Moment Three - A New Beginning

The final moment came months later, after Caveman arrived and stirred shit up. At first I told myself that it was the rain that was the third moment, but then I realized that it was only a piece of it. The rain symbolized a new beginning; it washed away all the bad things in my past and now I could start over as a new person. I even made Caveman call my mom for me and apologize.

A new beginning.

We stayed at Camp Green Lake for another week after Caveman and Zero went home. We thought after they left and the Warden was arrested that we'd be able to just relax and not worry about digging holes but that wasn't the case. On the second day, big trucks carrying construction workers and equipment were brought in and they started ripping the place apart. It's too bad they weren't prepared for the harshness of CGL because five hours after they started, us campers were being called out to start digging again.

It wasn't as bad as before. This time, we were allowed breaks whenever we wanted and they had a huge container of Gatorade that we were free to drink from. That continued for six more days until the big government guy got a call saying that Camp Green Lake was closed for good and we were going to be sent home. Again, this was only a piece in the third moment.

Of course, I packed up my toothbrush and the still full bottle of shampoo and boarded the big yellow bus with no intention of ever coming back. The seven hour bus ride was hot as hell and we were seated three to a seat but I didn't mind. All that mattered was the fact that this was the moment when I'd say goodbye to a life of crime and start my new life.

The guys and I talked for hours, just about home and what we would be doing. Most of us admitted that we'd apologize to our parents, finish up community service with smiles on our faces and try to make the best of a bad situation. Armpit even said he'd send a gift basket full of soap or something to the guys he attacked. Magnet of course responded with, "You're the one who needs a gift basket full of soap, man."

And then we decided that the first thing we would do was buy Armpit a gift basket full of soap.

The hours passed quicker than I thought and before I knew it, we were reaching the city limits. By then, the yelling and loud chatter had calmed down to excited whispers. "This is it man, a new beginning. Am I right?" X-Ray grinned and slugged me on the arm.

"Right." I agreed, chewing nervously on my toothpick. "Man, I'd never thought I'd say this but I can't wait to see my mom again."

"Don't get all sappy on me now, Squidly." X-Ray sniggered. "But I'm excited for you. It's about time you stopped all your crying." I blushed hard at that. I didn't know anyone other than Caveman heard my cries at night.

I didn't say anything for the rest of the trip. Not even as the yellow bus pulled into the station and I could see all the excited faces of parents waiting for their kids. I could make out a few obvious ones: Zigzag's mom had the same long, bobbing neck, and Magnet's dad was a short Hispanic with a tattoo sleeve. As I scanned the crowd, I couldn't spot my mom, but then again, it was a huge crowd and my mother was short. She probably blended right in.

"Do you see her?" X-Ray asked and I shook my head. "I think I see my brother - oh man, that's him! That's my brother!" I looked over to where he pointed. His brother was small and skinny with short hair and slightly resembled the kid from Karate Kid.

X-Ray didn't even wait for the doors to open before he shot off, climbing over the seats and prying the doors open with his hands. I was sitting at the back so I could see as X-Ray shoved his way through the crowd and yanked his brother in for a hug. I think his name was Leo? He occasionally talked about Leo to either me or Armpit but no one else.

Campers started pushing their way through the doors, running to their families and being yanked in for hugs. When I finally exited the bus, there was only tears, snot, and love. I hopped off the steps and scanned the crowd for my mother. Where was she?

I pushed my way through the crowd, occasionally calling her name as I looked for her blonde head of hair. I felt a hand grab my arm and whipped around excitedly but it was only Zigzag. "Hey, dude, where's your family?"

"I don't know, man. I don't see her." I responded.

"Alan!"

I didn't even take into consideration that the voice calling me clearly wasn't my mothers; it was a mans. His voice was deep and raspy but familiar. For the second time, I whipped around. It was definitely not my mother.

The man was tall with big brown eyes, ruffled brown hair and an easy smile on his face. He has laughter lines by his eyes and his bushy eyebrows were relaxed. It was my father.

My entire body froze and the toothpick fell from my mouth. Zigzag followed my gaze and gasped when he spotted the man. "He looks exactly like you..." I don't think the words were meant to be said but once they were out, there was not taking them back. He was right though. I looked like a younger version of him.

"Alan!" My father grinned and jogged up to me, pulling me in for a hug. "You have no idea how much I've missed you, buddy."

He missed me. He didn't want to leave.

I hugged him back and buried my face in his shirt, fighting the tears that begged to escape. When we finally pulled away, he still had that easy smile on his face. "Alan, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. We have so much to catch up on but let's not do that here. What do you say we go get something to eat?"

"Y-yeah, sure." I stuttered as he slung an arm around my shoulders.

"What about ice cream?"

And that's when it all came back to me. He was gone for twelve years of my life. For twelve years, he had my believe that he was just out to get ice cream. No note. No explanation. He didn't even have the decency to sign a fucking divorce paper and now he expects me to fall right back into his life?

"What did you just say?" I asked in a hollow voice. He didn't see my hand curl into a fist.

"I said we should go get some ice cream. Strawberry's your favorite, right?"

All the pain and the scars and the nights I spent on the street. He did that to me. This entire time I thought it was my fault. That somehow I was the reason for him leaving but all this time, I was blaming myself for his mistake. I was four. Four years old. He left a toddler to a broken mother and still has the fucking audacity to pretend like nothing happened?

No. I would not let him walk right back into my life like I'm an amusement park; entertaining for a while but the second a cloud appears, everyone leaves.

I slowly turned to him with anger brewing in my eyes. "Are you okay, buddy-"

My fist slammed into his face and he was sent flying back. Everything went silent as they all turned to stare at me and the man lying shocked on the ground with blood rushing from his nose. "What the fuck, Alan?"

"You were gone for twelve fucking years and you expect everything to be okay?" I screamed and his face paled. "This entire time I was looking out for myself, blaming myself for you leaving but never once did I even think to blame you."

"Alan, that's no excu-"

"That's no excuse?" I laughed bitterly. "Because if I remember correctly - and trust me, I do - you took twelve years to get me a fucking ice cream cone. Is that a good excuse for abandoning your family? Abandoning your son to a woman who's had alcohol poisoning seven times?"

His mouth opened and closed, trying to find the words. But I wasn't finished yet.

"You cannot walk right back into my life, acting like nothing's wrong. You can't expect me to fall right back into place as your son, without even so much as a 'sorry.' You can't do that. Because you aren't sorry, and even if you are, you lost any right you had to be my father when you left. So just do what you're good at and leave. Because this time, I won't cry over it. This time, I won't blame myself because you're shit at being a father. So just go." I finished and everyone stared at me in shock. Especially him.

Jake pulled himself to his feet, wiping the blood on his sleeve. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it a second after and turned around. Fifteen seconds later, he had rounded the corner and was gone from my life. For good.

It started off with Zigzag slowly clapping, and then X-Ray joined in. Then Magnet, Armpit and soon enough, everyone was clapping and cheering for me. I stared at the crowd of strangers in disbelief. They... they supported me?

That was the final moment - the moment I realized that one person could not control my life. One person could not dictate where I go and how I feel because only I can do that. It's time I take control of my life and do what I want to do.

This was a new beginning for me. And no one was going to change that.

Fin.