on a small TV. She had red hair and lots of freckles on her face. Even though she was inside, she wore a cowboy hat and sunglasses. "What's with the M&Ms?" the guard asked. I saw there was a huge bowl of peanut butter M&Ms on her desk. "I quit smoking last month," said the woman in the cowboy hat. She had a tattoo of a rattlesnake on her right arm, its rattle seemed to move as she signed our files.
The woman in the cowboy hat took handfuls of peanut butter M&M's, and ate them. She drank a Soda bottle. "Sean Williams, Dylan Richardson, Quentin Harris, Michael Thomas, and Jay Jackson" she said, looking at us. There must have been a small refrigerator behind her desk, because the woman in the cowboy hat produced two more bottles of Soda. That made me even more aware of my thirst. She gave both to the guard, but said one was for the driver. "My name is Mrs. Ma'am. Whenever you speak to me, you will call me by my name, is that clear?" "Uh, yes Mrs. Ma'am," we all said. I had to bite the inner parts of my cheeks to stop myself from laughing at the dumb name. Mrs. Ma'am stood up. She was at least 6 foot, and looked even taller, since we were all shorter than her.
She walked out the office door, and we followed her. The camp looked like it was once a town. I guess it technically still was, because of the sign. "Look around here, boys" she said to us. "What do you see? Any guard towers or fences? Go ahead, start running away, I won't stop you." "I'm warning you!" she yelled at a boy standing on a porch outside one of the other buildings. There were five large, black tents. They each had a white letter on them. There were tents A-E. There was also an F tent, but it said STAFF ONLY under the letter F.
We then noticed that she had a revolver in a holster on her belt. "Oh, don't worry" she said, tapping her holster. She pulled the revolver out. "This here's for yellow-spotted lizards, I wouldn't waste a bullet on you." "We're not gonna run away, Mrs. Ma'am," Quentin says. "Good thinking, boys" she said. No one runs away from here. Do you know why? Cause there's no city for 100 miles. You wanna run away? You'll be buzzard food in three days." We walked into a small building labeled LIBRARY. Inside the building there was a washer, dryer, and lots of lockers.
A boy with "Lump" written on his jumpsuit was working. "Hi Mrs. Ma'am," Lump says. We each got two jumpsuits. Both were orange from head-to-toe, with a yellow-orange T-shirt and yellow socks. "You are to dig one hole each day," said Mrs. Ma'am. "Five foot deep, five foot wide. Your shovel is your measuring stick. You need to keep alert for lizards and rattlesnakes." "Rattlesnakes?" Dylan asks. "You don't bother them, they won't bother you," Mrs. Ma'am said. "Getting bit by a rattler ain't the worst thing that can happen to you, you won't die. Usually. But you don't wanna get bit by a yellow-spotted lizard. That is the worst thing that can happen to you. You will die, a slow and painful death. Always."
We all stepped outside and were greeted by three women. The one on the left looked to be in her late-30s or early-40s, was about 5'3", and really dorky-looking, with long brown hair, a big sunhat, sandals, knee-high socks that met the bottom of her shorts, a T-shirt and vest, and too much sunscreen on her nose. The one in the middle looked a little younger, probably in her early-30s, with short blackish hair, a white T-shirt, blue jean shorts, and a pair of worn-out tennis shoes. The one on the right looked about 25, and was tall, but not as tall as Mrs. Ma'am, skinny, and had blonde hair that fell a few inches past her shoulders that was pulled back in a ponytail, a white muscle tank, khaki shorts, a pair of black Adidas soccer sandals, and had on a pair of rectangular Ray-Ban sunglasses. "She's hot!" Dylan whispered, pointing to the blonde one.
"Boys, these are your counselors," announced Mrs. Ma'am. "Dr. Pendanski for Tent D, Ms. Lewis for Tent A, and Ms. Mogensen for Tent C. Sean, you'll be with Dr. Pendanski in Tent D. Quentin and Jay, you'll be with Ms. Lewis in Tent A. And Dylan and Michael, you'll be with Ms. Mogensen in Tent C." I heard Dylan whisper "Yes! I got the hot one!" Michael smiled at that. "I don't wanna hear that again," said the blonde. I followed Dr. Pendanski, Quentin and Jay followed Ms. Lewis, and Dylan and Michael followed Ms. Mogensen. Dr. Pendanski was going on and on about her name, which was pronounced Pen-DANCE-key.
"You'll be in Tent D," said Dr. Pendanski. "D Stands for Dilligence. That's the Mess Hall, there's the Rec Room, and those are the showers. There's only one knob 'cause there's only one temperature, cold. And that's the Warden's Cabin over there," she said, pointing to a small house, with a hammock between two oak trees near it. The edge of the large lake was in front of us. Peach trees aligned the shore. "That's the number one rule at Camp Green Lake, do not upset the Warden," Dr. Pendanski told me. "Yeah, she seemed kinda…," I said, assuming that Mrs. Ma'am was the Warden. "Who?" asked Dr. Pendanski. "Oh, Mrs. Ma'am? Oh, She's not the Warden. She's just been in a bad mood 'cause she gave up smoking." "Hey Mom, who's the Neanderthal?" someone drawled.
I turned to see three boys. The one on the right was African American, with dreadlocks and black-rimmed glasses. The one in the middle was white, with shaggy brown hair, a toothpick in his mouth, and a towel wrapped around a baseball cap on his head. The one on the left was also African American but he was quite overweight, smelled really bad, and wore a dirty green hat. "This is Sean," said Dr. Pendanski. "So what's happening with Barf Bag?" asked the larger African American boy. "Oh, Louis won't be returning," said Dr. Pendanski. "He's still in the hospital." "Sean, meet Rex, Allan, and Theodore," she said, pointing to the boys in order from right to left. "Hi," I said. "Yo, my name is X-Ray," Rex said. "And that's Squid, that's Armpit," he said pointing to Allan then Theodore. "Her, she's Mom," Allan said, pointing to Dr. Pendanski."They all have their little nicknames," Pendanski chuckled. "But I prefer to use their proper names. The names society will recognize them by. Theodore, why don't you show Sean his cot." "Go ahead, Pit," X-Ray said.
We all went inside Tent D. There were seven cots on one side of the room, each one less than two feet from the next. On the other side, there were seven crates stacked up on top of each other, against the wall, the open side of the crates facing the cots. A bare light bulb hung from the ceiling. "Barf Bag slept here," Armpit said, patting a disgusting-looking cot with a dried stain on it. No wonder the boy who had slept in it previously was nicknamed Barf Bag. "Welcome to your new home, Sean," Dr. Pendanski said. "Keep your bed clean." She went to the Rec Room to get the other boys.
Dr. Pendanski returned with three other boys. The first two were introduced by her as Jose and Ricky. They called themselves Magnet and Zigzag. Magnet was Mexican, with a shaved head and bandanna. Zigzag was really tall, with crazy blonde hair and blue eyes. The last boy either didn't have a real name or else he didn't have a nickname. He was small, African American, maybe mixed with some other race, and had an Afro. Both X-Ray and Dr. Pendanski called him Zero. "You wanna know why we call him Zero?" Dr. Pendanski asked. "Because there's nothing going on in his stupid little head." She playfully shook Zero's hair. "Did you tell him about the lizards?" Zigzag asked. "Ricky, Mrs. Ma'am already told him," Dr. Pendanski said. "Hey his name's not Ricky," X-Ray corrected. "It's Zigzag, alright." "Sean, if you have any questions, just ask Theodore," said Dr. Pendanski. "Theodore will be your mentor, you got that Theodore?" She took Armpit's hat off. "Yeah Mom, whatever," Armpit said. "I'm depending on you," said Dr. Pendanski. "It should be no labor to be nice to your neighbor."
A bell rang. "Dinner," X-Ray shouted. We went to the Mess Hall. Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, and Magnet were standing on the porch. "Hey, Theodore, is there a place where I can fill my canteen with water?" I asked Armpit. Armpit grabbed me and put me in a headlock. "I know he smells bad," said Squid. "Yo, my name is not Theodore!" Armpit growled. He shoved me to the ground. Then, he bent down. "It's Armpit!" he said in my face. I got up. "There's a spigot on the water tower next to the showers," he said. There was a tall water tower next to the showers, with a spigot on the bottom of it. I went over to it, and filled my canteen. "Thanks, Armpit," I said. "Whatever," Armpit said.
We got back in the Mess Hall. Unlike the counselors, all of the cooks were men. The menu was announced on the PA system. "Hot dogs, Hamburgers, Apples, Boston Cream Donuts, Cookies-and-Cream Milkshakes, Chicken Fingers, French Fries." "Hey, Sean, here! This is where you sit," said Zigzag. "So what'cha in here for?" asked Squid. "Me and four friends who are also here, in different tents, shot the siren at a fire department," I said. "That's right," said Dylan, who was sitting two tables away from us. "That's a safety risk," said Armpit. "They already did it," said X-Ray. Dylan and Quentin both walked over. "I love Ms. Mogensen," said Dylan. "She's definitely the hottest counselor here." "Ms. Lewis is good looking, too," said Quentin.
10:00 was bedtime. Armpit snored so loudly it was hard for me to sleep. Squid passed gas in his sleep. While I was asleep, I had a dream of a flashback of my life. "It's all because of your no-good-dirty-rotten-cow-stealing-great-great-grandfather," my grandpa said, at the dinner table. "That's who sealed our destiny." "There is no curse on this family," my mother insisted. "There's at least one on the men in this family," said my father. "What about your father, the first Sean Williams?" my mother asked my grandpa. "He wasn't so unlucky, he made a fortune in the stock market." "Some luck," said my grandpa. "But then he lost everything," said my father. "He was robbed, his wife murdered, by Kissin' Kate Barlow!" "Are you kidding me?" I asked. "Did she kiss her?" "Oh no, she only kissed the men she killed," said my father. "She left him stranded in the desert, no water and no food for 16 days," my grandpa said. "She'd have kissed him, she'd have killed him. You'd never been born," my father said.