How long had it been? Days? Weeks? Months? Who knows? Eddy had lost count. But that conversation on what the boys wanted to do with their lives still stuck in Eddy's mind like it had been yesterday. Maybe it had been yesterday. But Eddy was too tired to remember.
Now he was out on the lake again. And he was digging another hole. After Mr. Saito's conversation had died down, Eddy wondered why Mr. Saito had not asked him what he wanted to do with his life. What did he want to do with his life? Eddy always assumed that he would keep scamming kids for a zillion years and never get old by building a fountain of youth. Now he was starting to wonder if this would be his last day on earth.
He also couldn't figure out why everyone was so mean to Shade. From what Eddy could tell, Shade had done nothing to provoke anyone. He always just sat there, looking like he was asleep. So why all the abuse? Where did he even come from? Why was he at Camp Green Lake in the first place?
Eddy realized that he just couldn't answer any of those questions. He dug his shovel into the dirt.
After the conversation with Mr. Saito, Hacker told Eddy that he looked tired.
"Well, the first hole is the hardest," said Eddy.
"No, it's not," said Hacker. "The second hole is the hardest. No, wait. The third hole is the hardest."
Of course the third hole was the hardest. And the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth . . .
Eddy dug his shovel into the dirt.
But as he lifted the dirt on his shovel onto the pile, Eddy thought he saw something shimmer. At first, he thought it was nothing. But Eddy was always curious. He just couldn't get it out of his head. Soon, he found himself sifting through the dirt with his hands. They were now covered in rough calluses instead of blisters.
Suddenly, Eddy's hands hit something in the dirt. He pulled it out. It was half of a tube-like structure.But Eddy couldn't really tell what it was because it was covered in dirt.
He took a few drops of his precious water and used it to clean the little treasure that he'd found. As he cleaned it off, he got a better view of what it was. As the dirt ran off, gold shimmered underneath. It was half of a gold tube. What it was exactly, Eddy didn't know. But it did seem a bit familiar . . .
Suddenly, Eddy remembered a conversation he had with Hacker a few days after he had arrived at the camp.
It was about the third or fourth day, and Eddy was busy trying to get done sooner on his hole. He stopped when he realized that Hacker had stopped digging to watch him.
"Uh . . . you need something?" Eddy asked.
"Did Mr. Sanji tell you to report to either him or Mom when you found something . . . interesting?" asked Hacker.
"Yeah," said Eddy, remembering back to that first day.
"Well, if you find anything, give it to me, okay?" asked Hacker.
Eddy was confused.
"You heard Mr. Sanji," said Hacker. "If we find something the Warden likes, we get the rest of the day off. I've been here almost a year and I haven't found anything. It wouldn't be fair for a newbie like you to get a break and not me, right?"
Eddy thought for a second. Who could argue with Hacker's logic? "Uh . . . no, I guess not. Okay. If I find anything, I'll give it to you."
Hacker smiled. Eddy wished he could see Hacker's eyes through those dirty glasses of his. "You're a good guy, Moneybags," he said. Then Hacker went back to digging his hole.
The next time Mr. Saito came by to fill the canteens, Eddy was about to take his place at the back of the line, when Hacker told him to move up a step, behind Beast Boy, but in front of Shade. Eddy smiled. He was actually being accepted.
"What'cha got there, Moneybags?"
Rubberman's voice snapped Eddy out of his thoughts. He looked up at the straw-hatted boy with the big eyes, then back down at the half-tube.
"Uh . . . I think I might have found something," said Eddy.
"Let me see," said Rubberman.
But instead of showing it to Rubberman, Eddy got out of his hole and walked over to Hacker. He showed the bespectacled boy the tube.
Hacker wiped his glasses (even though it did nothing at all) and stared at the tube. "What do you think it is?" he asked.
Soon, Brawler, Beast Boy, Tiger, and Shade also came over to look at the tube. "It could be a shotgun shell," said Brawler. "It sure looks like one."
"Nah, that's too thin to be a shotgun shell," said Beast Boy.
Shade just stared at the tube. Then he went back to his hole.
"What's that on the bottom of it?" asked Tiger.
Eddy turned the tube over. Inscribed on the bottom was a heart with a big fancy-looking letter H in the middle.
"'H'?" asked Rubberman. "What's that mean?"
"It means Hacker," said Hacker, taking the tube. "This thing was meant for me to find. Good work Moneybags. Mom should be by to fill the canteens soon."
"Why show it to him now?" asked Eddy.
"Huh?" asked Hacker.
"You're almost done with your hole," continued Eddy. "Why don't you wait and show it to Mom tomorrow morning? That way, you can have the whole day off instead of a little time off tonight?"
Hacker smiled. "Once again, a brilliant idea, Moneybags." He put the tube into the giant pocket of his jumpsuit. Then everyone got back to digging.
Even though it was probably none of Eddy's business, the tube stuck in his head. Where had he seen something like that before? Could he have seen it back home?
He dug his shovel into the dirt.
Later that night, in the Wreck Room where all the boys were relaxing, Mr. Saito walked in. "Eddy," he called.
"His name's Moneybags," corrected Brawler.
"Eddy," Mr. Saito called out again.
"My name's Moneybags," said Eddy.
"Well, I have a letter here for someone named Eddy Ydde," said Mr. Saito. "It doesn't say "Moneybags" anywhere on here."
"Uh . . . thanks," Eddy mumbled, putting the letter into his pocket.
"What, you're not gonna read it to us, Moneybags?" asked Beast Boy.
"I bet it's from his mom," said Tiger. The boys laughed.
"Hey now," said Hacker. "If Moneybags doesn't want to read it, he doesn't have to read it. It's probably from his girlfriend."
Eddy smiled.
Eddy went back to the tent so he could have some privacy. Then he read his mother's letter. She talked about the usual. His father still hadn't found anything, but he was close. Very close. The only problem was that he just couldn't put his finger on it. Even worse, people had begun to complain about the smell, so there was a chance they could be evicted from their home.
Now that scared Eddy a little bit. He wasn't sure he could handle being homeless.
"You didn't steal the shoes."
Eddy's head shot up at the sudden voice, and he found himself staring right into the eyes of Shade. Eddy just sat there, hypnotized for a second, then suddenly snapped out of his trance.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"You didn't steal the shoes," repeated Shade, his tone not changing. He then got up and walked out of the tent.
Man, there was no keeping anything from Shade.
