Holes 2

Cat Tessy wasn’t able to stay at home for too long. Just long enough to say goodbye to her unresponsive parents and try to get ahold of her unfaithful friends.

It was a long bus ride to the camp which didn’t seem much of a lake at all. There were only miles of one big sandy oasis that showed no sign of life whatsoever.

She had a big purse with her as she stepped off the school bus in her mini skirt and tank top. She lifted her glasses in search for anything interesting but there wasn’t much. There were a couple of log cabins and a few boys in horrifyingly ugly orange outfits. She also realized that it was hotter than back at home and that she was the only girl.

The policeman that she had rode with got off the bus as well when a tough guy with a cowboy hat and jeans walked up to them. A roar of laughter came out of him. “Tell me that’s a drag queen.”

The policeman looked at Cat and back at the large man who started to walk away then, motioning the two of them to come into one of the buildings.

He sat down behind a large mahogany desk. “There are no girls at this camp, Sherriff.”

“I’m afraid there are now, sir.”

“That’s Mr. Sir actually.” The man said angrily. Cat couldn’t help herself from giggling. “Is that funny to you, young lady?”

Cat sat up straight in the seat that she had been motioned to sit on and wiped that smile off her face.

“No Mr. Sir. Not at all.”

“Good, now I want you to go see the warden Walker. Her cabin is out this door and off to the left, two cabins down.”

Cat obeyed and walked out. She saw a few guys stop in their tracks and look her up and down, giving her cat calls but she refused to respond.

She opened the door to the warden’s door. It was a woman with curly red hair and brown eyes. For her age, Cat found her very pretty if only she smiled.

The Warden stood up from her desk. “Don’t you have the manors to at least knock on the door before opening it?”

“I’m sorry Ma’am. Would you like me to go back and knock first?”

The Warden sat back down and looked away. “No, it’s fine. Take a seat. I suppose your city didn’t get the memo that we don’t accept girls anymore?”

“No Ma’am.” Cat took a seat on the hard wood chair.

“Well, we used to. A few years ago, Camp Green Lake was taken away from me and became a girl’s camp. Not enough girls came though so I got it back and someone made it so that I could have an interconnected camp. Didn’t work out to well.”

Cat didn’t know what to say. She just sat in her chair looking pretty and looked down at the floor.

“What a shame?”

“Yeah, that does not mean you get to go back home. No, you’re going to be working your ass off just like the boys. Lucky for you, you have an advantage. Whenever you need to talk to someone, I’ll be right here.”

The warden stood up and walked over to a closet, picking out a pair of that jump suit that the boys had been wearing and gave another one. “Here, you are one of the boys.”

After Cat got dressed in it, she was given a tent number and she walked out the door, but before she began walking over, the warden called out to her. “Cat, I mean this as a threat. Do not fall in love here.” The door then shut and Cat walked over to the tent that she was assigned to.

She walked over to the empty bed, completely aware that she was being stared at by all the boys in the cabin. Trying not to pay attention to them, she reached into her purse and pulled out her blue handkerchief and folded it around her head. When she saw that they were still looking at her she got really angry.

“Stop looking at me you assholes!”

One of the boys, a bit bigger than the rest stood up. “Baby doll, you can’t have that spot. That was Caveman’s spot.”

“And is Caveman still at this camp?”

He mumbled the word ‘no’ and sat down.

“Well then, I suppose this is my spot now.” Cat then walked out of the building and sat on the railing. Although there was literally nothing to look at, she looked out onto the desert but not for too long. Footsteps were heard coming towards her.

“Hello little lady. What can I do you for?” It was a skinny man with a large nose and a hat tied to his throat with the hat on the back of his neck.

Cat stood up. “I’m Cat. This is the dorm I was assigned to.”

“Well Cat, I’m Doctor Pendanski. I’ll be your counselor. After digging your hole, we go to eat dinner and then we have a group therapy session.”

“What do you mean digging holes?”

“You missy, are at Camp Green Lake because you did something wrong. Once a day, you dig a hole that’s the size of the shovel you get.”

“What are we digging for?”

Doctor Pendanski folded his arms. “You’re not digging for anything. You’re building character. I’ve got to go now, but I’ll be back. I don’t expect you to be much trouble while I’m out.”

As soon as he walked away, a couple of the boys from ‘D’ Tent walked over. One of the black kids with nerdy glasses began speaking. “Hi, I’m X-Ray. That’s Twitch, Armpit, and Squid.”

“Hi, I’m Cat. What are you real names?”

“Yo, these are our real names, baby.” Armpit was the other black kid in the group and a little bigger than the rest of them. He stretched his arms out as he spoke and let off a ghastly smell from his armpits. The guys including Cat held their noses from the horrible smell.

X-Ray bravely held Armpit’s arm and brought it down to his sides. “Sorry, Armpit doesn’t shower.”
There was no way that Cat would be able to survive at this camp and she hadn’t even been there for ten minutes. There was a coldness in the air that vibrated off of the guys and into Cat’s skin.

Twitch was the youngest one at the camp for as far as Cat could see. He was no older than 12. He looked at her, smiling and breathing heavily, twitching occasionally. “How’d you get here? I stole a car. Man, you should have seen that ride. It was such a rush. Audi R8.” He breathed out.

Squid had dark brown eyes and wore a white bandana with a hat covering it. His hair and eyebrows were still full of sand. Cat was very drawn to his lips which had a stick hanging from it. “Don’t listen to him. The kid is sick in the head.” The southern accent he had reminded her of back home.

Armpit then put on a very dominant composure. “Yeah, and while you’re here, don’t expect to be treated as an equal ‘cause you’re not. You’re a woman. However you got out of the kitchen, I will never know.”

All the guys began laughing at the lame and over used joke that Armpit had brought around the camp. By Cat’s face, she didn’t enjoy it at all. All her life, she had heard jokes about how women are meant to be in the kitchen and it just wasn’t funny.

X-Ray folded his arms. “That wasn’t a joke by the way. He was dead serious.”

Armpit farted loudly. “Smell ya later, baby.” The guys then walked away from the cabin except for Squid.

He just looked at her blankly, squinting his eyes. He stood like that for a few seconds before he looked away from her and joined his friends.

It was nearly impossible for her to breathe. There were a lot of guys at this camp and from what she was seeing, they all saw her in the same way and they would never change. She began crying and ran back into the tent and up to her bed. She laid her head down on the pillow and wept softly, looking at the sheet that kept the place up.

From across the room, she heard a guy moaning in annoyance. “Shut the fuck up or I will fuck you up with a shovel and then place a yellow spotted lizard on your dick.”

Cat sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Immediately, the boy shot up from his bed and looked at her with wide eyes. “You’re a girl! Damn it, this is not good.”

“What do you mean ‘not good’?”

The boy with dirty blonde hair walked up to her and sat on the bed across from her. “There are bad guys at this camp. Murderers, rapists, cheaters, and when they see you, they’ll latch on right away. They’ll take any last part of your sanity that you have. You won’t have any dignity left.”

“Shut the hell up Zigzag. Don’t try to scare her.” A Mexican walked up to the both of them.

“But it’s a girl!” Zigzag still seemed shocked out of his mind.

The Mexican rolled his eyes. “I’m Magnet. That’s Zigzag. Welcome to ‘D’ Tent.”

“Thanks. I’m Cat. Was that a sincere welcome?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

Cat held her arms although she was hiding herself. “The others in the tent haven’t been too good to me. They don’t expect me to think myself like one of the guys.”

“I’m Mexican and people knock on me for that all the time. Just try to gain acceptance.”

“And how do you think I should do that?”

Zigzag put a large smile on his face. “Sleep with all the guys at the camp.”

Magnet slapped Zigzag on the back of his head. “I have no idea. I’m not a woman.” He then walked out.

Cat was thrown off by that last comment. “Where the hell did he go?”

Zigzag stood up. “It’s dinner time.”

When Cat went up to the line to get her food, she saw that everything had onions in it and on top of that, everything looked like baby food that had been spat up. When she walked up to the people behind the counters who were serving the food she lifted her hand. “No thanks. I think I’ll pass.”

Squid was behind her in line and took the plate full of food and put it on Cat’s tray. This was the first time seeing him with his natural hair colour. It was a dark brown just like his eyes and his eyebrows. He looked a lot more innocent with his hat off. “Just take it. You need to eat. This is all you’ll be eating while you’re here. Might as well get used to it.”

Although she was sickened, she took it without saying anything to him or even looking at him. It stayed like this for the rest of dinner. She sat alone at the table at the very end.

Armpit stood up from his seat and walked over with his tray. “Looks like you’re where you belong.”
He slapped his hand on her shoulder and then walked away to throw out his stuff.

Back at the tent, the group sat in a circle with Doctor Pendanski discussing progress from who they were when they got to the camp to now. “Cat, why are you here?”

Trying to find something good to say, she rubbed her hands together. “I stole a necklace that was worth well over a grand.”

X-Ray nodded his head. “I dig that.”

Cat felt strangely uncomfortable. Picking up her blanket, she slung it around her body and frowned.
Doctor P was not amused by how unladylike it was for her to have stolen. “You see little girl. If you had stayed in the.”

Before he could finish his sentence, she interrupted him. “Yes, I know. If I had just stayed in the kitchen I wouldn’t be here.”

“Right you are. It’s a man’s world out there and if a woman starts running around in anarchy, we might as well blow this planet up before it self-destructs.”

“Don’t you dare, ever, deface the woman’s importance in the world.”

“Your parents must be so proud of you.”

It started to get incredibly heated in the blanket that enslaved Cat. “My dad is never home and my mom is barely a mom. They’re both ashamed of the fact that I’m here right now. I’m sure that if I came back today, they wouldn’t welcome me but send me off to fend for myself.”

Twitch suddenly began to talk. “Whatever they say, screw them. They won’t do anything to you. Whenever I do some crazy shit, they just give me a little talk.”

Armpit slapped him. “Shut up Twitch. Just the sound of your voice is making my brain bleed.”

Finally Doctor Pendanski clapped his hands and warned the tent that it was time to go to bed. Everyone pushed their beds to their rightful places and quickly fell asleep.