Love and Pollywogs from Camp Calamity (4 page)

We laughed and cheered again. It was like a pep rally,
and the pep was all about
us
. It made me feel so grown up. Mom came up behind me and gave me a squeeze around the shoulders. Normally, I would have squeezed her back, but I wasn’t completely over being mad at her for letting Maxey come to my camp.

Sister Lucille shouted over the noise. “It’s time to say goodbye to any electronics you haven’t parted with yet. Cough up any cell phones, video games, and music. Parents, make sure your campers are leaving all that with you. You all have my cell number and you can call me, if needed. And you have the main office number at Camp Wickitawa on the sheets I passed out.”

The big stinky bus roared up and farted smoke in our faces. I didn’t even mind. It was the smell of travel and adventure!

Mom twirled me around and gave me a tight hug, and one of her famous Coach Maloney butt smacks. I’ll probably get one of those even on my wedding day after she walks me down the aisle.

She held me by the shoulders and looked at me. “I know you’re still sore at me,” she said. “I promise you that you’re going to have the time of your life.”

It would have been so easy to bury my head in the center of her that very second, but I didn’t. I looked down at my tennies and bit down on the inside of my cheek hard. I hadn’t wanted to say goodbye to Pretty Girl that morning, and I did not want to say goodbye to Mom, either.

She sighed and pulled me close. Kissed the top of my
hair. “You’re a Maloney dame, for sure,” she said. “They don’t come any more stubborn than that.”

Aurora’s head popped out the bus window. Nit was in the seat in front of her, waving like mad. “Effie, come on! We’ve saved you a place.”

Mom pulled a tissue from her bag and blew her nose. She was losing it. Next to her, Becca’s dad was dabbing at his eyes with a man hanky.

I hitched up my backpack and swallowed. I did
not
want to start crying. I turned and raced toward the bus. Camp Wickitawa, here I come!

•   •   •

The ride to camp went by super fast even though it was a three-hour trip. The girls sat all the way in front and the boys sat in back. Even though we were going to the same place, it was sort of like two different camps. We’d have meals together in the same dining room but at different tables, I was pretty sure. Some classes we’d have together. And Talent Night was for boys and girls. Donal was the only one who didn’t seem to get it. Even though Frank had him sitting with the boys, he kept shouting things up to us.

Donal transferred to our school this year from Ireland, but he still hasn’t made any friends with the boys. They all think he’s a very peculiar kid. Which he is. But girls get along better with peculiar kids than boys do. It’s hard to tell if Donal is strange or just Irish. Nit was his first official
friend, and so I guess that made him my friend too. And Aurora’s.

On the way to camp, I got to talk to Cricket, who would be our CIT.

Since Phil was only in seventh grade, she was the junior CIT and Cricket was the real CIT and Phil’s boss. Thank God. Sister Lucille was our counselor and in charge of everything and everybody.

On the bus ride, Cricket and Phil taught us a song I’d already learned from Maxey called “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt”! It was my favorite. The song didn’t make any sense but it made us all crack up, especially the last line. Every time you sang the verse you had to sing it softer, so when you got to the last one, you were whispering. I think the bus driver liked this song the best.

Kayla sat next to Becca, since Becca was the only other girl who didn’t have a best friend. Becca has a twin brother, Bryce, but he was in the back. Kayla kept whispering into Becca’s ear and acting all snotty about something. Becca was trying to read a book about surviving in the wilderness. She’s our class brainiac. Officially, Becca is one of Kayla’s girl gang, but only when her brother isn’t around.

Missy and Sissy are part of the girl gang too, and so is Drew. Missy is the worst. She tries to dress like Kayla and copy everything she says and does. Sissy kind of gets swept along in it all, since she and Missy are best friends. Nit says she thinks Drew likes trouble more than she actually likes Kayla, so that’s why she’s in the gang.

After a while, the bus pulled over at a snack shop so we could use the facilities and get a drink. All the girls got to go in first.

Aurora bought the biggest drink in the whole store. All her sports made her very thirsty. Nit bought an extra drink to take to our bus driver. That was just like her. She’s always thinking about people I forget to think about. I got a Dr Pepper, which Mom doesn’t let me have too often. Plus three packs of sugarful gum, and barbecue chips for later.

When the boys took their turn inside the store, we all settled in. Usually they don’t let you have drinks on the bus, but this was a special event, the driver said. I took a big fizzy swig and sighed. I loved being away from home already!

“Is Cricket your real name or a fake camp name?” I asked. I felt sort of shy talking to her because she was in high school, but I was dying of curiosity about her. She wore sparkly eye shadow and had long, shiny, straight black hair, just the kind I wished I had.

“My real name is Winona,” she said, “but no one has called me that since the day I was born.”

We all giggled.

“Have you ever been a CIT before?” Nit asked.

“Nope, you’re my first—my guinea pigs,” she said with a devilish grin, rubbing her hands together.

“Hey, Cricket, do you like sports?” Aurora asked hopefully.

“Some,” she said. “I like the ones where you really have to think and use a lot of strategy.”

“Me too!” Aurora exclaimed.

“What grade are you in?” Nit asked. “Sister couldn’t remember if you’re a junior or senior.”

“I’m a senior.”

“Do you know my brother Flint?” Aurora asked.

“Do you have other colors of sparkly eye shadow?” I asked.

“Whoa there, cowgirls!” she laughed. “One at a time.”

“Sorry!” we chimed.

The boys started climbing back on the bus—everyone was on time, according to Sister Lucille’s big sport watch. “Head count of the girls, please!”

Cricket came down the aisle, counting us off with a light tap on the head.

She got to the end and then spun back around. “Fourteen girls—all present and accounted for, Sister!”

“That can’t be right, Cricket, we’ve only thirteen girls.”

“Maybe we have a stowaway!” Georgia exclaimed, and we all spun around in our seats.

“I’m sure of it, Sister—I counted twice! See? Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen—”

“We’re short one back here!” said the boy’s CIT named Matt. “Who are we missing?”

Cricket pulled a hoodie back on one of the girls—but it wasn’t a girl!

“Donal!” we all yelled.

He turned bright red and gave a small grin. “Thought I’d ride up with the girls till we get there. Smells better up here anyway.”

Matt marched up the aisle and plucked Donal out of the seat. He tucked him under his arm like a football. “Need you back here, dude.”

Nit and I exchanged a quick glance. I could tell she was thinking the same thing: don’t ever be somewhere Matt doesn’t want you to be! I would die a million deaths if a high school boy picked me up like that.

“Poor Donal,” Nit sighed. “This is going to be a long week for him.”

Frank leapt up the stairs to the bus and gave us all a big smile with his movie-star teeth. “Everyone ready?”

We all cheered,
“Yes!”

“Then, next stop, Camp Wickitawa!”

T
he very first thing I noticed about Camp Wickitawa when I stepped off the bus was how excellent it smelled. Like trees, burning wood, wet puppies, swimming, and saltwater taffy. I took in another big breath and looked around. It was so enormous out here. And it was so—so,
outside!

The next thing I noticed was that even though it smelled amazing, my feet did not want to go forward. They didn’t want to walk away from the bus. Around me, everyone moved in fast motion—laughing, jumping, grabbing their bags off the bus, hollering back and forth. I was stuck in slow motion, and my batteries were going fast.

“Line up!” Sister Lucille called. “Boys there by Frank—I mean, Mr. Avila—and girls right here.”

I got an ice-cold feeling right in the pit of me. Like I’d eaten too much ice cream. Swallowed a carton whole. What was wrong with me all of a sudden?

“You need help with your bag, Effie?” Nit called. She was already lined up.

“No! Uh, I think—I think—I left something on the bus. I’ll be right there … uh, in a sec.” I climbed back on the bus. I went to my seat and pretended to look for something underneath. The bus driver was filling out some papers.

I sat back down where I’d been five minutes before. I’d been having a very good time sitting right there. It was nice on the bus. Maybe I could just sit awhile. I mean, what was the big hurry? We had all week.

“You okay back there, little lady?” the bus driver asked.

“Yeah, I left something and I’m trying to find it.”

He got up and came down the aisle. “What is it? I’ll help you.”

“Wull, I’m not exactly sure. But I don’t want you to drive off with it. I’ll just sit here until I figure it out. You can do your paperwork. I’ll be quiet as a mouse.”

He looked at me and scratched his neck. “I need to head back to Tyler Wash pretty soon. Can I give you a hand looking?”

Cricket’s head popped in from the doorway. “There you are! Nit said you left something. Did you find it?”

“She can’t remember what she lost,” the bus driver said.

“Oh!” she said, looking at me. Then she said it again.
“Oh!
Well, I’ll help her. Thanks,” she said, squeezing past him. He went back up to the front.

“Everything okay, Effie?” she asked, sliding in next to me.

“Sure! I just wanted to sit here a minute to see if I could remember what it was that I might be forgetting. I might have even left it at home.”

“Mind if I sit with you?”

I lifted one shoulder and then dropped it. “You could, but Sister might get sore at you if you leave her with all the kids. I’ll just sit here until he has to go.”

“I’m not sure I want to leave you on the bus by yourself.”

“I don’t mind,” I said. “Really! Besides, maybe I’m forgetting something that I absolutely don’t want to forget. My stomach feels kind of funny.…” I scraped my teeth hard over my bottom lip. “And before? When I went out there, it was sort of hard to breathe. I think the air might be thinner out there.” I stopped to draw a breath, but the big block of cold inside me was making it hard. “I might be coming down with altitude sickness!”

Cricket looked at me a moment and then said, “Hmm. I’m not sure it would be that, Effie. We’re in the hill country, but I think the altitude here is only about a thousand feet or so.”

“A thousand feet! Well,
that
explains it. I’ve always lived at sea level. My entire life.”

Aurora’s basketball arrived before she did and bounced, bounced, bounced down the aisle. She ran in behind it. “Hey, Effie! Whatcha doin’? We’re all waiting on you to go to the cabins. Did you find what you lost?”

“Uh, yeah!” I said, popping up. I patted my pocket. “Well, no! It was here all the time. I thought I left my candy, but I didn’t. That’s a relief!” I pushed into the aisle, climbing over Cricket. “Thanks for helping me look!”

I did not want Aurora to know that I was feeling puny the first second we got here. I remember her once telling me that one of the things that drives her nuts about Kayla is that she’s a big wuss. I would
not
wuss out, even if I was allergic to the air at camp!

“You’re welcome!” Cricket called behind me.

I followed Aurora off the bus, jumping off the steps like she did, even though it felt like I was living in some other kid’s body. I was an excellent faker when I had to be. Aurora snagged up my bag as if it was full of cotton balls. Nit held her hand out and squeezed me in front of her in the girls’ line. I served her up the best smile I could find. Aurora came in behind the two of us like our caboose and we all held hands.

I wondered if they noticed mine were clammy.

Sister Lucille, Frank, and the CITs loaded suitcases into the back of an old red pickup truck. It had
CAMP WICKITAWA
painted on its side. There were an old man and a girl who were driving our stuff to the cabins. Least, his face looked old, but he was wearing jeans and not
grandfather pants. I noticed the girl had Down syndrome, which Mom said is an official name for being “developmentally delayed.” That means it takes you longer to learn stuff—except for when it comes to being friendly and having a positive attitude. She said people with Down syndrome could teach a class on that!

The girl stood in the back of the pickup, grinning and waving like she was riding on a float in a parade. A float made up of suitcases. We all waved back.

Sister Lucille and Frank led us over to Singing Spirits Circle, which is the big outdoor fire pit with ancient sacred boulders lined up all around it. There were seats like bleachers stacked around it three rows high. That was where a boy gave Mom a wet willie in her ear when she was here in fourth grade. She pushed him right off the back of the bleachers, and he got a bloody nose. I’ve heard the story a million times. Thinking about Mom made the cold feeling in my stomach worse for some reason, so I had to stop.