Part the Nineteenth
The weather Sunday morning turned out to be much wetter than the days before. David had been awoken early in the morning by droplets of water hitting his face. At first he was confused—having forgotten that he had decided to sleep outside—but once he had gotten his bearings, he brought his now damp sleeping bag into the tent and dug through his things for a towel.
"Five more minutes," grumbled Max from within his sleeping bag. From his position, David could only make out a few dark curls and the back of a hand peeking out from the opening.
"Sleep as long as you like," David responded, drying his hair with the towel.
There was a long beat of silence, during which David listened to the rain hitting the outside of their tent—he had really been fortunate to wake up when he did, as the rain seemed to be picking up. Then, Max's head popped out of the sleeping bag and looked at David in sleepy disbelief. "Wait, what?"
"Go back to sleep, Max," David said with a chuckle. "It's still pretty early. Sorry to wake you up."
Max continued to stare at David, "You… really have changed, haven't you?"
"I… guess so," David said, looking away. Rubbing his thumb over the towel in his hand, David went to work drying off his sleeping bag, still feeling eyes on his back. When he was done, he turned to look at Max. The boy was still awake, now with both arms out of the sleeping bag and crossed under his chin, watching him.
"Really Max, it's okay to go back to sleep, if you want. It's," David checked his watch, squinting in the dim light. "Not even five thirty. I can wake you up again in a few hours."
"There isn't really much of a point, is there? I'm already up," Max shot back. One hand moved up to rub at his eye and then fall limply back to the pillow.
"If you're sure…"
Max grunted in reply.
The two spent the next few minutes listening to the rain continue to beat against the sides and top of the tent. Eventually, Max shifted about in his sleeping bag so that it remained around his stomach and legs, and reached for his backpack. David watched silently from the other side of the tent.
"I'm guessing a fire's out of the question," said Max as he dug through the contents. Soon after, he pulled out what looked like a black plastic square that was just a little smaller than a laptop computer. Turning it over, David noticed that edge of it was slanted slightly and had buttons. Max put it down on in front of him and resumed rummaging through the pack. He then pulled out a pack of batteries, followed by a metal water bottle.
"Here, fill this," Max said, tossing the bottle to David, who fumbled it a bit.
Max then set about putting the batteries into a compartment in one side of the square. He flipped it over and placed it in the space between them while David filled the metal bottle with some water from his pack. When the bottle was seventy five percent full, he handed it carefully back to Max and watched him put it atop the square, which he now noticed looked like an electric burner of some sort. Pressing a few buttons, Max asked, "You drink tea, right?"
"Uh, yeah. What made you think of bringing a hotplate?" David replied, examining the device, rather impressed. Meanwhile, Max opened a side pocket of his backpack and pulled out a packet. Satisfied, he tossed the bag back into the corner of the tent.
"Unlike someone, I actually checked the weather forecast before we left," said Max, giving David the same look mothers sometimes gave their children. Rubbing his face again, Max asked, "Did you clean out those cups we used last night?"
"Oh, yeah," David placed two metal mugs next to the burner. They listened to the rain while waiting for the water to boil. It didn't take long.
Max pressed the power button and then began tugging his hoodie—now a bit crumpled from sleeping in it—off. He rolled it up before using it like a makeshift potholder to pick up the metal water bottle and pouring some of the contents into the cup closest to David.
"I hope you brought your own teabags," he said.
David fetched one from his bag, along with a couple of protein bars, watching Max pour both water and the contents of the packet into his own cup. Quickly, the smell of coffee filled the tent.
"Here," He handed a bar to Max. "Sorry it isn't something more substantial."
"It's fine. I used to eat these all the time back home," Max replied, tearing into the wrapper. He brightened when he saw the chocolate coating. He bit off a large bite and chased it with a mouthful of steaming coffee. "Glad you brought the good ones, though. Not those granola abominations."
"Yeah, those are pretty awful, aren't they," David agreed, sipping his tea.
Max shoved the rest of the bar into his mouth greedily. Once it was gone, he tipped his head back and shook out whatever contents lingered within the wrapper. A couple of crumbs fell out. Then, he shoved it under his sleeping bag.
"Never been big on granola, to be honest. Tastes a bit too much like cardboard, you know?" David continued, grabbing another bar from his pack and passing it over. Max looked surprised for a tick, but quickly took the bar from David's hand and ripped into it. It was gone even quicker than the first.
Doing the same with the second wrapper, Max pinned David with the most unbelieving stare, before stating, "I'm surprised."
David took another sip of tea, waiting for Max to explain.
"Isn't granola, like, the health-nut's wet dream or some shit?"
Very nearly spitting out his tea, David did his best to swallow it down, but promptly choked. He hit a fist against his chest as he fought to stop coughing. Doubled over, he wondered if anyone had ever died by tea-related drowning. Finally, he managed a great big breath and the coughs began to die down.
Face burning with embarrassment, he waited for laughter. It never came.
Looking up, he noticed a look of genuine concern on Max's face. During his coughing fit, the boy had managed to climb out of his sleeping bag and now was kneeling in front of David. One hand hovered uncertainly in the air.
"Oww," David managed, sniffling.
"Shit," Max said softly. Resting back on his hunches, he placed his hands on his knees, before apologizing.
"Please, never say anything like that again," David begged.
The rain tapered off around early afternoon, but the sky remained overcast for the rest of the day. By this time, the pair had decided how best to spend the rest of their day, with both agreeing that a trip back to the car for additional supplies was in order first and foremost. The trip would take roughly twenty five minutes each way, provided they didn't find themselves distracted and the weather didn't grow any worse than a light shower.
About ten minutes before the two were due to reach the campground's small parking area, David—who was contentedly taking in the lush greens around them—was startled by the first few notes of a song he couldn't immediately recognize. Despite that, his hand automatically reached for the phone in his pocket.
"Yeah, hello," Max asked, phone already at his ear. He hadn't even broken stride.
David's hand fell back to his side as he watched Max carefully, trying to determine if the call was a good thing or not. He checked the boy's posture and expression, but only saw the same bored look the pre-teen usually wore.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I know, I did," Max rolled his eyes and turned to David. He opened and closed his hand several times, mimicking someone talking—or maybe it was a duck, David wasn't sure.
"Look, you want to talk to him?" Max asked, looking at David quickly.
David took a step forward, ready to accept the phone if need be, though he had absolutely no idea as to what he would say or even as to whom he would be expected to speak to. His first though was that it could possibly be Max's father, though the tone Max was using sounded a little familiar.
As Max listened, David shifted his weight from foot to foot. How was he supposed to explain this whole situation, come to think of it? The more he thought about it, the more complicated it became and the worse it looked. He wondered briefly if what he was doing could be considered kidnapping, even if Max had gone along willingly. David eyed a nearby tree and debated banging his head against it.
"Didn't think so," David tuned back in to see Max making the gesture for hurry up. Not for the first time, he wished he could hear what the other person was saying.
"We're in the middle of something, so can I call you back later?" He barely waited for a reply before continuing, "Great. Bye."
Hanging up, he put the phone back into the pocket of his hoodie. They shared a beat of silence before David asked with unadulterated amazement, "You get reception out here?"
Right away, he wanted to kick himself. He willed the heat away from his face, though he wasn't too sure how successful he was. Likely, not very.
"That's what you took away from this," Max asked in disbelief. After the words were out of his mouth, the corners of his lips tugged upwards, as if on their own accord and with much protest from Max. Soon after, he let out a huff, and began to laugh. Max's laughter escalated until he was bent double, clutching his stomach.
When Max managed to look up, David asked with a mostly straight face, "What? It was a valid question."
The answering snort of amusement was worth the temporary embarrassment, David decided.
Continuing their walk, Max explained, "That was Neil, calling to check up on me. I forgot to text him earlier and you know how he gets."
"He knows you're here?" David asked.
They were nearly at the edge of the parking area. Separating the campgrounds and unpaved parking lot—if it could indeed be called one, since it was more of a clearing devoid of trees or grass—was an ancient wooden fence. Most of the posts had been hit sideways at one point or another, so the majority of the fence was crooked or broken entirely. In the places it remained standing, it was easy enough for someone of David's height to swing a leg across without too much trouble.
"Uh yeah. I'm not rushing off to go camping in the middle of nowhere without telling someone," Max answered, rushing forward and jumping the fence. "I'm not stupid, David. I know there's a lot of freaky shit that happens in the woods."
David made it over the fence easily. Seeing Max already at the car, he fished the key from his pocket and tossed them to Max, who caught them and unlocked the trunk.
"Ah, and here I was starting to think you didn't trust me," David replied.
"It's not you that I'm worried about. You're fucking harmless." Max said, fishing out a tube of oatmeal and a few more bottles of water. He also grabbed a few packets of dried fruit and an extra towel before leaning against the side of the car. "It's people like Quartermaster that I stay away from. Why the fuck anyone thought it would be alright to let him work near kids—or people in general—I have no idea…"
"He was there when I was a kid, come to think of it." David informed him, also grabbing a few things, and shutting the trunk. He then walked past Max, holding a hand out for the key, and opened the driver seat door. "Hadn't really changed much either by the time you were a camper."
"That's not creepy at all," Max added sarcastically.
David could only shrug. Pulling out his phone, he plugged it into the charger he had set up the day before, and started the engine. He let it idle briefly.
"You know, if you wanted to charge your phone, I would've leant you my spare battery." Max stated, coming to stand in front of David, who was sat sideways in the driver's seat.
David smiled and stretched his legs, causing Max to move to the other side of the open door. The arm not holding supplies draped over the top and Max slouched enough to rest his chin atop it. He was careful not to put too much weight against it.
"Thanks for the offer. I might take you up on it later, but I thought since we're here, you know?"
Max tilted his chin down slightly in a nod.
"Anywho, how are your friends doing? Been a long time since I last saw them," David continued. He wondered if the two had changed as drastically as Max had over the years since they were campers. They probably had, he told himself. He also hoped that their strange friendship with Max would continue for years to come because as much of a handful as they were, they did make a good team.
"You mean Nikki and Neil? Um, they're siblings now, sort of. They share a half-brother, even though their parents aren't together or anything," Max said. Rolling his eyes upwards, he took in the cloudy sky above them, seemingly in thought. "I talk to them pretty often now-a-days. It didn't start that way, though. Because of the whole clusterfuck at Camp Campbell, we never got around to exchanging numbers or anything like that, so imagine my surprise when I get a call from Neil out of the goddamn blue."
"Still, it must've been nice to talk to them again," David trailed off, also looking at one group of dark clouds in particular. Judging by the wind speed and direction, David knew it wouldn't be long before the rain started up began. He wanted to be back at the tent before then.
Hearing Max shuffling, David looked down in time to see Max let go of the car door. Max then crossed the short distance to the front of the car, braced one foot against the tire, and awkwardly hoisted himself up onto the hood with one hand. Afterwards, he lent back against the windshield.
David watched the leftover rainwater soak into the boy's clothes. Grabbing his phone off of the charger, he cut the ignition, before pulling himself out of the car and locking the door behind himself. He hesitated only a second, before putting down his supplies, and joining the pre-teen on the hood of the car. Almost immediately, water started to soak through the back of his own clothes. He successfully fought back the full body shiver at the uncomfortable sensation.
"You still talk to Gwen, right?" Max asked, still staring at the sky. One arm was holding the towel and foodstuffs he had retrieved from the trunk to his stomach while the other was tucked into the pocket of his hoodie, "What did she make of all this?"
Turning his head, David looked at Max, "Yeah, we still talk. Not as much as we used to, but we talk. I haven't exactly told her about my little vacation just yet. Last time we talked, she was telling me about the new car."
"The piece of shit that just died on you? Some help that turned out to be." Max fidgeted, pulling the hand out of his pocket. David watched as Max worried the hem of the sleeve between his fingers. He rolled it this way and that, even going so far as pulling at a few fraying threads. However, after a while of watching the clouds, he softly asked, "Hey, David?"
"Yes, Max?"
Turning his head to look at David, he slowly asked, "Do you… I mean, are you… having fun?"
"Of course. Why do you ask?" David replied, confused. So far, there hadn't been any arguing or insults, beyond their usual friendly banter. Thinking about it, David realized that Max had gone out of his way to be helpful the day before—helping with dinner—along with that morning. "Does it seem like I'm not?"
"No, not exactly. I guess, what I'm really asking is…" he trailed off. He finally let go of his sleeve to rub at his forehead in frustration, "This is stupid."
"It's not stupid," David argued. "Are… you asking if I'm having fun being here with you?"
"When you put it that way…" Max's face scrunched up. "Look, I was going to wait to give you this… trying to sweeten the deal and all that… make sure you didn't bail on me, but here," Max reached into a secret pocket sewed into the lining of his hoodie and pulled out a non-descript envelope. It crinkled as he withdrew it. He handed it to David.
The sides of the envelope bulged slightly, "What's this?"
Max rolled his eyes and sent a look of exasperation David's way. When he explained, he spoke as if explaining something simple to a dull-minded child, "Your loan. Don't tell me you forgot our deal."
Recoiling, David tried to hand the envelope back, but Max simply stuffed his hand back into his pocket and refused to take it. Not sure what to do with an envelope filled with a large amount of cash, David folded it to the best of his ability and carefully pocketed it.
"Aren't you going to count it? Make sure it's all there?" Max asked as he watched David carefully.
"I trust you. I'm more worried about why you thought I would leave once you gave it to me. You should know by now that I'm not… I wouldn't…" David gestured uselessly while he tried to put his feelings into words, "I'm here because I thought we were friends."
"But I know I can be a real asshole-" Max shot back.
"Yes, but you've also grown up a lot this summer. You're not the same person you were at 10. And even if you were, you deserve to be happy. I'm not going to lie and say you're suddenly an angel, but you… you don't need to… give people a reason to want to spend time with you. That's not how this works and I'm sorry if other people made you believe otherwise. Your friends and I, we like you, imperfections and all. So, the only way I'm going anywhere is if you tell me that you want to go home." David explained. He turned his upper body enough to place a hand on Max's shoulder and squeezed it briefly, "Do you want to go home, Max?"
Drawing back some, Max glanced between the hand on his shoulder and David's face, "No."
"Okay, then." Removing the hand, David scooted forward enough that his feet touched the ground. Then he stood up, walked back to where his supplies were waiting, and picked them up. Once they were balanced comfortably under his harm, he extended his free hand out to Max. Max being Max, ignored it in favor of jumping from the hood. The pair exchanged a look of understanding.
"Ready?" David asked, tipping his head in the direction of where they had set up camp. At the nod of agreement from Max, the pair began the trek back, with Max lingering a couple of steps behind the former camp counselor.
When they were a few minutes away, Max reached out a hand to snag the back of David's shirt, causing him to stop. "Hey, David?"
Turning around, David rearranged to supplies in his arms and waited for the pre-teen to speak. Stepping forward, Max smiled the tiniest smile, "Thanks… for giving a shit."
Smiling back, David threw an arm around the boy's shoulders and gave a small squeeze, "Anytime."
The elbow to the gut was totally worth it.