Holes 2

It was another long day at the camp. More holes were being created just as they had been for centuries and will be in the future. Cat was digging her hole as far away from X-Ray as she could. Dirt was flying into her hole and the more she worked to get it out, the faster it came. She hopped out of her little hole and sat on the sand to look at Magnet. "You're getting dirt in my hole. Do you mind flicking it somewhere else?" She asked him nicely.

"None of us have a lot of land to place our piles on. You'll just have to deal with this." He was tired and sweating just as everyone else had.

Cat sat in her hole and closed her eyes as she tried to shield herself against the harsh rays and opened her water, trying to get something out of it but found that nothing was left. She sighed loudly and collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion. A truck was nearby and so she knew that it was almost her time to rehydrate and refuel her engine.

She sat up and peaked over her hole to see Mr. Sir's truck. She couldn't have been happier to see it. She hopped out and tried to hurry to be one of the first ones. "Mr. Sir! Thank you for coming. I didn't know if I was going to make it to the end of my hole." She let out a cute and tired laugh.

He put his hands on his hips and chewed on his sunflower seeds and letting a moment pass before saying a word. "Get to the back of the line, Princess."

Ever since she arrived, she felt like Mr. Sir didn't like her. It was more than clear that he wasn't a fan of having one girl in the camp.

Cat popped to the back of the line and felt like time stopped as she waited her turn. Armpit turned to her and looked her up and down. "You going to be ok?"

Her eyes furrowed and she was breathing heavily. "Yeah. I'm going to be fine."

"Be careful drinking the water. You won't get a refill."

"I understand."

Armpit pushed her in front of him. "I'm not going to let you die if you pass out behind me."

The line pushed closer and closer to the front until she was standing in front of the crotchity old man. Cat handed him her empty water jug but he poured the water on the ground.

"That's not cool man. Lady walker would be pissed if she saw you do that." Armpit pitched in and acting like nothing bad could possibly come to him.

Mr. Sir took in a deep breath and clenched his jaw. "You shut your God damn mouth, Armpit or you won't be able to shower for a week." All the guys from the tent heard that and groaned.

Instead of initiating more of a fight, Armpit stood down and looked at his feet. Squid was there, watching the whole thing just the same as anyone else. He walked up to the second hand man. "Look, Mr. Sir, I know I'm not the most important thing on this beautiful lake we have here. You're pretty close to the most important thing and so is that girl. Warden Walker wouldn't be too pleased to see you abuse any of us campers here. So, will you give her some water to save your own ass?"

All Mr. Sir did was look the boy up and down. "Squid, she's going to be fine. It's not abuse and the sun will be going down soon. It's no worry. Remember we talk about that character building? Yeah? Well, this is what character is." He got into his car and headed off back to the camp.

Cat hopped into her hole and slowly began to shovel. Squid went to her hole and jumped in. "I can't risk helping you dig your hole but at least drink some water." He tried to hand her his jug but she shook her head and kept digging. "You're going to hurt yourself, Cat."

"And maybe that's the point. I want Mr. Sir to be revealed." Cat gazed at him.

It was the craziest thing Squid had ever heard. "Cat, your health isn't worth his time."

"Go back to your digging, Sushi." The next minute, she was on the ground and nearly passed out.

Squid sat next to her and played with her sore fingers. "You're going to be ok." He stood up. "Guys! Go get help!" Squid called out to any of the boys who would listen.

Cat pulled him down again. "If I don't make it, tell my mom and dad how much I love them." With that, her eyes closed and her world was black.

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"You let this happen! You realize she has a family back home, don't you?" A familiar woman's voice was heard.

"Of course Warden but I didn't think it would be any harm. The girl is going to be fine." It was obvious that that voice was none other's but Mr. Sir's.

A sharp object was thrown across the room. "I don't care if she's fine! You are a failure and you always will be! You make me sick. Go on. Get out of here."

The door shut and Cat opened her eyes. Her eyes glazed around the room to see she was on the couch of the Warden's. As she sat up, she felt a rush go to her head.

"Catrina, you're awake." The Warden rushed over with water. "What can I get for you? I want you to eat whatever you would like and drink whatever you want. If you need sleep, I can give you that."

The young girl took the water and chugged the whole thing. "I want to talk to my mom." Her lip quivered a bit.

"I'm sorry but there is no way to call her. I can though, allow you to write to her. I'll get you whatever it is you need." She put a hand on Cat's back and rubbed it.

The idea of contacting her mom seemed to be a strange idea. She hadn't thought about her parents in a long while. Her thoughts were full of revenge and how the boys here were and how Squid was.

"Then I want some stationary."

"You need to know something."

"Is Camp Green Lake closing down?"

"Closing down? Oh God no. But you, you will never have to dig holes again."

Cat shook her head and sat up straight. "That's not what I want. I don't want to be known as the Warden's pet who doesn't have to do anything because she's a girl. I can dig holes like everyone else."

The Warden grabbed Cat's arm. "You nearly died out there. You're far too valuable to take a chance on. We did give you a chance and you got hurt."

Digging holes was the worst part about this place but she wouldn't let anything dismiss her from doing it like one of the boys. "I won't get hurt if it's Doctor Pendanski hanging out the food and water."

"Cat," Walker interrupted her, "I don't want you to live in D tent anymore. I want you to live here with me. I have a room for you. It used to be my room when I was just your age."

It took a good minute for Cat to realize what Walker was saying. "That sounds tempting but I want to be one of the boys. I'm fine with digging holes and sleeping on a cot. I'm safe. I trust all the boys in that tent." She didn't believe a word of that but she also believed that she was strong enough to fight off any of the boys. She was able to do that once before and she was sure she could do it again.

Although Walker didn't like this idea of her staying in that tent and digging, she nodded her head. "Of course. If that is honestly what you want then how can I deny you. Mr. Sir is off and Pendanski is in."

A deep sigh of relief fell over Cat and she smiled. "So, can I go see the boys?" She was ready to dart off but was careful to not get carried away with herself.

"Talk to me. I want to know what's going on inside of D tent." Walker laid back on the couch and ready to wrap up as many stories as she could into her web.

The last thing she wanted to talk about was her relationship with all the boys. "I'm more of a ghost to them but I'm going to gain their respect real soon. They're going to see that I am not just some girl."

"That's brave of you. Come here." She led Cat to the kitchen table and began playing with her hair. "Boys are going to be boys and the only way to get them to respect you is by having respect for yourself."

She closed her eyes feeling her hair gently being pulled. "But I do respect myself. I think these guys just haven't been around a girl for far too long."

"Many of these boys have been here almost to term. They haven't seen a girl in a long time. Are any of them sweet on you?"

Cat smiled lightly. "I'm just trying to serve my time here. Plus, there's a guy at home I'm waiting for. Actually, he's waiting for me."

"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. You've got a lot of time left here."

Everyday Cat was reminded that she was there to stay for 15 more months. "If I know him like the back of my hand, then he will wait for me."

Walker pulled her hair a little tighter. "As long as you don't get involved with any of these horribly bad boys here."

"Zigzag isn't bad."

"Excuse me?" Walker stopped playing with Cat's hair to look at her. "Zigzag?"

"Zigzag isn't bad. Magnet is not bad. Armpit just needs to take a shower to not smell bad. Squid is just," The smallest trace of a smile when talking about Squid was making it's way on her lips before the Warden caught it.

It almost confused Walker to hear this girl say that she didn't think these were bad kids. Before she could finish her sentence, the Warden got a word in. "All those boys are here because. . ."

"Because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time or framed by someone close to them." Cat stood by her word. "Can I please go back to the camp now, Warden?"

The Warden was speechless. "Well," She went behind her again to play with her hair. "let me just finish your hair and tie it up." She sniffed and stayed silent.