Surviving the Fog (8 page)

Mike managed to get the kids to dig two
graves.  It was not easy to dig graves in the rocky soil with
just the simple picks and shovels that they found in the storage
room.  But doggedly they stayed at it until Jackie and Pete
had been buried.  Much harder, Mike discovered, was the need
to say words over the graves as the sad group of campers stood by.
 Thankfully, a boy named Luis found the right words.  On
the third day, they moved the body of the dead motorcyclist from
the parking lot down to the Hanging Tree.

On the fourth night after the hanging, Mike
called a meeting.  It was difficult to meet in the dining
hall, because the boys were still sleeping there.  This had
caused problems.

"I want to get back in my bunk," a boy
insisted.  "Let the girls sleep in here for a change."

"We need more privacy than you guys," a girl
responded.

"Yeah, that's another thing," a boy said.
 "They keep trying to come in and sneak peeks at us in our
underwear."  The girls hooted with laugher when they heard
that.

"Oh, like you have anything we'd like to
see!" a girl jeered.  "And besides, you guys keep trying to
peep into the showers when we're in there."  A few of the boys
blushed at that.

"That piece of wood fell out accidentally," a
boy protested.

"All right, all right," said Mike raising his
hands.  "We need to decide how to arrange it so that everyone
has a decent place to sleep."

No one spoke for a moment, and then a girl
raised her hand and asked timidly, "Do you think it would be
alright if we slept in our cabins again?"

That was the question on every one's mind.
 Was it safe?  How safe was it?  Were there others
around like the bikers?

Mike took a breath.  Like the others, he
was wondering about the answers to these questions, too.  But
unlike the others, he felt that it was his responsibility to ensure
the safety of his tribe.

"You can't sleep anywhere except on this side
of the river.  That's final," he replied.

No one challenged him on this, although some
girls resented that he could decide for them.  All of them
knew by now that the Spears would enforce Mike's orders.

"Can't we at least bring the bunks and
mattresses over here?" Yuie asked.

"I guess that would be a good idea," Mike
admitted.

"Does that mean that we can get our bunks
back?" a boy asked eagerly.

"No it doesn't," answered Mike sharply to the
crestfallen boy.  "We are going to have to share the sleeping
spaces."  Everyone was silent.

"Look,” Mike continued.  “There's a lot
of room in the Chief's Headquarters.  And there are futons
upstairs.  John, take a couple of mattresses and put them in
the loft.  Four girls should be able to sleep up there.
 I'll give up my bed for now.  It's big, so two girls can
share it.  John, you and Desi will have to give up the
counselors’ cabin.  Six girls can sleep in that cabin.
 So, some of you guys can move back into your bunks.
 I'll need one though.  Um..."

He stopped.  That was about all that he
could think of.

"Mike," Desi said.  "Can John and I move
into the cave?  I mean into the small part that's really a
cave?"

"Uh...well if it's okay with John, I guess
so," he replied.

"Do you think that we could move one of the
cabins over to this side of the river?" asked Rasul.  "Since,
we're going to move them anyway."

Not all of the kids had heard about this
plan, so Mike had to stop and take the time to explain their plans
for the cave.  It was plain to see that many of the kids
thought the plan was crazy.

"But that means we would have to dismantle
the cabin twice," Howard objected.

"True, but it would give us some practice,"
argued Eric.  "We could find out if we really can move a
cabin.  If we can't, then we better make another plan."

"That's a good point, Eric," said Mike.
 "Okay.  Tomorrow we'll try to move a cabin.  Then
the girls from that cabin can sleep in their own bunks."  This
brought a murmur of cheers from the girls.

After the meeting, some of the boys went to
help move the two mattresses to the loft in the Chief's
Headquarters.  With regret, Desi agreed that she and John
would have to wait until morning before they could move into the
cave.

The activity caused the boys and girls to
cheer up.  Things were moving forward again.  It was good
to have something to do.  There was a lot of joking; boys
offering kindly to share a bunk with a girl, girls politely
declining.  The task of moving more bunks and mattresses into
the counselors’ cabin took them until late into the night.
 The more they worked, it seemed the better they felt.
 Mike decided that everyone would get a late night snack, so
pudding cups were opened and enjoyed.

Eventually, Mike went to his cabin.
 There, he found a flurry of activity as girls prepared to
sleep.  He sat down at his desk.  He had taken to writing
down notes each night, so he could remember what had happened that
day, what had been discussed, and what had been decided.
 Around him girls were chatting and preparing for bed.
 When it got quiet, Mike glanced around to see what was
happening.

The four girls upstairs were hanging their
heads over the edge of the loft.  The two girls downstairs
were watching him.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Uh, Chief, we're ready to go to bed now,"
Makayla replied.

"Oh, okay, go ahead.  I'm just going to
work for a bit."

The girl blushed.  "Uh, Chief, the thing
is, it's kind of warm right now so...," she looked at the others
for help.

"So we sleep in our underwear," explained a
girl from the loft.

"Oh," Mike said looking at them.  "Oh!"
 Hastily, clumsily knocking over a cup of pens and pencils, he
got up.

"Then, I'll see you in the morning," he
called as he practically ran out the door.  He made his way to
his old cabin and to his own bunk.

The next morning, they began the task of
moving one of the cabins.  It was slow going.  First,
they discovered that they would have to unbolt the wood braces
connecting the corners.  Fortunately, the campground was new,
and the nuts and bolts had not yet corroded.  Then they
realized that it was difficult to remove the canvas cover without
damaging it.  Then they found that several kids were needed to
brace the walls while they were lowering them from vertical to
horizontal.

Finally, they were ready to move the floor.
 But even with kids surrounding and lifting, the wooden floor
wouldn’t budge.  Depressed, they stood around arguing until
Ahmad discovered that the concrete piers beneath the floor had
metal straps that were bolted onto four by four wooden posts which
were then bolted onto the floor frame.  Ahmad crawled under
the floor, and he unbolted the posts from the frame.
  Then, with kids working shoulder to shoulder, they
lifted the heavy floor and moved it to one side, away from the
concrete piers.  By this time it was late afternoon, and Mike
called a halt to the work.

The next day, they discovered how heavy the
concrete piers were.  Mike almost despaired at this point,
until one of the boys remembered that there was a steel dolly in
the shed.  Using the dolly, and with two people pulling and
one person pushing, they were able to move the concrete piers over
the bridge to the boys’ side.  Accomplishing this cheered them
considerably, and in the afternoon they moved the walls over to the
boy’s side of the river.  Once again, Mike called a halt to
the work.  He wanted to wait until morning to begin the
difficult task of moving the heavy floor over the bridge.

Just after they called it quits for the day,
Mike had to deal with a new problem.  A girl approached him as
he was talking with John.  Her name was Erin, and she was a
beautiful blond and blue eyed girl who was very popular with both
the girls and the boys.  She was followed by three other
girls.

"Mike, we want to talk to you," she began.
 Mike discovered that he was a little irritated that she had
not called him, “Chief.”

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked brusquely.

"We've noticed that you're only asking
certain people's advice when you have a decision to make.  Why
is that?  Why don't we vote on these things at Meeting?"

"Because these certain people are people I
trust," Mike responded.  "That's why I ask them."

"But that's not fair, Mike," Erin argued.
 "You have to let everyone vote."

"No, I don't.  That's why I'm the Chief.
 See, there is a vote taken.  Only, I decide who gets to
vote.  People who have been helping out a lot get to vote.
 Not you."

"So how do we get to vote?  How long
before we've helped out enough that we get a vote?  Do only
the boys get to vote?" the girl angrily asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Mike replied curtly.
 He was tired of this conversation.

"Does Desi get to vote?" another girl
asked.

"Yeah, so?" Mike replied.

"She gets to vote because she's John's
girlfriend, doesn't she?" a third girl charged.

"Yeah, so?" Mike repeated.

"So is that what we have to do?" said Erin,
really angry now.  "We get to vote if we have sex with one of
the Spears?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Mike snapped.
 "Now get lost!"

The girls' mouths dropped open as they stared
at him in shocked silence.  Abruptly they turned and stormed
away. Mike was just realizing what he had said.  He turned to
John who was shaking his head sadly.  He blushed red, and then
yelped when John bopped him on the top of his head with a fist.

"Not cool, dude. Not cool at all," John
said.

“She started it,” Mike whined.  John
rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know.  That was stupid," Mike
sighed while rubbing his head.

"Yeah, there's going to be a lot of pissed
off girls at Meeting tonight.  Yuie will be pissed too, and
when Desi finds out that she can vote only because she's doing
me..." John shook his head in pity.

Mike paled.  "Oh, shit," he muttered.
 He looked at John anxiously.  "Do you think that you
could explain to Desi?" he asked.

"Man, I'll be too busy trying to explain why
I was standing next to you," John replied.

"I guess I should apologize at Meeting," said
Mike gloomily.

"Good idea," John responded.

During the day, word spread about what Mike
had said.  As he stepped up to the podium that night, the room
was obviously tense.  Some of the boys had taken the girls’
anger as an excuse to taunt them.  This had made the girls
even angrier, and they blamed it all on Mike.  The room was
abuzz with low angry voices.  Desi stood at the back of the
assembly glaring balefully at Mike.

"I apologize," he said immediately.
 This quieted down the room.  Everyone wanted to know
just what Mike was apologizing for.

"I apologize to Erin and to the girls who
were with her today, and I apologize to all the rest of you.
 What I said was wrong.  I shouldn't have said it."

He paused and waited to see what the effect
of his apology would have on the tribe. Erin stood up, and she
raised her hand.  Mike pointed to her.

"All right, Chief, I accept your apology.
 We know you guys are in charge.  We understand why.
 But it's worrying us.  We believe you'll try to protect
us from outsiders.  But... well, it's some of you guys that we
are worried about."  She sat down.

"I glad you brought that up, Erin," Mike
said.  "As of tonight, I'm making a new rule about sex."
 Everyone got real quiet and real interested.  This was
one subject guaranteed to get them to listen.

Mike continued.  "From now on, no one
can have sex unless they're at least sixteen."

Some laughter broke out and some chuckles,
and some scornful comments were heard, but many of the kids, both
girls and boys, were relieved to hear Mike make this rule.
 This would take some strain off the younger kids who made up
over half of the campers.  Now they could point to Mike’s rule
if they felt pressured.

"How are you going to enforce that,"
challenged one of the boys who stood amid laughter.

Mike stared at him.  "I'll enforce any
rule I make," he replied coldly.  "Don't test me."  The
boy shrank down.  The laughter died.  Many of the younger
girls smiled.

"I have another new rule," said Mike to the
crowd.  They calmed down and waited.  "This is it.
 If any guy forces a girl to have sex, I'll hang him."
 This was met with stunned silence.  "Do you understand?"
Mike looked intently at a few boys, and each one nodded
hastily.

After Meeting concluded, Erin made her way to
the front and waited until Mike noticed her.  When he did she
shyly said, "Thanks, Chief.  Thanks for making those
rules."

Mike shook his head.  "Erin, I should
have made those rules a long time ago.  Um... Erin," Mike
continued.  "The thing is, I really do try to listen to
everyone.  But sometimes I, like, poll people when I have to
make a decision.  And the truth is, if a guy has a girlfriend
I usually let her have a vote, even if I know that she hasn't
helped as much as the other girls.  That’s just the way it
is."

Erin was not happy to hear this, but she
replied, "Chief, I know that the boys helped you more than we did,
at first.  But now most of the girls are really trying to
help, too.  We’re doing almost all of the kitchen work now.
 Don't you think that sooner or later we'll get to vote?
 When you get to know us, I mean?"

"Yes," answered Mike firmly.  "And from
now on, I'm going to ask your opinion on all kinds of stuff.
 I promise."  Erin's face lit up with a bright smile.
 Shortly after, she left with her friends.  They all
seemed contented.

In the weeks ahead, Mike’s authority would be
questioned sometimes, especially when he was not around.  Once
a boy was complaining about Mike, and he asked a couple of the
girls why they should listen to a kid who was younger than
them.