When I finally dragged myself back to camp, I was thoroughly ready for a shower. Absently, I pulled the little bronze shower token out of my pocket and bounced it in my hand. I had a dilemma, how to do this? I could always just risk it; only me, Zero, and a handful of other boys were at the camp right now. There was a small chance they'd see me, but it was a chance I was unwilling to take. I could go late at night when everyone was crashed, but I didn't want to waste the sleeping time. I could go during dinner, but I needed the food more than I needed the shower. What I needed was someone to stand watch, to shoo other people away while I cleaned up. I ducked the tent flap into my tent, and stopped when I saw Zero. Would he peek on me? I didn't think so, he seemed nice enough. He seemed a lot smarter than all of the other boys, except X. X was a leader, and had all the qualities of one, but I wasn't sure I trusted him yet. Lazily, I sat on my cot, "Hey Zero, can I have a favor."
He was silent for two heartbeats, then spoke, "What's the favor?"
"I need a shower, but I'm afrai- worried that if I go by myself I'll get peeked on."
He sat up and met my eyes, "Sure. One condition though."
Now
I was wary. I didn't peg him as a pervert, but would he ask for
something I wasn't willing to agree to? I could always ask X, but
he wouldn't be back for a while, and there would be more people in
the camp. "What's the condition?"
"I get to ask about you."
I was a little surprised, to tell the truth, but it was more than a fair trade, "Sure." As an afterthought I added a smile, "If you look, I will cheerfully beat you to death."
"I'm counting on it."
We walked down to the showers in a comfortable silence, and I guessed Zero was gathering his questions. He was a smart kid, and I wondered what he'd ask. Once behind the corrugated metal, relieved it was high enough to cover my chest, I hung up my towel When I was sure Zero was facing away from me, I unzipped my jumpsuit, "Okay Zero, shoot."
"Tell me about how you got here."
I laughed bitterly, "I told you last night."
"Not in detail," he corrected, "you gave the short version."
"Okay. So I was coming home from MMA training, and I got grabbed by a thug as I was walking home. I thought he was gonna rape me." My voice trembled, and I was disgusted by the weakness. I turned the water on, breathless with the cold. "So I defended myself, probably didn't hurt him enough would describe it, and a police man heard his moans of pain. He came around the corner and cuffed me, and once he heard the story, called it undue force. So I went to trial, and they gave me a choice between juvie and here."
"You should have chosen juvie." He was quiet for a couple seconds, "What's MMA?"
I smiled, scrubbing the dirt from my face, "Mixed Martial Arts."
"What martial arts do you do?"
My hair was next, and I shuddered at the thought of what the harsh soap would do to my hair, "Krav Maga, Muay Thai, some Judo, and a bit of Boxing."
He let out a low whistle, and I made sure he was still facing away,
"That's a lot of things. What's the first one?"
"Krav,
well, it's a self defense for the modern world. I learned defenses
for chokes, and bear hugs, and Thlumps."
He chuckled, "Sounds pretty cool. No wonder you took him apart, it was exciting."
"I know, I was freaking out internally."
His next question took more time, "Did you know you're just one big ball of contradictions?"
"Yep, it's my claim to fame."
"See, first, you're a girl, but you're the best fighter I've ever met. You're the best fighter I've ever met, but you sing. You're a girl, but your hair is short. You look like some pretty girl that wouldn't last a day, but you're a better digger than our tent. It doesn't make any sense."
I shrugged, letting the water wash away the last of the soap, "Sure it does. I was just a tom boy as a kid, got into music later on, and I really can't help my looks. Except my hair, I cut that the day I got here."
"For real?"
"Yeah, with scissors. I was trying to hide my gender."
His voice was calm, "I noticed right away."
I wiped some of the water off of my body, "I figured. You didn't seem too surprised when mom spilled the beans."
"You don't seem too surprised I'm talking."
This I laughed at, "Hey, if I'm a ball of contradictions, then nothing about people surprises me. I hang out with a lot of weird people at home."
"So do they."
I pulled my jumpsuit on chuckling, then toweled my hair off. Clean and dry, I exited the showers, and extended a hand to the sitting Zero. He took it, and I pulled him to his feet. In a companiable silence we walked back to the tent, only to find X stretched out on his bunk. When he saw us he sat up and nodded to me. My mask of stone was back in place though, and I only nodded back. I laid down on my bunk, closing my eyes to doze off, fully ready for a nap after the long hot day.
--
It was after dinner now, and the boys were intent on going to the wreck room. I agreed, for the sole reason that I didn't want to be alone in case any more thugs came to find me. If nothing else, I had a sense of self preservation. The wreck room was, well, a wreck. There was a broken TV, a radio, a pool table, and a couch. There were more than enough boys in orange suits lounging around, and I tried to enter as inconspicuously as possible. It worked for a little while, and just for a little while, I got to see how the social dynamic worked in here. Overall it was pretty relaxed, and I could tell they guys were just content to gel out on the couch. The long day of digging combined with the meal, no matter how disgusting it had been, really softened them up. A game of pool was going on, and X waited patiently for the table until it was open, then called Magnet over to play. They picked up some sticks, and I watched, trying to figure the rules out. There were ruts and dents all over the table's surface, and it seemed like each one gave the boys a different penalty or free shot. The game was pretty twisted, but X won, probably because he'd been here the longest and knew the rules inside and out. Magnet was putting the rest of his balls into the pockets, but was stumped by a particularly difficult shot. I walked over, "Can I try?"
I could see him thinking about it, but he shrugged, "Why not eh? Give it a shot mija."
I took the cue, looked at the ball, looked at the pocket, then lined up and took the shot. The cue ball ricocheted off the side of the pool table, not the one Magnet had been eyeing, and smacked into the ball he was trying for. Like I knew it would, it ricocheted off the side, and rolled into the pocket on the other side of the table. X and Magnet were speechless, and exchanged glances.
"What? Never seen a girl that could shoot stick before?"
They shook their heads, eyes wide. X recovered first, "You know, we could use this."
"What do you mean?"
Magnet caught on to his train of thought and nodded fervently, "Yeah man." He met my eyes, grinning, "We start a pool tournament, and everyone will bet on the team they think will win. They'll bet high against you because you're a girl, and when you kick their butts, we'll get their shower tokens! Perfecto!"
Once I understood the idea, I nodded, "That could work."
X nodded decisively, "It will."
They ended up partnering me with Zero, giving me the promise that he could play as well as X. Of course, that made us an unlikely team, and I just leaned against the back wall, waiting for X to start the tournament. H stood in the middle room and shouted, "Yo, listen up."
The room fell silent, and all eyes were on X. "We're gonna have a little pool tournament. Send over a team from your tent, and we'll make brackets and get started."
Quickly, nine teams gathered in the middle of the room and X motioned us over, "Alright, A vs. B first, then C vs. D, then E vs. F, G vs. H, and I vs. J. Who ever wins out of the first two have to play each other to get into the second round, okay?"
Everyone nodded, I saw a few eye me curiously. I could practically see the thoughts in their heads. What was the girl playing for? I calmed behind my mask, and sat down near the pool table to see who would be the biggest challenge. They weren't calling the pockets, which made it easier for me in the long run. A-Tent won, but I wasn't pleased by it. The guy, Thlump, that I'd faced off against earlier was playing for them, along with another huge dude. I turned to X and whispered my question, "Who is he?"
He returned my whisper in a low voice, "That's Easy. He's almost as disgusting as Thlump, except he didn't get in here for sexual abuse."
I paled, "That's what Thlump is here for?"
Perhaps he heard the panic in my voice, for rapists and things of the like truly frightened me, "Yeah. Don't worry, we wont let him touch you."
"I don't need protecting."
"Sure."
Then Zero and I stood up, ready to face off against C-Tent. We let them break, and none of the balls went in. I was up to bat first, and put a solid in easily. From that point on, I ran the table. Every ball I touched went in, and I could hear the groans of dismay from the boys that had bet against me. My tent was ecstatic. I missed an easy one then, trying to let Zero have his turn. One of the boys from C made two shots, and then missed this third. Zero put our last ball in, then the eight ball, and our tent was jubilant. The rest of the tents played, and I watched carefully, noting the strengths and weaknesses of each player. None were very imaginative, they went for easy shots, whereas I would try and bounce the ball all over the place to get it in. Finally it was time for the moment of truth, our face-off against Thlump and Easy. They broke, and stripes went in. They ran the table until they had two balls left, then missed a high pressure shot. I took up my cue, and went to work. By now all of the balls were in generally good positions, and I got every one in, until I had just one left, and the eight ball. It was a death shot. The cue ball was just in front of a stripes, and our last ball. I took a deep breath; I was no good at jump shots. Carefully, I lined up, and jumped the cue ball over their stripes. It worked perfectly, knocking our last ball in, and knocking theirs into a dead zone, nearly impossible to make shots from. I knocked the eight ball in, and cheers echoed from my corner of the room. Zero slapped me on the back and I punched him on the arm, face still mask- like. Easy hissed angrily, "You little bitch."
I focused on him, turning up my death glare full force, though I was a little frightened in the back of my mind. Quickly, X stepped in between us, "Chill out Easy, Bee beat you fair and square."
"Yeah man, back off eh?" Magnet put in. I was instantly grateful for both of them, and Easy backed down, but I knew this wasn't the end of the conflict. We played F-Tent, an easy win, then sat to watch J and H-Tent play. I felt very comfortable, with each of my boys around me. Zero was to my right, X to my left, Magnet sat on the back of the couch and just to my right, Squid sat next to him, then Armpit and Zig sat on the ground in front of me. They were protecting me, and for a minute I was a little miffed. Why did they think I needed protecting? But it made sense; after all, I was the only girl, and a valuable asset. Even if they didn't like me, they would still protect me due to sheer sex appeal. I could make the others jealous, easily. When Zero and I went up for the last battle, Tent J broke it, and Zero took the lead this time. He ran the table, and we won without much effort. Our boys were jubilant, and they crowded round us, slapping Zero on the back, and leaving a bubble around me, as per my specifications. X showered us with brass tokens, and I let my mask slip the tiniest bit. Now Armpit could have some extra showers to keep the odor down. That thought would make the Buckingham palace guards smile. When we went back to the tent, and mom finally left after giving us one of his speeches, we settled down into our beds, and I listened to the chatter until they drew me into it. When the lights clicked off, I rolled over to go to bed, and fell asleep with a grin on my face, feeling almost happy about the whole situation.
--
Hello
Alright, I just wanna thank all of my beautiful reviewers. They make me very happy. And their names are : Miss Paparella, Paddawhump, Childhood Disruption, and Insane Koneko. They all rock my world. I encourage everyone to give me CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, and or praise. If you want to see something in the plot, or feel like I could be doing a better job, let me know and how I could fix it! Looooove, Em
Ps: I don't own holes, just Lacey, and the plot.