Part 34
Wes looked at the note in his hand and then up at the big house in front of him. The cab driver said it was the right place but Wes wasn't sure. This place looked deserted. Wes had two big bags with him because the next day he would go to Asian Camp. The camp had been extended this year and would run from June 24th to August 31. You didn't have to stay the whole time but Wes was going to, where else could he go?
Kim had been kind enough to let him stay at his place for the night, he was gonna have a lot of guests and Wes knew everyone so there wouldn't be a problem. Wes walked up to the doorbell and rung it. He waited and then it was flown open.
"Wes!" Nathan and Otto cheered and pulled him inside and hugged him tightly.
They were wearing garlands made of birch and with flowers in them. The garlands were tied with yellow and blue ribbons. When they let him go they put one of those garlands on his head as well.
"Come on everyone else is 'round back!" Otto said happily and grabbed Wes' hand and pulled him towards the door leading out in the yard. When they walked Wes noticed the Everetts through the door to the kitchen. They were wearing aprons and were scrubbing something.
"Eric and Brett got stuck scrubbing the new-potatoes", Nathan explained happily when he saw Wes' questioning gaze. Wes looked even more confused, but they just grinned and they headed outside.
Wes stared openmouthed at the big thing in Kim's backyard. It was lying on the grass and looked like a big cross with two rings attached to the horizontal part of the cross. It did look like something else entirely… if you squinted your eyes a bit.
"What is that", Wes asked Nathan and pointed at the thing in the grass.
"The May-pole", Nathan said happily and took Wes' hand. "Come let's go say hi to everyone!"
"The seniors from this year and the year before is here!" Otto said happily. "And a special guest!"
Wes looked confused but then felt a pair of hands cover his eyes.
"Guess who", a voice said and Wes' grin got bigger than ever before.
"Jerry!" he cried and flew around and there was Jerry Jonston in all his glory. Jerry was not in Warbler uniform, no one was but there was no mistaking. It was Jerry. He smiled at Wes and the younger boy noticed the tears in Jerry's eyes. Wes knew he himself was crying and he was afraid to move. He was scared this was all just a dream and that if he moved it would shatter and Jerry just disappear. Jerry smiled and struggled for something to say. He opened and closed his mouth a few times and finally said:
"You've grown."
After the words left his lips he found his little brother hugging the daylights out of him and Jerry didn't hesitate to hug him back. He hid his face in Wes' hair to keep the others from seeing his tears. There had been quite a few of those already. The only one that had known Jerry was going to be there was Kim and he hadn't told a soul. Mark and Jerry had both cried so hard when they saw each other that Otthan said it was what happens when husband and wife get reunited. But it was nothing against the tears that came now. Jerry hadn't met Wes for over a year and he missed the little runt something awful. Wes missed him too, that much was clear and none of them wanted to let go. The other Warblers stayed aside, letting them have their moment. Then Mark stepped forward.
"Hey no more crying", he told both Asians and hugged them tight. "It's a happy celebration here remember."
Wes looked up with a big smile and nodded, tears still going down his cheeks. Mark wiped them off and Wes hugged him before hugging Jerry again. The older Asian was reluctant to let the younger one go anyway so he didn't complain. Mark just chuckled and noticed Kim, Eric and Brett come out with the rest of the food.
"Come", Mark said and patted Jerry's back. "Let's sit down and eat."
Jerry and Wes nodded and they sat down by the table. Wes sat between Jerry and Justine and she kissed his cheek and wiped away the last of his tears.
"There all handsome again", she teased and gave his lips a quick peck, to the objections of Otthan from the other side of the table. Wes smiled at all his friends from school, Alvaro was there too since he and Kim were kind of best friends. They never used the term but the others knew. There were a lot of people there. Wes looked at the table and it was full of food. It had a lot of potatoes, egg-halves, meat-lumps and small cans with something that looked like fish. The table was decorated with flowers and with streamers in blue and yellow.
"What is all this?" Wes asked and held up one of the cans with fish. "Is this fish?"
"Well yes, that's pickled herring", Jerry explained happily. "The small glass in front of you is for nubbe."
"For what?"
"Like small Swedish shots."
"None for you", Mark said and took Wes' glass. He had to reach over Jerry to do so but Wes just chuckled and smiled at Kim as the blonde sat down opposite Mark. Kim smiled and cleared his throat and everyone turned to him
"So", he said. "I have all Swedish midsummer specialties planned. We have the pickled herring, the shots that are called nubbe, the May-pole, the sauna, dans-band-music and the music for The Little Frogs."
"The what?" Otto asked.
"You'll see. Oh! Underage people get soda in your shots instead of liquor!" Jerry poured them some and when everyone had something in their small glasses Kim started to sing. The melody was melancholy.
Han't vi nå' brännvin är det sorgligt – Don't we have any booze then it's sad
Då är det sorgligt, ja då vill en bare dö – Then it's sad, yeah then you only wanna die
För han't vi nå' brännvin är det sorgligt – 'Cause don't we have any booze it's sad
Då vill en lägg sig ner och tvärdö – Then you want to lie down and die
Men har vi brännvin ja har vi brännvin – But if we have booze, if we have booze
Då kan vi dansa natten lång – Then we can dance the night away
Men har vi brännvin ja har vi brännvin – But if we have booze, if we have booze
Då kan vi dansa natten lång – Then we can dance the night away
Men han't vi nå brännvin är det sorgligt – But if don't have any booze it's sad
Då är det sorgligt, ja då vill en bare dö – Then it's sad and you only wanna die
För han't vi nå' brännvin är det sorgligt – 'Cause if we don't have booze it's sad
Ja då vill en lägg sig ner och tvärdö – Yeah then you only wanna lie down and die
"Skål", he called and took his soda-shot.
"Cheers", everyone else said and drank their small shots. Jerry looked at Kim as if he was crazy. What on Earth had he been singing? Wes laughed at the look on his face and turned to Jerry.
"He sings in Swedish sometimes", he said.
"That's what called a schnapps song", Kim told everyone. "They're usually somewhat crude, humoristic or embarrassing."
They ate the lunch and Wes was surprised about the pickled-herring. It tasted really good. After that the oldest guys around the table headed over to the May-pole and started to raise it. Wes, Jerry, Mark and Lucas, who Wes had hugged tightly, stood watching. Suddenly Justine pushed her way in between Wes and Jerry and hooked her arms to theirs. They didn't mind, it was Justine after all and they hadn't seen her in a while.
"Did you know that pole thing is actually a fertility symbol", Lucas asked and everyone stared at him. "The 'heathens' had a pole with a ring at the top that was meant to be the men's most private part the pole was making the earth fertile. When the Christians came they forced the 'heathens' to change it into a cross but they were allowed to add those rings on each side of the horizontal part."
"But that makes it look even more like a penis", Justine said.
"How do you know that", Wes asked looking at Lucas.
"Kim told me", Lucas said smiling.
"Come on… it's time to dance and embarrass ourselves", Justine said happily.
She pulled the boys with her towards the now risen May-pole and everyone else was gathering around as well. Kim stood by the May-pole with a stereo at the base, a laptop were hooked to it.
"Okay everybody gather round", he said happily. "It's time to dance the Little Frogs. Don't worry I have translated the lyrics for you and remember… this dance is so easy that small kids can do it in their sleep!"
Some of the boys laughed, but they all wondered what the heck was going on. But they all lined up with the others so that they all stood in a ring around the May-pole and they were all facing the same direction, because they were going to move around in a ring, walk around the pole. The music started and Kim sang:
Little frogs, little frogs are funny to look at
Little frogs, little frogs are funny to look at
When they sang this part they were only walking around in the ring. Kim was instructing them on how to do it.
No ears, no ears, no tails do they have
No ears, no ears, no tails do they have
When they sang about the ears they walked around in the ring and held their hands to their ears, waving with them and when they sang about the tails the held their hands behind their backs and waved with their fingers again. Suddenly… they all started to jump, hands on their backs, forward in the same direction that they had been moving. Why? Well because the boys were singing:
Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,
kou ack ack ack ack kaa.
Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,
kou ack ack ack ack kaa.
The boys couldn't help but laugh at the whole thing, but they danced along even though they were feeling quite embarrassed by the whole thing. They sang another verse about pigs and then about the frogs again and they danced. They also sang something about a priest and his little birdie. In that song they held hands, to Justine's delight, danced around the May-pole and at one part that went:
And she slipped here
And she slipped there
And then she slipped into the ditch
They first ran towards the middle so close to the pole as they could, then at the second phrase they backed out as far as they could without losing their grip on each other and at the last phrase they all fell into the grass. Everyone but Jesse took part because he claimed it was beneath him to do this. Everyone else just rolled their eyes at him and did what Kim told them to. Afterwards Kim gave them some cakes and coffee to smother over the "humiliation" and a few hours later they had a barbeque.
Wes was laughing as they ate their desert, strawberry cake. They had eaten a dinner that consisted of barbeque and some of the boys were bathing in the sauna, but only Kim was naked. He had called everyone else "fegisar" a Swedish word that Wes knew meant cowards. But he smiled when he saw the boys run from the sauna and jump into the lake, Kim naked and with a fine ass as Justine remarked. Wes laughed as Jerry and Lucas choked on their cake and Justine winked at him. Wes leaned on Jerry and the older boy put his arm around him.
"Need a ride to Asian Camp tomorrow", Jerry asked and Wes stared at him.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm allowed home the whole summer and plan to spend it with you", Jerry said calmly. "But Carmichael told me you were already set to go to Asian Camp… so I asked for a job and got it in the music part of camp. Need a ride there?"
"Heck yeah!" Wes said and grinned. Asian Camp with Tina, Mike and Jerry, could things get any better?! The evening went on and Kim told them about what kids used to do, mostly girls, at midsummer. You had to pick seven different kind of flowers and in some parts of Sweden the tradition was to cross seven fields and climb seven fences as well. But one thing they all had in common, you were not allowed to talk when doing it and for the rest of the evening. When you got the flowers you put them underneath your pillow and then you would dream of the man/woman you were going to marry.
"That sounds like fun!" Justine cheered and dragged Mitch with her to do just that. Wes smiled and yawned, it was around 10pm already.
"Tired", Jerry asked and put an arm around him.
"Wake me when Justitch gets back", Wes mumbled and leaned on him.
"No you are going to sleep until tomorrow", Mark said and got up, hoisting Wes into his arms. "Kim which room did you put together for Wes, Jerry and I?"
"Threesome", Jesse called and got smacked in the head by the boys around him. Kim smiled at Mark and told him the room and Wes didn't remember anymore, except from the familiar scent and warm of Mark's embrace.
The next day found Wes and Jerry at the big parking lot at Asian Camp where other families were gathered. There weren't many of them this early in the summer and most kids were young, probably learning to be on their own for the first time. Jerry was calm but Wes was still nervous about going here since everyone around him spoke different Asian languages. His grandparents had spoken Chinese and to him as well, teaching him. But he hadn't spoken it in so long that he barely remembered anything.
Jerry noticed his nerves and put an arm around him just as a woman with a dark t-shirt with the camp's logo stepped out from a big cabin and she smiled. She walked up to different groups, asked about names and age and then set the kids on their ways to various cabins. The woman then got to them. Wes recognized her from last year, it was Lisa.
"Wes hi!" she said happily and gave him a quick hug and then she looked ready to cry in joy. "Jerry!"
"Hi Lisa", Jerry said and hugged her. "How have you been?"
"Oh I've been fantastic", she said. "And yourself? Not working too much are you? You came with Wes right?"
"I'm fine Lisa, not working too much and yes Wes arrived with me. So where does Nina want him?"
"Let's go check", Lisa said happily and lead them to the cabin that had the word administration written on it. Lisa nearly skipped up to the door this time and knocked on it.
"Enter", a female voice called from within and Wes and Jerry followed Lisa. "Lisa what's up?"
"Nina Wes Montgomery and Jerry Jonston are here", Lisa said and motioned for Wes and Jerry to go over to the desk so they did.
"Hi boys" Nina said happily. "Lisa can you leave us?"
Lisa nodded and did and when she was gone Lisa turned to Wes and Jerry.
"How are you boys? Good yes?" She asked and didn't give them a chance to answer. "Right what was the excuse again Wes dear?"
"Um orphaned?" he asked.
"Exactly", Nina said and pointed at him with her pen. "Carmichael reminded me about your situation sweetheart. Not everyone here would understand so we agreed to you being orphaned so that no questions would rise about where your parents are, who they are and so on. It could be dangerous for you."
"I know", Wes answered and Jerry looked a bit confused.
"I know who your dad is, he is a very rich and famous man. People might want to kidnap you so to keep you safe you are now Wes Montgomery, 14 year old orphan from Westerville Ohio. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am", Wes said. "Um… where will I stay this time?"
"Of right", Nina said and started to look through her papers. "You'll be rooming with five other boys in the cabin named Copernicus. Only one have arrived so far. But later this summer there will be five."
"Great", Wes said and smiled.
"Jerry you are a teacher her now", Nina said. "So you will stay with me, Lisa, the cooks and the nurses in the back of the administration cabin. Your classes won't start until the middle of July but please help keeping an eye on the kids around here okay?"
"My pleasure Nina", Jerry said and smiled.
"I have a lot of stuff to go through with you so Wes you can run along and have some fun."
Wes nodded and grinned at Jerry before leaving.
When he got to Copernicus it was empty except for a small boy sitting on his bed looking sad.
"Hi", Wes said as he put his bag on the bed opposite the boy.
"Hi", the boy mumbled sadly and buried his face in his knees.
"You okay", Wes asked.
"No." The answer was a bit muffled but Wes understood it.
"Homesick?"
"No."
"Sad?"
"No."
"Angry?"
"N… yes…"
"Why?"
"Why do you care", the small boy glared at him. Wes held up his hands in a peace sign.
"I don't like seeing sad people", he said and smiled gently at the boy. "What's your name?"
"Never tell strangers", the boy mumbled.
"Well we're gonna be roomies all summer so we won't be strangers anymore", Wes said and smiled and sat down on the chest in front of the boy's bed.
"My name is Wes", he said. "What's yours?"
"Granny said never to tell strangers…"
"But I'm no stranger", Wes said and smiled. "I'm your roomy and you know my name."
The boy looked up at him and he might've told Wes he was angry but Wes saw that he was sad.
"Chris", the kid then mumbled and Wes smiled.
"Nice to meet you Chris", he said.
"You too…"
Wes moved to the bed and sat beside Chris and held his arms open, like Jerry, Lucas and the others used to do to him. Chris looked at him and only hesitated for a moment before hugging the older boy. Wes held him tight and the boy started crying. Between the sobs Chris told him he was 10 going on 11 years old and that his parents had promised to spend all summer with him but yesterday decided to go on a private vacation all summer and just dump him here at camp. Chris had been looking forward to spending time with his parents because he only saw them at Christmas, his birthday and a few days over the summer. The boy cried and Wes hugged him and ran his fingers through his hair in a soothing way.
After a bit Chris calmed down and they started to talk about other things. Chris brightened up a bit and they went out when there was a knock on the door and Jerry called them. When they left Wes held his arm around Chris and Jerry looked confused but didn't question it. He knew Wes was a good-hearted kid that liked to look after people, older or younger.
Not that much later they were sitting around the fire on the beach. There weren't as many kids yet, just about 20 in various ages. Wes and Chris sat together and the grownups were by themselves. Wes and Chris talked about comics and music when Wes suddenly jumped because Nina blew in a freaking whistle and he turned towards the tiny stage that had been built so that everyone could see her. Wes glared at the whistle with hatred, the sound wasn't as bad as the one Austin was now the owner of. He had tried to get the thing but Austin was far cleverer at keeping it from him than Jerry or Brad ever were.
Jerry… Wes still smiled wide just thinking that his big brother was actually here with him and that it had been his idea last year to send him to this fun place. They talked over phone and e-mailed each other. But it wasn't as great as having Jerry here with him.
"Welcome everybody", Nina said happily. "To a new year of Asian Camp!" The kids cheered happily, Wes did the same and Chris did it too. It turned out this was his fifth year at Asian Camp. Last year he and Wes hadn't seen each other because Chris didn't go.
"It's great to see so many familiar faces", Nina said happily. "And some new as well! I hope that all of you old-timers will have as fun as you always have and that you rookies will realize how much fun it is here! You are all going to get schedules for your days here later on, when the 'real camp' begins and you will be having classes with kids your own age but other activities can be mixed. Boys are not to be in the girls' cabins after curfew and girls are not to be in the boys' cabins after curfew. Other than that you can come and go as you want. We have something here for everyone. So let's have a fun night with singing and playing games and roasting marshmallows! And welcome to Asian Pre-Camp!"
The kids cheered and Wes smiled a bit.
"Does anyone want to start us off with a song", Nina asked and held up a guitar. "We let anyone who wants perform for the rest and no one is going to be mean to you if something goes wrong."
Wes got up at ones and Chris looked at him with big eyes. He hadn't been there last year to see Wes break the unbreakable rule of Asian Camp. The "populars" performed first. But Wes was a trend-breaker. Jerry smiled and Nina grinned big.
We got a volunteer", she cheer happily "And one of our oldies at that." Wes rolled his eyes but headed over to the stage and got up.
"My, my you don't waste time Wes", Nina said happily and hugged him. "Let's give a big welcome to Wes Montgomery!"
The crowd applauded politely and Wes took the guitar offered to him. He smiled and started playing and then sang Justine's favorite song. Jerry took his phone out, filming it so he could send it to her.
(Oh na, na, na)
She hosts a T.V. show, she rides the rodeo
She plays the bass in a band
She's an astronaut
A valet at the parking lot
A farmer working the land
She is a champion, she gets the gold - Jerry joined in and harmonized with Wes and Nina took his phone to film it while Wes and Jerry performed.
She's a ballerina, the star of the show
She's, not, just a pretty face
She's, got, everything it takes
She has a fashion line
A journalist for "Time"
Coaches a football team
She's a geologist, a romance novelist
She is a mother of three
She is a soldier, she is a wife
She is a surgeon, she'll save you life
She's, not, just a pretty face
She's, got, everything it takes
She's, mother, of the human race
She's, not, just a pretty face
Oh, oh, yeah
Oh na, na, na, na
She is your waitress, she is your judge
She is your teacher
She is every woman in the world
Oh, la, la, la
She flies an airplane
She drives a subway train
At night she pumps gasoline
She's on the council, she's on the board
She's a politician, she praises the Lord
She's, not, just a pretty face
She's, got, everything it takes
She's, mother, of the human race
She's, not, just a pretty face
No, she's (she's) not (not)
Just a pretty face
She's (she's) got (got), everything it takes
She's not just a pretty face
She's got everything it takes
She's not just a pretty face
Wes played the final chord and the audience cheered. Wes nodded at them before putting the guitar down and walking back to his place by Chris, Jerry joined them.
"You were so good", Chris said grinning.
"Thank you Chris", Wes said and smiled at him.
"B-but the popular kids w-won't like it."
"I couldn't care less", Wes said happily. "At my school no one really cares about popularity, everyone is equal."
"I wish our school could be like that", Chris said. "And this camp." A girl that was also a teenager and popular took the stage next, glaring at Wes as she did so, just like last year. When she sang Wes had to sit on his hands to keep from putting his fingers in his ears. Chris and Jerry did too, Chris was close to do it ones but Jerry caught his wrist in a gentle grip and Wes pulled the boy to him in a hug. After the performance Nina asked the kids if anyone wanted to play football or soccer. Chris looked eager and pulled on Wes' arm.
"Come on", he said. "Let's play soccer!"
Wes laughed and got up with him to play with him and some other kid. Nina and Jerry joined them as well. This year's Asian Camp would rock!
TBC I felt so heartless and got so many beggins so I had to let Jerry come back. See I'm not completely evil and heartless! If you wanna know more about midsummer I suggest you go out on YouTube and search for Swedish Midsummer For Dummies ;)
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Sarah - :) Is all I can say