Status: Alive.
Love Me or Hate Me
You Should be Thanking Me!
“Arggh!!!” I screamed in aggravation as I stared around the deserted mess hall. I let my eyes travel over the walls before looking in the face of the reason why I was here. I narrowed my eyes and glared daggers at the back of his head. I sighed as I recalled the occasion.
I had just finished digging my hole, and Curly and I were going to hang out in the rec. room. We were in the middle of a game of pool when the rest of “D” tent came in. It was then when everything went south. While we were playing our game, Magnet had come up to me and tried to take the stick outta my hand.
“What the hell you doing man?” I asked.
“It’s my turn.”
“Curly and I are in the middle of a game. You gonna have to wait.”
“No!” he yanked the stick outta my hands and I fell to the floor. I got up, and pushed him. He punched me, and I punched him back. At this point, all the attention were on us, and I saw Curly pick up one of the billiard balls as a just in case. Then the next thing I knew, I had tackled Magnet and was sitting on his chest while I punched him, repeatedly, in his face. I only stopped when I felt strong arms around my waist and I was pulled off. I turned around to look X-Ray in the face.
“Put me down X’! I’m not done yet.”
I looked over at Magnet, and his face was bloody. I had a smirk on my face.
“Oh, I think you are,” X-Ray replied as he dragged me out of the rec. room. He threw me on one of the cots. I got up, and walked over to my cot and laid down, not paying him any attention. Curly came in shortly after me, and Magnet and the rest of them came at least five minutes later. Magnet’s face was cleaned up, but he had to be supported by Squid and Zig-Zag. I just looked at them as they came into the tent and laid Magnet in his cot. The next thing I knew, X-Ray had rounded on me.
“What the hell is your problem Cannon!?” he yelled. “You and Magnet were fighting, now the warden’ll come down hard on all of us!”
“It’s his fault!” I exclaimed while pointing at Magnet. “I told him to be patient and wait his turn ‘cause me and Curly were in the middle of a game, but he wouldn’t let up! He snatched the thing outta my hands and made me fall on the floor, he even punched me! Of course I punched him back.” I looked at him and smirked again. “I guess the next time I say wait, you’ll wait! Bet you won’t do that no more.” I laid back on my bed just as Pendanski and Mr. Sir entered the tent both looking steamed.
“Samuel and Jose!” exclaimed Dr. Pendanski.
“What!?” I answered.
“Fighting in the rec. room?”
“Yeah, we were,” I said honestly.
“Well,” said Mr. Sir. “Your little stunt just cost you a week of shower privileges and--”
“That’s enough Mr. Sir!” an unknown voice cut him off. The owner of the voice entered the tent. It was lady with long, curly, red hair. She came in and looked directly at me. The entire tent was quiet for a moment. It was quite awkward. It was silent until the mysterious woman, whom I’ve never seen before, broke it. “Cannon?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said cautiously.
“Follow me Cannon,” she said walking out of the tent, with me following behind. As I passed Curly I gave him a questioning look. He shot one right back at me. I followed the lady to a place I remember Pendanski introducing as the wardens cabin on my first day. She must be the warden.
“Well Cannon, I’m not sure if anyone told you this, but I’m the warden here at this camp.”
“I kinda worked that much out myself,” I said smirking to myself.
“Well aren’t you smart,” she said.
“Yeah, I am.”
“You’re not supposed to be here,” she said after a moment of silence.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that this is an all boy’s camp.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“Look Sam,” she said getting irritated. “I know you’re not a boy.”
I gasped. “H-How do you know that?”
“I’m the warden. I know everything that goes on in my camp.”
“So, what’s going to happen?”
“Well, you’ve been here a few weeks and no one’s seemed to realize it yet--”
“Curly did, Zero. He’s the only one who knows.”
“I know. Sam, you’re on your menstrual cycle right now?”
“I don’t see how that would be relevant, or how you would now that, but yes. I am.”
“Okay, your punishment will be joint solitary confinement with Magnet for the next week,” she said with a smile on her face. When she saw I was about to object she said “Shut up Cannon! I don’t want you fighting with boys anymore, so you and Magnet will be locked up together until you learn to get along! And be thankful, you and he won’t have to dig holes for the next week, the week you’re on your period.”
“Yeah, can we not call it that?”
“Why?”
“Because the walls may have ears,”
“Then what should we call it?”
“I don’t know yet... Thanks warden,” I said giving her a slight hug before walking back to my tent.
I sighed. I guess I should be thankful to Magnet. It’s because of him I have a reason to not dig for the next week. It’s because of him the warden had a reason to call me to have a private meeting with her. It’s because of him; I had got some tampons from the warden. I sighed again. Even though I had to be thankful for him, I could think of at least four people I would rather be stuck here with besides him right now. Of course, at the top of that list was Curly, then Armpit, Squid, and Barf Bag (even though I don’t really know him). Hell, even X-Ray could be better company right now. I sighed as I continued to glare at his head. He must’ve felt my eyes on him, because he turned his head and glared right back at me.
“I don’t know what the hell your problem is Magnet, but you should be thanking me,” I said.
“How you figure that man?”
“I got you out of digging for a whole week, and all we have to do is at least act civil towards one another, in public.”
“True, but I have to be stuck here in mess hall with you while everyone else is digging holes.”
“Well, excuse me. I didn’t know I was an unbearable pain.”
“It’s just I would rather be stuck with someone else. Someone who I actually get along with.”
“Trust me, the feeling is mutual. I would rather be in here with Curly than you. But ask yourself; would you rather be out there digging holes right now instead of here relaxing?”
“Good point.”
“I know. Look, I get bored pretty quickly, so you wanna play some cards?”
“What game?”
“Well, it’s just two of us. We don’t have enough people to play spades, hearts or poker...” I said like I was in deep in thought. I came to a conclusion, a game we could play. “Do you know how to play gin?”
“Who don’t know how to play gin?”
“You didn’t answer my question Magnet. Do you know how to play gin?”
“Yes Cannon, I do.”
“We’ll see,” I said as I began to deal us each ten cards and flipped the top card off of the deck. It was a jack of diamonds. Since I dealt, Magnet had first choice. He took it and discarded a six of hearts. I needed that one. I picked it up and replaced it with a five of clubs. Magnet had plucked, and discarded a card. I did the same, but the card I discarded was the same one I picked up. Magnet and I had plucked and discarded for at the most three minutes, before I had gin was close to gin. I knocked on wood, the table top, and discarded my last card before crying out gin. I had three 7’s, three 8, and the 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of hearts and no deadwood. Magnet had the 9, 10, J, Q, K of diamonds and 29 points worth of deadwood. He looked at me shocked.
“No one has ever beaten me in any card game before,” he said in an unbelievable tone. “It was just luck.”
“Well, get used to it,” I said mocking his unbelievable tone. “And it wasn’t luck. It was skill.”
“Whatever man. Let’s do best four out of seven,” he said while shuffling the cards.
“Okay, but I still don’t see how it’ll make a difference. You’re still gonna lose.”
“Just shut up and cut the cards.”
I smirk to myself before cutting the cards. I handed them back to Magnet and watched as he dealt them out, giving each of use ten cards the placing the top card face up. It was the ace of spades neither of us took it. I plucked a card and decided to keep it. We continued playing for a while. During the game he and I got to know each other a lot better, and all of my preconceived notions I had about him were gone with the wind. He ended up winning that hand, and the next couple hands after that. I had won two as well, so added with the one I had already won, we each had three. It was a tie game. Right now we’re in the middle of our last game and you could cut the tension with a knife. I decided to ease it up a little.
“Magnet, what do you say to a bet?”
“What kind of bet?”
“I don’t know, something small.”
“Like what?”
“How about if I win this game, you have to be my slave for a week. I get to choose the week.”
“What do I get when I win?”
“If you win, which you won’t, I’ll tell you a secret about me. And trust me, it’s pretty bad secret. You could use it as blackmail or something.”
“What kind of secret is it?”
“To find out the answer to that, you gonna have to win the hand. Do we have a deal?”
I watched as he thought about it for a moment. I couldn’t help be think about how sexy he looked while he thought.
“Yeah, we have a deal,” he said before saying something in Spanish.
“Good,” I said before turning back to the game. He had thrown out the 4 of spades, the very card I needed. I picked it up, and knocked on wood before throwing out the 3 of hearts and yelling gin. I showed my cards, and he his. I had three aces, three 10s and the 4, 5, 6, 7 of spades and no deadwood. Magnet had three 5s, the 2, 3, 4 of diamonds and 36 points worth of deadwood.
“Well it looks like I won,” I said collecting the cards. “I’ll let you know when I need you my slave.” I walked out of the mess hall and in the direction of the tent. I was surprised to see all of ‘D’ tent in there.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked.
“We’re finished,” answered Zig-Zag.
“Hey, yo dude,” called Armpit. “Where’s Magnet?”
“In the mess hall,” I said walking over to my cot. “Where’s Curly?”
“Who?”
“Zero.”
“Oh, he’s in the rec. room.”
“Why aren't ya’ll in there?”
“Cause we don’t wanna be in there.”
“Whatever X-Ray,” I laid down in my bed and got out my sketch book. I began drawing a picture while I listened to the boys talk.
I had just finished digging my hole, and Curly and I were going to hang out in the rec. room. We were in the middle of a game of pool when the rest of “D” tent came in. It was then when everything went south. While we were playing our game, Magnet had come up to me and tried to take the stick outta my hand.
“What the hell you doing man?” I asked.
“It’s my turn.”
“Curly and I are in the middle of a game. You gonna have to wait.”
“No!” he yanked the stick outta my hands and I fell to the floor. I got up, and pushed him. He punched me, and I punched him back. At this point, all the attention were on us, and I saw Curly pick up one of the billiard balls as a just in case. Then the next thing I knew, I had tackled Magnet and was sitting on his chest while I punched him, repeatedly, in his face. I only stopped when I felt strong arms around my waist and I was pulled off. I turned around to look X-Ray in the face.
“Put me down X’! I’m not done yet.”
I looked over at Magnet, and his face was bloody. I had a smirk on my face.
“Oh, I think you are,” X-Ray replied as he dragged me out of the rec. room. He threw me on one of the cots. I got up, and walked over to my cot and laid down, not paying him any attention. Curly came in shortly after me, and Magnet and the rest of them came at least five minutes later. Magnet’s face was cleaned up, but he had to be supported by Squid and Zig-Zag. I just looked at them as they came into the tent and laid Magnet in his cot. The next thing I knew, X-Ray had rounded on me.
“What the hell is your problem Cannon!?” he yelled. “You and Magnet were fighting, now the warden’ll come down hard on all of us!”
“It’s his fault!” I exclaimed while pointing at Magnet. “I told him to be patient and wait his turn ‘cause me and Curly were in the middle of a game, but he wouldn’t let up! He snatched the thing outta my hands and made me fall on the floor, he even punched me! Of course I punched him back.” I looked at him and smirked again. “I guess the next time I say wait, you’ll wait! Bet you won’t do that no more.” I laid back on my bed just as Pendanski and Mr. Sir entered the tent both looking steamed.
“Samuel and Jose!” exclaimed Dr. Pendanski.
“What!?” I answered.
“Fighting in the rec. room?”
“Yeah, we were,” I said honestly.
“Well,” said Mr. Sir. “Your little stunt just cost you a week of shower privileges and--”
“That’s enough Mr. Sir!” an unknown voice cut him off. The owner of the voice entered the tent. It was lady with long, curly, red hair. She came in and looked directly at me. The entire tent was quiet for a moment. It was quite awkward. It was silent until the mysterious woman, whom I’ve never seen before, broke it. “Cannon?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said cautiously.
“Follow me Cannon,” she said walking out of the tent, with me following behind. As I passed Curly I gave him a questioning look. He shot one right back at me. I followed the lady to a place I remember Pendanski introducing as the wardens cabin on my first day. She must be the warden.
“Well Cannon, I’m not sure if anyone told you this, but I’m the warden here at this camp.”
“I kinda worked that much out myself,” I said smirking to myself.
“Well aren’t you smart,” she said.
“Yeah, I am.”
“You’re not supposed to be here,” she said after a moment of silence.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that this is an all boy’s camp.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“Look Sam,” she said getting irritated. “I know you’re not a boy.”
I gasped. “H-How do you know that?”
“I’m the warden. I know everything that goes on in my camp.”
“So, what’s going to happen?”
“Well, you’ve been here a few weeks and no one’s seemed to realize it yet--”
“Curly did, Zero. He’s the only one who knows.”
“I know. Sam, you’re on your menstrual cycle right now?”
“I don’t see how that would be relevant, or how you would now that, but yes. I am.”
“Okay, your punishment will be joint solitary confinement with Magnet for the next week,” she said with a smile on her face. When she saw I was about to object she said “Shut up Cannon! I don’t want you fighting with boys anymore, so you and Magnet will be locked up together until you learn to get along! And be thankful, you and he won’t have to dig holes for the next week, the week you’re on your period.”
“Yeah, can we not call it that?”
“Why?”
“Because the walls may have ears,”
“Then what should we call it?”
“I don’t know yet... Thanks warden,” I said giving her a slight hug before walking back to my tent.
I sighed. I guess I should be thankful to Magnet. It’s because of him I have a reason to not dig for the next week. It’s because of him the warden had a reason to call me to have a private meeting with her. It’s because of him; I had got some tampons from the warden. I sighed again. Even though I had to be thankful for him, I could think of at least four people I would rather be stuck here with besides him right now. Of course, at the top of that list was Curly, then Armpit, Squid, and Barf Bag (even though I don’t really know him). Hell, even X-Ray could be better company right now. I sighed as I continued to glare at his head. He must’ve felt my eyes on him, because he turned his head and glared right back at me.
“I don’t know what the hell your problem is Magnet, but you should be thanking me,” I said.
“How you figure that man?”
“I got you out of digging for a whole week, and all we have to do is at least act civil towards one another, in public.”
“True, but I have to be stuck here in mess hall with you while everyone else is digging holes.”
“Well, excuse me. I didn’t know I was an unbearable pain.”
“It’s just I would rather be stuck with someone else. Someone who I actually get along with.”
“Trust me, the feeling is mutual. I would rather be in here with Curly than you. But ask yourself; would you rather be out there digging holes right now instead of here relaxing?”
“Good point.”
“I know. Look, I get bored pretty quickly, so you wanna play some cards?”
“What game?”
“Well, it’s just two of us. We don’t have enough people to play spades, hearts or poker...” I said like I was in deep in thought. I came to a conclusion, a game we could play. “Do you know how to play gin?”
“Who don’t know how to play gin?”
“You didn’t answer my question Magnet. Do you know how to play gin?”
“Yes Cannon, I do.”
“We’ll see,” I said as I began to deal us each ten cards and flipped the top card off of the deck. It was a jack of diamonds. Since I dealt, Magnet had first choice. He took it and discarded a six of hearts. I needed that one. I picked it up and replaced it with a five of clubs. Magnet had plucked, and discarded a card. I did the same, but the card I discarded was the same one I picked up. Magnet and I had plucked and discarded for at the most three minutes, before I had gin was close to gin. I knocked on wood, the table top, and discarded my last card before crying out gin. I had three 7’s, three 8, and the 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of hearts and no deadwood. Magnet had the 9, 10, J, Q, K of diamonds and 29 points worth of deadwood. He looked at me shocked.
“No one has ever beaten me in any card game before,” he said in an unbelievable tone. “It was just luck.”
“Well, get used to it,” I said mocking his unbelievable tone. “And it wasn’t luck. It was skill.”
“Whatever man. Let’s do best four out of seven,” he said while shuffling the cards.
“Okay, but I still don’t see how it’ll make a difference. You’re still gonna lose.”
“Just shut up and cut the cards.”
I smirk to myself before cutting the cards. I handed them back to Magnet and watched as he dealt them out, giving each of use ten cards the placing the top card face up. It was the ace of spades neither of us took it. I plucked a card and decided to keep it. We continued playing for a while. During the game he and I got to know each other a lot better, and all of my preconceived notions I had about him were gone with the wind. He ended up winning that hand, and the next couple hands after that. I had won two as well, so added with the one I had already won, we each had three. It was a tie game. Right now we’re in the middle of our last game and you could cut the tension with a knife. I decided to ease it up a little.
“Magnet, what do you say to a bet?”
“What kind of bet?”
“I don’t know, something small.”
“Like what?”
“How about if I win this game, you have to be my slave for a week. I get to choose the week.”
“What do I get when I win?”
“If you win, which you won’t, I’ll tell you a secret about me. And trust me, it’s pretty bad secret. You could use it as blackmail or something.”
“What kind of secret is it?”
“To find out the answer to that, you gonna have to win the hand. Do we have a deal?”
I watched as he thought about it for a moment. I couldn’t help be think about how sexy he looked while he thought.
“Yeah, we have a deal,” he said before saying something in Spanish.
“Good,” I said before turning back to the game. He had thrown out the 4 of spades, the very card I needed. I picked it up, and knocked on wood before throwing out the 3 of hearts and yelling gin. I showed my cards, and he his. I had three aces, three 10s and the 4, 5, 6, 7 of spades and no deadwood. Magnet had three 5s, the 2, 3, 4 of diamonds and 36 points worth of deadwood.
“Well it looks like I won,” I said collecting the cards. “I’ll let you know when I need you my slave.” I walked out of the mess hall and in the direction of the tent. I was surprised to see all of ‘D’ tent in there.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked.
“We’re finished,” answered Zig-Zag.
“Hey, yo dude,” called Armpit. “Where’s Magnet?”
“In the mess hall,” I said walking over to my cot. “Where’s Curly?”
“Who?”
“Zero.”
“Oh, he’s in the rec. room.”
“Why aren't ya’ll in there?”
“Cause we don’t wanna be in there.”
“Whatever X-Ray,” I laid down in my bed and got out my sketch book. I began drawing a picture while I listened to the boys talk.