The sun was beginning to set when Rufio and I made our way down to dinner. It was on a lower level of the camp and was a large table connected to another lower level that must have been the kitchen, judging by the steam and boys with covered pans and bowls going in and out. Boys piled in, taking a place at the long table. Rufio stopped suddenly before making his way to the table and tapped my arm, motioning me to come closer. I stood next to him, looking curiously at him. He put his mouth to my right ear and whispered,"I need you to believe. Use your imagination. Be creative."
I blinked at him several times not saying anything. We watched as dad appeared and a look of pure happiness and hunger took over his face. He dived into his seat and grabbed two spoons.
"No, no. We don't use them." Latchboy told dad.
"Then why do you have them?" Dad asked confused.
"We have them so we don't have to use them." He said, throwing his hands up in the air.
Thudbutt sat down next to Latchboy, making the bench tip towards him and all of the boys on the bench slid down toward him.
"Don't crowd me!" Thud said getting up and relocating to the middle of the bench.
Rufio only smirked and pushed off of the wall that he was on and went to sit next to Thud, and I went next to dad across the table.
Everyone put their hands together over their plates,"Everybody say Grace" Rufio said.
"Bless this Lord-"Dad began, but was interrupted by the boys loud, "Grace!"
All of the Lost Boys snagged the lids off of the covered meals, waving the steam away.
Every boy grabbed at the bowls...Which had nothing in them.
I watched hands grab things that weren't there and scoop their bowls into air.
They started to eat, holding invisible items and munching away at it.
I tilted my head, but remembered what I was told when Rufio gave me a pointed look.
I closed my eyes tightly, thinking, imagining, believing, hoping that whatever it is the boys could see, that I would be able to as well.
I opened my eyes and smiled widely.
Instead of air, everyone was eating something.
The table was covered in meats, stews, yams, breads, fruits, colorful pies and cakes, and everything looked amazing. I caught Rufio's eye and saw the look of pride in it before digging in like everyone else.
Dad sat look of desire and confusion of his face. He looked like he would cry when Thud bit into a large sandwich that he held. I could see Tink in her lantern that hung above the table, she looked at dad expectantly and said,"Eat"
"What's the deal? Where's the real food?" Dad asked her.
She continued to eat and explained,"If you can't imagine yourself being Peter Pan, then you won't be Peter Pan, so eat up!"
"Eat what ,there's nothing here...Gandhi ate more than this." He looked more and more irritated as time went on.
"Don't you remember? This used to be your favorite game." Tink said.
Dad hissed,"Forget the games. I want some real food, I want steak, eggs, coffee-"
"He can't! Eat your heart out you crinkled, wrinkled, fart-bag!" Rufio shouted at him and threw his plate at him.
"You're a very ill-mannered young man, you know that?" Dad informed Rufio.
"You're a slug eating worm!" the boy insulted again.
"Come on you can do better than that!" Tink said.
"I can't believe you are encouraging this" Dad said to her.
"Yeah, Yeah. Show me your fast ball, dust brain. You paunchy ,sag-bottom, puke-pot!" Rufio taunted.
Then the Lost Boys began to cheer on, "Bangerang, Rufio!"
"You are a very poor role model for these boys. You know that?"Dad told Rufio.
The boys all imitated a bomb whistling and exploding.
"I bet you don't even have a fourth grade reading level" He finished.
"Hemorrhoidal suck navel" Rufio countered.
"Maybe a fifth grade reading level." dad said nervously. Once again the boys made the noise.
I sighed and dropped my head into my hands. Boys
"Boil dripping, beef fart smelling, bubble butt!" Rufio shouted.
"Bangerang Rufio!" The boys yelled again.
"Someone has a severe ca-ca mouth, you know that?" Dad scolded.
Rufio was standing now,"You are a fart factory. Slug-slime, sack of rat guts and cat vomit. Cheesy, scab-picked, pimple-squeezing, finger bandage. A week old maggot burger with everything on it and flies on the side!"
All of the boys groaned and had looks of disgust on their faces, even I pushed my plate away with my elbow. Then dad stood looking determined.
"Substitute Chemistry teacher." Dad said plainly.
"Mung Tongue" Rufio said.
"Math Tudor" Dad replied
"Pinhead" Rufio said back.
"Prison Barber"
"Mother Lover"
"Nearsighted gynecologist"
"In your face, camel cake"
"In your rear, cow derriere"
"Lying, crying, spying, ultra-pig!"
"You lewd, crude, rude, bag of pre-chewed food dude"
"Bangerang Peter!"Thud yelled.
Rufio broke at the sound of someone outdoing him, "You-You man! You stupid, stupid man!"
"Rufio, if I'm a maggot burger, why don't you just eat me! You two-toned zebra-headed, slime-coated, pimple farming paramecium brain, munchin' on your on mucus, suffering from Peter Pan envy!" Dad carried on.
My eyes widened at the situation as Don't Ask spoke up,"What's a paramecium brain?"
"I'll tell you what a paramecium is! That's a paramecium! It's a one-celled critter with no brain, that can't fly! Don't mess with me man, I'm a lawyer!" Dad yelled, sitting back back quickly.
The boys starting chanting, "Banning, Banning, Banning is Bangerang!"
Rufio started to panic,"Rufio, Rufio!" He tried.
Dad grabbed one of the spoons and scooped it into the bowl in front of him, "Oh Rufio, why don't you go suck on a dead dog's nose" then he flicked it in Rufio's direction.
The brightly colored food hit Rufio in the face and Dad looked in shock at his spoon.
The boys began to praise dad for finally playing with them and the eating continued. Rufio stormed off to the wall on the other side of the area, crossing his arms.
I took a look around at the feasting boys before standing , grabbing a cloth from the table and walking over to Rufio. I leaned on the wall next to him, staring directly at him, "Looks like someone is pouting."
He scowled angrily, refusing to look at me,"I'm not pouting"
I gave a sarcastic,"Sure you aren't" before taking the cloth and wiping the remaining food that Rufio had missed off of his face.
Moments later, Thud threw a handful of the bright food into dad's face, thus starting the food fight. Brightly colored food was beign flung by everyone, covering everyone but Rufio and I. Dad jumped up onto the table and was pelted by everyone.
Rufio walked forward and before I could do or say anything grabbed a coconut -"Hey Pan the Man, Catch This!"- and threw it hard at dad.
"Peter, look out!" Tink warned dad.
A lost boy tossed dad a sword, which he caught, spun around and cut the coconut in half before it could hit him.
Everyone went silent, staring up at him with smiles. Dad looked shell-shocked and dropped the sword onto the table.
I cleared my throat and clapped my hands loudly," Everyone, go get clean up before bed"
The boys all groaned, but shuffled off like they were told. Even dad got off of the table and followed behind the pack. Rufio, however, didn't move, his head drooped downward.
I stepped toward him slowly, hand reaching out,"Rufio?"
He spun around on his heel to face me, making my hand draw back from him.
His rage drained from his eyes and he was breathing heavily. My hand landed on his cheek gently. I watched as he took a deep breath and released it slowly before grabbing my hand off of his face, but keeping it in his own, pulling me along as he started to walk to one of the exits.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
He just laughed a bit,"Showing you where you'll be sleeping"
Rufio had showed me the way to a small area with a bundle of pillows and blankets that sat in the middle. I could see the other boys settling into their beds that were a distance from mine, in various different structures that hung from the tree and had bridges that attached us all together. I got a clear view of Neverland and I could hardly believe I was here now. For once, I felt at home.
A/N: I can't believe it's almost over :'( Only about two more chapters guys. I have no clue what I'm going to do after this story is over and I'd love some suggestions :) Please tell me what you think of this new chapter. Watch for another update very soon! -TS