Chapter 34
It was Zigzag's birthday, so he happily declared.
He shared the news when Magnet tried to rouse him, lying so comfortably against his propped-up pillows. He always slept sitting straight up. It used to scare Mickey on her sleepless nights, like a scarecrow looming over them. There could've been worse watchers.
"I get to sleep in, because it's my birthday," Zigzag said. A pleased smile took over half his face. His wide eyes added to the effect, like a kid hopped up on sugar and triumph.
"It's his birthday?" Squid's derisive grunt followed him throwing down a pillow. A crease pressed into his cheek and harshened his sleepy eyes. "Sure, and I'm the Tooth Fairy."
"Think you'd scare people into wanting to keep their teeth in their mouths," Armpit said.
"Give a bunch of little kids nightmares," X-Ray said. He wiped his glasses with the hem of his tank top. After pushing them up his nose with a finger, he jerked a thumb in Squid's direction. "Can you imagine wakin' up and seein' that ugly mug by your bedside?"
Squid gave a tired, fake laugh and extended his middle fingers in X-Ray's direction.
"You get used to it," Mickey said through a yawn. She kicked away the sleeping bag and groaned at the creaks and pops in her back. The soreness in her muscles had gone away with time but the combination of hunching over and sleeping on a stiff slab still ravaged her. When X-Ray turned to keep ribbing him with Armpit and Zigzag shifted his attention to his trusty TV Guide, Squid heaved himself up and pressed a kiss to the side of her head.
"You're being a little obvious," Mickey said with a low voice despite the pleased thrum vibrating inside her like a plucked string. Squid lifted a brow. With quick, jerky movements, he twisted the collar of a shirt in his hands. The fabric spun in a sloppy windmill. "Just don't want anyone talking," she added when he didn't speak.
He shrugged. "Got nothin' to hide."
"Easy for you to say. These things tend not to stick to guys."
His hands stalled and he leaned forward, little space between their noses. He held his chin up and tapped his fingers against mouth, lips pulling to one side as a twinkle settled in his eye. "Mm, so you want me to be your dirty little secret?" His deep timbre sent a pleasing thrum hurting through her body.
"Dirt's a little too on the nose." Humming, her eyes rolled up to the canvas ceiling, pretending to think while she tapped her chin. "Or maybe little…"
"Hey."
Chuckling, she pressed her forehead against his, the tips of their noses brushing. "Was talkin' about your brain." She wiggled her fingers. He passed the shirt over, turning to lean back against the metal edge of the bed. If it grew longer it would start to curl up again. She draped the shirt over his head, flattening his fluffy bedhead and pulled the sleeves back, knotting it against the base of his skull.
"Now who's bein' obvious?" He didn't have to turn for her to know he had a large, cocky smile on his face.
She stuck her tongue out at the back of his head. "Shut up."
Magnet tried to get Zigzag up again, pulling on his arm. He barely moved; eyes still glued to his reading material. "I get to sleep in," Zigzag said, "it's my birthday."
They grumbled and groaned but, in the end, they let it go. Because it was Zigzag, and the last thing they wanted to do was piss off someone who appeared one second away from putting his fist through the TV to see what the insides looked like.
Breakfast was a weird mound of ham, mayo, pickle, and egg. Armpit called it cat food. It smelled worse than that. But Pendanski was proud of, the moonlight above placed a spotlight on his ear-to-ear grin.
"See? We take care of you," he said, all but rocking forward on his heels, as if little wings lifted him up.
They were too tired to react to that. But Zigzag cutting ahead of Squid in the line pepped him up enough to immediately voice his displeasure. Zigzag merely smiled at him and said, "Hey it's my birthday."
"It's not your birthday," Magnet said.
"Is too. July 8."
"Congratulations. I'll knock you out 'til it's your next one if y'don't move," Squid grumbled.
"Just let him cut, dude," Armpit said.
"Nah, man, I was here first."
"You want to rush to eat that?" X-Ray asked, gesturing to the tray Pendanski held out to them. Pendanski looked particularly offended.
"I've eaten worse."
"We know. We've smelled it coming out." X-Ray waved his hand in front of his face, chuckling as he backed away from Squid's rapid advancement.
"Stop," Mickey grumbled, putting her hands on Squid's chest, halting him in his tracks. "Just leave it alone."
Squid looked down at her and she steeled her gaze. A muscle jumped in his jaw and his eyes shifted across her face, little by little, as if searching for something. His muscles relaxed and he huffed a resigned, "Fine."
Dragging her hand up his front, she followed the curve of his neck until her palm rested against his cheek and she gave it a gentle pat. "Good boy."
Squid looked at her as if his brain short-circuited and she let out a soft giggle at the sight of it, reaching past him to take the tray Pendanski held. Pendanski's smile dropped for a second, eyebrows furrowing as his eyes moved from Mickey to Squid and back only, to come back full force when she thanked him. She took the lump of food and shoved it in her mouth. It wasn't great but it was better than nothing. Though nothing began to feel more appealing.
She brushed her sticky, gloopy hands against the rough canvas encasing her legs and rolled her neck. Stanley had said something about how long he'd been there. She quickly tacked on three extra days on that, counting out the current length of her sentence. A groan pushed out of her when the number appeared in her head. May as well be a drop in the bucket. A grain of sand under her feet. It still left her there a better part of the year.
A cool breeze crawled up her neck. Mr. Sir curled his lip. Bull and Thlump snickered as they walked past, eyes gleaming. She forced out a breath, forced herself to keep breathing, and shoved herself into the trailing pack from C-Tent where they took turns topping off their canteens. They blinked their sleepy eyes and nodded at her, one even stepped back to let her in first. She thanked him and took a refreshing swig on her way to the Library. Squid intercepted, all but throwing a shovel at her. The rough handle scratched her palm; shaky tally marks had been carved into the handle. 79, she counted. Not a big number when more than a year still stared back at her.
She fell into the slow-moving mass of campers heading out to the lake. A cloud of dust billowed dust from Mr. Sir's truck as he led the way. The counselors followed behind, guns clutched in their hands, the mouth of the rifles pointing up towards the sky like flags on a battlefield. Mickey clutched her shovel by the head, letting the swinging tail keep others from getting too close. Squid fell into step by her side, their fingers brushed with each swing of their free hand. She briefly laced their fingers together, giving his hand a squeeze. A shadow of a smile curled his lips.
Another day, another hole. At least she had something to look forward to.
# # #
"Do you need water?"
Stanley shook his head when Mickey approached. The water truck was coming soon anyway, or so she guessed by the positioning of the sun. She'd gotten better at that over time, using the sun and the shadows around their holes to tell time. She figured it was near 11 in the morning. She still had most of her day to go.
"Mr. Sir hasn't been depriving me of water lately so I'm good," he said. He fiddled with the frayed hem of his shirt sleeve as she spoke. He plucked out a loose thread and flicked it away. It rolled and tumbled along the dirt as the light breeze carried it away. It was hot, like having a giant stand nearby, breathing down their necks. But hot air was better than no air.
"Still dumb," she muttered, slapping the cap of the bottle. It closed with a sharp snap. "S'not like you had anything to do with that." She motioned to his hole where Zero steadily added to the growing pile of dirt nearby. "Any of it, really." Stanley shrugged one shoulder. What can you do? he seemed to say. And, truthfully, not much. Fairness didn't exist all the way out in the desert.
Beads of sweat dripped down her back. She curled her finger into the collar of her shirt and gave it a few sharp tugs, sending little puffs of air down her neck. She swore the temperature went up by two degrees.
The air almost crackled around them. A storm was coming. Shielding her eyes, she looked over at the mountain in the distance. Sometimes they could see a storm growing high above the jutting range, lightning illuminating the shadowy outline. Other times, a fuzzy haze of heat and dust reduced visibility. For others, their minds created images on their own: fountains of water, a thumbs-up shape in a mountain, or, as Zigzag suggested, a man and a donkey. They didn't put much stock into that one. Not because it was what Zigzag saw, but because they couldn't quite figure out how he could make out a man and a donkey out of rocks. But Zigzag held fast to his claim he'd seen them before.
"At least there's one good thing coming out of all this." She motioned to Zero who paused his digging, looking up at her with a squinted eye. "One of us is building character." That got a laugh from both of them. She sat next to Caveman, stretching her legs, leaning back on her palms. Warmth sunk into her skin, the earth pulsing and breathing beneath her. No sense in getting back to digging, water would be arriving soon. She dragged her finger through the loose top layer of dirt, drawing the familiar curls and swirls she'd frequently adorn to the top of her papers and tests. "Can you read this?"
Zero tilted his head, eyes widening and squinting as they trailed over the letters she'd written in the dirt. He pulled his lip between his teeth, his nose wrinkled, and he let out a soft breath. "Mmm…Mmm," he started. "Mmm…eek? Mmm-eek—uh…"
"I'll give you a hint, the start is the beginning of Mickey."
"Mmick…aah-yuh…lah?" Mickayla
"That's close," Mickey said following a giggle. "Maybe three syllables was too much."
"Don't count him out just yet," Stanley said. "He'll get there."
Zero gave them both a look and, for a second, shame covered Mickey for talking about him as if he weren't sitting there. The following small smile on his face, one of pride, eased her worries. He licked his lips and tried again. By the time the cloud following the water truck appeared on the horizon he'd managed to sound it all out, though he still stumbled over stringing it all together.
She swiped her palm against the ground, erasing her name. Once standing, she stretched her arms to the sky, balancing up on her tip toes, her body falling back into pointe technique with little effort. Her mom would be proud. All that time away wasn't wasted after all.
"Let's go boys! Lunch!" Pendanski called out, clapping. When he caught Mickey's eye he smiled, removed his hat from his head, and made a sweeping motion with it. He'd taken up the habit lately. "My apologies, Mickey. I, of course, mean nothing by it." He'd taken up that habit too.
She didn't reply, instead she slowed her walk, allowing X-Ray, Armpit, and Magnet to move ahead of her. Their lineup for food wasn't as strict as their water lineup but she wanted as many people ahead of her as possible. By the time he'd get to her and Zero, he wouldn't have an excuse to stick around.
"Where's your whip Caveman?" She curled her fingers at the disdain in Armpit's question. "You don't want your slave to be slacking off." The snide expression on his face melted into one of conspiracy, teeth gleaming as he approached X-Ray. The two chuckled and slapped palms with one another, clearly satisfied with their dig. Just one of many.
"It's not slavery, it's agreement," Stanley said. His insistence was much firmer than she'd heard him before. Surer and steadier. A far cry from the Stanely from when the deal had first been made.
"Line 'em up, I don't have all day. Let's go! Let's go!"
They slid into their usual places in line, throwing out small greetings and acknowledgement towards Pendanski. Mickey kicked at the ground and shook out her hands as the line inched forward. C'mon, c'mon. If only Mr. Sir had been driving the truck this time. At least he didn't try to talk to her or push a conversation. He nearly threw the food at her in some instances. Any way to get away from her, she guessed. Too bad Pendanski didn't get that memo.
"Drinking enough water? I could top you off." He approached the minute Zero walked off. His words nearly collided in his haste. "Can't have you be dehydrated."
"I'm fine," Mickey insisted, pushing her canteen around her body until it hung behind her. "I have enough." The water inside sloshed around, amplifying the empty spaces, crashing around like a roaring ocean wave.
"Are you sure? I have plenty."
"Yep. I'm good." She side-stepped him and went for the food, though nothing appealed to her, except maybe the apple.
She hurried and reached Squid's side where he walked along with Zigzag. He gave Zigzag a few cookies. Zigzag crushed a few in a tight hold, tilted his head back, and dumped the handful of crumbs into his mouth. She grimaced. Wouldn't that be like swallowing sandpaper? If the end of the world came, she was sure Zigzag would be the lone survivor for many years after.
Poking Squid's arm, she asked for some of his water. He gave her the canteen without batting an eye. Her walking slowed while opening the canteen, Squid and Zigzag pulling ahead. As she tilted her head back, taking a gulp, she caught Pendanski's deep frown out the corner of her eye.
She turned away, shuddering, slapping her palm against the raised cap as she went, juggling it and her lunch bag. By the time she got settled and caught up, Zigzag waving a cookie in front of Stanley's face and asking him about digging his hole for him. Not this again. They seemed more obsessed about him getting help than thinking of helping each other if they wanted their holes finished so badly. She almost pointed it out when Stanley pushed Zigzag's arm away. An empty, almost offended look came across Zigzag's face when he started pushing Stanley back.
"C'mon guys, leave him alone," Mickey said.
"No, it's alright Mickey, I can handle it," Stanley said, scrambling back up to his feet.
"Yeah, you might wanna stay out of it," Squid said, pinching her sleeve, pulling her back.
She whirled around. "Stay out? You're the ones barging in."
Squid held up his hands. "Hey, I aint doin' nothin'."
"Except giving Stanley a hard time."
"Aw c'mon, it aint fair he's not diggin' much."
"He has an agreement with Zero. What does it matter to you?"
"Again, it aint fair."
"What's not fair is you all proclaiming he's getting a leg up when you had no trouble with him taking the fall for the sunflower seeds."
Squid's eyes narrowed. "He could've done better to hide it."
"Or, you didn't have to take it in the first place."
"I didn't take anythin', it was Magnet." He jerked his thumb in Magnet's direction where he and X-Ray had walked past him.
"How'd I get brought into this?" Magnet asked.
Mickey waved her hand at him, brushing Magnet off. "You benefited perfectly fine when nothin' landed on you. And even then, Stanley never said anything so you should be happy."
"Happy!?" Squid let out a little laugh and rubbed his fingers against his bottom lip. "What I'm happy about is that this guy is finally getting' what's comin' to him."
Heaving a weary sigh, X-Ray asked, "Can you two please just kiss and get it over with already?"
Silence stretched between the group. Mickey started spluttering and Squid pulled his lips tight until they both managed to snap "Shut up, X-Ray!".
Unfazed, a grin bloomed on X-Ray's face. He stood up straight and light danced in his eyes. "Oh ho ho! Wait a second! Have you two already kissed?"
"Really, ma? Him? You could do better," Magnet said, face twisting up to an expression of pity.
Squid immediately turned on him, disdain crossing his face. "Oh yeah, with who? You?"
"Just sayin'." Magnet held up his hands and took a step back from Squid. "Couldn't have been all that good with you scowlin' all the time."
"Am I to understand that there have been dalliances within your tent?" Mickey flinched at Pendanski's question, words light but smile tight. When did he get there? She thought he'd driven off to feed the others.
God, this can't be happening. Mickey buried her face in her hands, catching Squid's blank stare, Magnet's amusement, and X-Ray's shit-eating grin. He looked like a cat who caught a canary.
"…Dally-what?" Squid asked.
X-Ray smirked. "He wants to know if you two are banging."
"Mom, we aint—" Squid said.
"I'm not asking you," Pendanski cut him off, staring straight at Mickey.
She blinked. "Why're you asking me?"
"Considering you're the only one of D-Tent that is of a different…set, I'll need to know if you're in a particular situation you may not be equipped to handle. For your safety."
Mickey scoffed. "Like how you let Bull into the tent?"
Pendanski's smile nearly cracked and fell apart beneath his twitching lips. "Yes, well, that…that was a different matter completely."
"How?"
He cleared his throat. "Bull's not under my jurisdiction."
"But I am." Her eyes itched and stung and she swallowed the lump rising her in throat. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. He didn't get to see her tears, didn't deserve to witness the anguish crawling and festering in her chest.
"Look, this is nothing to get upset about. I'm here to help you. Just calm down." He placed a hand on her shoulder, gave it a squeeze. "You're misunderstanding me."
She jerked away from him. The weight of his hand on her shoulder stung. "Don't touch me." She didn't recognize it, the force behind her command. Rage shooting it off like a bullet. The air around them shattered, causing Zigzag, Squid, Stanley, and Magnet to all look at her with wide eyes and slacked jaws.
Pendanski, however, all geniality drained from his face. Fire burned in his eyes like hot coals and his face twisted into a grotesque sneer. "I'm just trying to help here."
"I don't need your help!"
He reached for her again. This time she hit him herself, slapping his creeping hand away.
The storm hit.
Squid stepped in to keep Pendanski back, which got X-Ray on his back, nabbing his attention only for the two to end up nose-to-nose with Magnet trying to shove his way in between them. Somewhere beneath all that noise Zigzag taunted Stanley, waving a cookie in his face. Before she could move, they had gotten into a fight too, rolling around on the ground, throwing punches in such a flurry she didn't know whose limbs were whose. Zero came rushing in out of nowhere, throwing himself at Zigzag, grabbing him in a headlock that brought Armpit in trying to pry him off.
Pendanski fired his shotgun in the air; everything came to a screeching halt.
# # #
The Warden arrived at the digging site in short order. Her mouth tightened and her jaw set when she scanned the range of dirty faces avoiding her gaze. Pendanski stood tall by the water truck, glee shining through his eyes. Mr. Sir arrived with her, taking his time to leave her bright white Chrysler. The scratches on his face were almost gone. The campers of nearby tents came over as well, their whispers an incessant buzzing to Mickey's ears. If only she could swat them away like flies.
The Warden walked up and down the line, the heels to her boots thudding against the ground while taking in everyone's faces. She paused, staring down at Zero and Stanley who had been separated and held by the truck. Finally, uttering a sigh, she turned to Pendanski and asked him what happened.
"There was a riot," he said.
"It wasn't a riot," Stanley said.
Pendanski continued as if Stanley hadn't spoken. "Basically, Zero almost killed Ricky."
Lines tightened at the corners of the Warden's eyes. "Basically…" she repeated, head cocked to the side. Mickey had barely seen the woman, not since her failed attempts at appealing to her and, still, the icy tone to her words had her standing straight and doing her best to be invisible. Standing near Zigzag and Squid, the two tallest, gave her a good hiding place.
"Uh, see, Ziggy was beating up the Caveman, right? And then Zero started choking Zigzag. I had to pull Zero off of him…" Armpit took a step back beneath the Warden's cutting gaze. "It…it was all over before Mom fired his gun."
"They just got a little hot, that's all," X-Ray said. He didn't flinch when the Warden turned to him. With arms crossed, he held her gaze, his explanation smooth and measured. "You know how it is. Out in the sun all day, the blood starts to boil. But everything's cool now."
"I see." The Warden turned to Zigzag. "Is that what happened, Zigzag?"
"Yep." The solitary word came out in a low rumble. His shovel rested on his chest and he gripped it tight like a life preserver. "Like X-Ray said, you know, working all day out in the hot sun, you know, while Caveman sits around and does nothing."
Dammit Ziggy. Mickey couldn't say she expected much with the guys being so against the trade-off in the first place, but he could've at least held off a little longer. He folded like a wet paper towel.
"Excuse me?" One of the Warden's eyebrows popped up over the rim of her shiny sunglasses. "Caveman digs his hole just like everyone else."
Zigzag shrugged. "Sometimes."
"Excuse me."
"Ma'am, Zero's been digging a part of Caveman's hole every day." And Squid folded even faster. Mickey pinched the skin on the back of his arm, shooting a glare his way when he turned to her. At least he had the decency to look ashamed.
Mr. Sir drew himself up, looming over Stanley. "You're not digging holes no more?"
"We also have another situation." Pendanski jumped in. Glee rolled down his chin and pooled at his feet, oozing through the big grin on his face. "It appears two of my campers have been engaging in amorous activity."
Seven pairs of eyes burned her skin. Her stomach twisted and pitched in sour waves. Even with her mouth falling open, she couldn't get enough air in through the tightening of her throat. And there Pendanski continued to stand, self-satisfied, almost like…like someone who'd been scorned. "I…I don't know what he's talking about," she managed to stammer. "I've just been doing what Pen...what Mom asked me to do."
"Same here," Squid said.
"I administer his medicine."
"And I'm looking out for her." Squid looked past the Warden and said to Pendanski, "Like you asked when she first came here."
"Yes, well, I didn't think I had to add on that certain recreation was forbidden between campers," Pendanski said.
"But people harassing me is perfectly fine?" Mickey asked.
"Excuse me?" The Warden turned her hardened stare onto Mickey. "That's some accusation."
"It's not an accusation when it's true," Mickey said. The Warden's mouth tightened and a muscle by her jaw twitched. "You know what's going on." Mickey's voice dropped to a pained whisper.
"All I know is that trouble seems to show up whenever you're around," the Warden said. She stood in front of Mickey, leaning over until they were nearly nose-to-nose. "And I wonder why that is."
"At least she digs her hole," Magnet muttered.
"Do you have something to say, Magnet?" She whipped her head around, quick like a cobra. Or a rattlesnake. Mickey could almost see a rattle quaking behind her in warning. Unlike the others, Magnet kept his mouth shut, dutifully shaking his head. Like a spotter, the Warden kept her eyes on Magnet until she turned her head far enough to address Stanley. "You know the rules." Drumming her sharp nails against her crossed arms, she took her time to approach. "Is there a particularly good reason you're not doing what you've been told?"
"I'm…teaching him how to read and write," Stanley said. "It's…it's sort of a trade." He set his jaw beneath the stares of the counselors. "He's a smart kid."
Pendanski laughed scornfully while Mr. Sir uttered his confusion and incredulity. Challenging him, Pendanski spoke to Zero slowly and loudly as if speaking to a child when asking him to spell a few words. Zero clenched his jaw, eyes tightening and nostrils flaring as he remained silent, which only egged Pendanski on. Crescent moons pressed into Mickey's palms where her fingers curled into fists. She and Stanley locked eyes and Stanley slowly shook his head. They both knew Zero knew the answer, he just didn't like answering stupid questions.
"Okay," the Warden sighed, rubbing her temples, sounding very much like an overwhelmed and impatient mother, "from now on, I don't want anyone digging anyone else's hole. Is that clear?" She whipped off her sunglasses and glared at Stanley. "And no more reading lessons."
"Why? I mean, if the hole gets dug, who cares who's digging it?" Stanley asked.
"You know why you're digging holes?!" Mr. Sir all but roared, finally coming to life. "'Cause it's good for you. It teaches you a lesson."
"If Zero digs your hole for you, you're not learning your lesson, are you?" the Warden asked.
"Why can't I still just dig my hole and teach him how to read?"
"'Cause I said so," she all but hissed. "And as you can see, teaching Zero things, it leads to trouble. Zero almost killed Zigzag."
"We know you mean well, Stanley," Pendanski said, back to his gentle tones, "but the mental stress just causes his brain too much of a…challenge. That's what made his blood boil, not the hot sun."
"I'm not digging any more holes." Beneath the stark blue sky, Zero's fortitude rang clear.
"Good," the Warden said.
"I mean, you might as well teach this shovel to read." Pendanski yanked the shovel off Zigzag who jerked his head out the way at the last second. "Go ahead, Zero," he taunted, tossing the shovel to him. "Take it. It's all you'll ever be good for." All traces D-I-G. What's that spell?"
All anger drained from his face and, for one second, peace pushed through the surface.
He tightened his grip on the shaft.
Then he swung it like a baseball bat.
The metal blade connected with Pendanski's face, the force of the hit causing him to spin in a near complete circle before he crumpled to the ground.
Zero took off running, legs bumping, hair bouncing, his grip strong on his shovel.
Mickey peered around Squid, gripping his arm. He'd flung it protectively across her front to keep her away from Zero's swing. Pendanski lay still, eyes closed, mouth agape, looking much like a kid trying to create a snow angel. The skin around his eyes reddened and puffed up. Shouts overlapped around them: Stanley yelling for Zero to keep running, the Warden yelling at Mr. Sir to keep him from chasing after Zero, the campers nearby rushing into swarm Pendanski, counselors running around to try and maintain order.
The Warden, with hands on her hips, squinted at Zero's small figure in the distance. Mickey brought a hand up to shield her eyes, watching him. His figure shimmied and wiggled against the waves of heat hovering on the horizon.
"I still expect all the holes to be dug," the Warden announced. "And you." She jabbed her finger in Mickey's direction. "See me when you're finished. We need to talk."
# # #
"You don't have to stay."
She almost took him up on his offer. Her back ached and the sun had sapped whatever energy she had left. After all the excitement, Pendanski was whisked off the lakebed for treatment. They went back to digging as the dust cloud from the racing water truck settled. No one said a word as the extra staff came out and kept an eye on them.
One by one the other members of D-Tent left; their order altered now that Zero was gone. Squid almost sheepishly offered to stay back but Mickey sent him off. She didn't want to upset the Warden more than she already was. Still, she sat on the edge of Zero's unfinished hole as Stanley went about digging the rest. It was only fair. "I know."
Stanley nodded and scooped more dirt. Mickey brushed sweat off her hairline with her sleeve. It was the hottest part of the day. Every now and then one of them would look off into the distance. They never saw Zero on the horizon. "It might be better if you just get it over with," Stanley said, slamming the blade into the ground. He rested against the shaft and peered up at her through a squinted eye.
"I'm not so sure." The longer she sat out there, the longer she didn't have to face whatever the Warden had waiting for her.
"Better than doing this. At least you'll get some a/c."
She shook her head. "It's not fair to you."
Stanley snorted. "Fairness dries up real fast around here."
"No kidding." She picked at her nails, the skin around the tips were torn, dry and flaky. Her biting habit came back with a vengeance. There was not enough pickle juice in the world to dip her fingers in. "…Did you know?"
"Did I know what?" Stanley shoved his heel into the heel of the blade, loosening up another mound of dirt. With a grunt, he threw it over his shoulder.
"What Zero was going to do."
"Oh." He scraped up another shovelful. "No."
She clicked her tongue. "Do you wish you did?"
"I guess not."
"Do you think he'll come back?"
"I don't know. I probably wouldn't." He threw more dirt over his shoulder. Little by little Zero's old hole got deeper and wider. She kept an eye on the growing dirt pile on the surface. Nothing sucked worse than having to move it to get more space. "I'm sorry."
Mickey tore her eyes away from the pile, eyebrows furrowing. "For what?"
"My no-good-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. If it weren't for him, this wouldn't have happened. You wouldn't be pulled into this."
"Should've figured another man was responsible for this," Mickey said dryly, then she shook her head. "He didn't do anything. I don't believe in curses anyway. I wanted to help. Zero helped me out once before."
"Hector."
"Huh?"
"That's his name. Hector. Hector Zeroni."
"Hector Zeroni," she repeated, trying his name out on her tongue. It rolled pleasantly. She caught the look in his eye, the flicker of determination mixing with smoldering anger. She sighed. "…You're going after him, aren't you?"
He looked away, eyes tracking a spider crawling around the perimeter of his hole. She used to be afraid of them, needing her father or their one-time housekeeper, Mrs. Martinez, to scoop them up and put them outside. Now they faded to the backdrop, like the scorpions and "I don't know."
"Yeah you do."
He hummed and went back to digging. Power behind his stabbing shook the shovel, making his hands wobble. His mouth twisted and grunts rolled in his throat with every heave. His tosses slowed, his chest heaved, sweat dripped down the side of his face and he licked his cracked, dry lips. "…Would you come too?"
# # #
The Warden's cabin was an oasis in the hot desert. Mickey almost melted beneath the cool air kissing her face when she crossed the threshold. Goosebumps erupted over her skin, though she didn't know whether to attribute that to the a/c or from the proximity of the Warden.
The Warden's eyes burned into the back of her head and Mickey didn't dare make any false moves beneath her careful gaze. She stood in the doorway of the most forbidden place in all of Camp Green Lake, waiting for her inevitable demise.
"Are you thirsty?" The Warden asked, striding past her. She looked almost too relaxed, bare feet slapping against the creaking hardwood floor, sleeves rolled up to her elbows. And that couldn't be a smile on her face. Mickey had been out in the sun for too long to think she saw that. It had to be some sort of mirage. An indoor mirage.
"No, I'm..." Mickey peeled her tongue from the roof of her mouth and cleared her throat. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" The Warden crossed her freckled arms over her chest and leaned in the doorway to the kitchen. One finger tapped near her elbow. "I can get a glass."
"I'm good."
She shrugged, as if to say "suit yourself". Mickey nodded, letting a breath slip through her lips. Silence stretched between them, save for the radio in the corner squawking "Breaker-two-five. Northbound, no mile marker available. Got a highway gator slowin' me down. ETA compromised. Will update. 1o-10." How did it work all the way out there? Why, underneath all the static, did it sound so familiar?
Mickey rocked back and forth on her heels. The Warden stayed still, leaning against the doorway, watching her. Every now and then her lips would tighten and then relax when Mickey blinked, leaving her to wonder if she'd imagined it.
"Have a seat." The Warden motioned to the circular table as she drew back a chair. Its rough and cracked legs dragged against the ground. She stretched a long leg over the chair and sat in one smooth motion, compared to Mickey dropping into hers like a sack of potatoes. "It seems you've become a distraction lately. These fine young boys, all they need to focus on is digging their holes and serving their sentences. Now, I've let you stay here out of the goodness in my heart"—Mickey almost laughed—"but I can't have you coming in and making them stray from their goal."
"But I'm not doing anything!"
"I beg to differ," the Warden said with a little laugh. Extending her fingers to count, light slid across the pearlescent lacquer. "You have caused problems with B-Tent. You're causing them for your own. I've had to move assignments around for you. Pendanski, out the goodness of his heart, has tried to take you under his wing and offer support. And you repay him by spitting in his face and utilizing his faith in you to create your own love den?"
"I never—"
The Warden held up a solitary finger. The nail brandished in the air, holding steady like a waiting blade. Mickey gulped. She picked at a hangnail by her thumb. "The affect you have on the men around here has not gone unnoticed. They need to focus on bettering themselves, building character, not getting preoccupied by you swishing your tail all about."
"That's not fair!" Her nerves, razor thin, snapped. Blood rushed in her ears and pressure built behind her eyes and she gritted her teeth. Frustration still oozed out. "B-Tent has been after me since day one!"
"You think you've done nothing to get them to this point? Come on, a pretty girl like you? You haven't led them on at all?" The Warden leaned back. Her body language reflected nonchalance though her gaze mirrored a predator on prowl. "I know all about you. I know the games girls like you play to come across innocent while you're destroying someone else's life."
Pick. Sting. Pick. The whiplash of shifted topics had Mickey stumbling to reply. That was all the Warden needed.
"You were arrested for assault, for trying to bring harm to a young man whose only crime was that he turned you down. "No, no, no! That's not what happened! "I will not have the same issues arising in my facility. I already know you've brought discontent to B-Tent; I won't have you doing it to D-Tent as well. What, with all these baseless accusations."
"Baseless!?"
The Warden kept going, an unstoppable force, a rock rolling down a hill, a in motion. "You almost ruined the life of a nice young man. A young man with opportunity. A young man who has choices. All because you didn't have a good time at a party."
Mickey gasped. It gusted like a hurricane in the otherwise quiet room. How does she know that? How does she know anything about it? She wracked her brain, trying to rewind all the conversations she'd had. Maybe the assault she knew about, she did stupidly yell at Squid what had happened to her in the cafeteria. But the rest she hadn't said anything about out loud. Right? Colors burst in the darkness behind her eyes. Think! Think! But nothing came up, nothing except a broken-up highlight reel: Brett asking to dance, Brett giving her something to drink, Brett touching her hair, her arms feeling heavy, laughing while her shirt pushed upward, her mumbled and disjointed protests, something smelling awfully of fish, his body weight pushing all the air out of her, struggling to breathe, pain, crying, so much crying...
She swallowed, forcing down the lump making it difficult to speak. "That's not what happened." The four words tumble clumsily into her lap.
"Isn't it?"
"No."
The Warden shrugged. "Same result. His reputation is hit while people like you get to go along with your wide eyes and your innocent face like you didn't do anything wrong."
"I didn't—"
"That's okay, girls like you will learn your lesson. You always do. I'll make sure of it. After all, that's what you're here for." Mickey's eyes burned, the colors around the room swirled and swayed as her vision slowly unfocused, filtering in behind water. She had to fight back, wanted to, but what could she do? Attacking the Warden would only get her a one-way ticket to her death. Who knows what she'd do in retaliation. Or who she'd get to retaliate for her. Put her in her place. Think, think! You have to do something!
What was that clicking sound? She blinked, tears carving tracks down her cheeks. Looking up, she took in the sight of the Warden slowly shaking her head and clicking her tongue against her mouth. Tsk Tsk. The green in her eyes shifted, emeralds softening to moss. "Look at you. That sun's not doing anything to help your complexion. Don't worry, I have just the thing to help."
The Warden walked back to her bedroom. Tinkling glass and shifting objects dotted the silence in between until she came back to the doorway. Mickey locked eyes with the Warden just a second before she pulled them away. A pair of black boots with turquoise stones sat by the Warden's bed. Mickey's eyebrows furrowed. Her grandmother had an exact pair. Said she got it from her mother.
The Warden took her seat, reached across the table, and grabbed Mickey's face. Her forefinger and jaw pressed into the hollows of her cheeks, pain gradually building beneath her grip as the Warden turned her head this way and that. Finally, the Warden clicked her tongue and patted Mickey's cheek.
The Warden dug around until she found a tube of lipstick. With a few delicate twists of the base, a bright red, unmarred stick pointed upwards. A sword ready to kill. "When I'm through with you, you'll get the attention you've desperately been seeking."
A/N - Hi! I know it's been a year (exactly!) since I updated this. Thanks again for being so patient with me, I deeply appreciate it! Last year I went though a tough time with massive burnout due to being at a job I really hated. I felt like there was no end in sight. But, thankfully, a few months ago I changed jobs! And, the best part, there's enough down time that I can write while at work! That's how I finished this chapter, by writing bits and pieces during work and here we are!
Initially I wanted to get this posted and done for the 20th anniversary back in April, and then get this done again sometime in October but life came at me fast, as some would say, and I had to put my writing on the back burner to focus on myself for a while. I hope you all understand. But now we're at the really fun part so I can't wait to see what you all think of where this story goes! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and will have a very Happy New Year! My goals for 2024, finishing this fic and starting/posting the sequel! Thanks again for all the support and for taking time to comment (I read every one!), it means so much to me.
See you in 2024!
CM