Love Me or Hate Me

It was now nearing the end of the month. Magnet had suffered in silence being my slave for a week and he was out of my control now. I should have mourned the loss of a slave but it got a bit annoying having him follow me around. The next time I make a bet, I'll think more carefully about the winnings.

During the week I had him as my slave; it became increasingly difficult to keep my secret and I had a feeling that he kept cursing me out in Spanish (not that I know for sure, I can’t understand a word of it). I was tired of it by the middle of the week. None the less, I kept him as my slave for the whole week. I mainly had him digging four feet of my hole a day, turn my pages every time I was reading a book, give me his water when I ran out and giving me his bread.

After the second day of the bet, Curly had noticed and pulled me aside to ask what was going on. I told him all about the bet. The rest of D-tent noticed after the third day and Magnet was quickly made the butt of all D-tents jokes. To make matters worse, word quickly spread and soon the whole camp was ragging on him. I felt horrible about the whole thing. By the time the week was over, I could tell that I had made an enemy.

Right now Curly and I were in the rec. room. It was just after dinner and he and I were sitting on the couch watching everyone else (yes creepy, I know, but it was really nothing else to do). The guys of D-tent had took over the pool table, Magnet and X-Ray whispering to each other, glancing in my direction every now and then, C and F tent were fighting over the TV (which was basically broken anyway), a couple of boys from B tent were play wrestling in the corner with the rest of B-tent and A-tent encircling them and everyone else were sitting down reading or listening to the radio. After Magnet glanced at me for the tenth time in less than two minutes, I had turned to ask Curly if he wanted to go to the tent. He agreed and I left, him following.

We entered the tent and as usual, we found Barf bag in there by himself. He was sitting on his cot, hands on his head staring at the ground. I gave Curly a look out of the corner of my eye, he understood and left to return to the rec. room giving Barf bag and I chance to talk. I walked over to the cot opposite him and sat down.

“Hey Barf bag,” I said.

He looked up to me startled, as if he just now realized that I had come into the tent.

“Hi Cannon.”

“What’s going on with you, Barf bag?”

“Nothing? I’m digging holes. Everyday. Just like everyone else.”

“It’s not just that. I can see it written all over your face. There’s something weighing heavily on your mind.”

“No there’s not,” he said.

“Are you sure Barf bag? I’m a little worried about you.”

He put on a smile. “Cannon, you’re worried for nothing.”

I gave him a skeptical look, before sighing. “I don’t believe you, but I accept that you don’t want to talk about it and I’ll leave you alone for now.” I got up from the cot and made my way to the entrance of the tent. Before exiting the tent though, I stopped and turned back to face Barf bag. “But know if you ever want to talk, I’m here to listen.” And with that I left Barf bag to his own devices.

Outside the tent, I was greeted by the members of D-tent. Well, greeted isn’t the right word. When I spoke to them they all completely ignored and brushed past me. Squid even shouldered me as he past. As I watched them go into the tent all that went through my mind was “What the fuck was that?” I immediately went to go find Curly. I found him as he was coming out of the rec. room.

“Oh, I was just going to look for you.”

“Well, you’ve found me. Did you have your talk with Barf bag?”

“I asked what was wrong and he kept saying ‘Nothing’s wrong’. It was really annoying.”

“He’d let you know if there was anything seriously wrong with him, right?”

I looked from him back to the tent and let out a sigh. “Yeah, hopefully. C’mon let go.” As we began walking back to the tent, I asked Curly if he knew what was going on with the other tent members.

“No, what do mean?”

“A few minutes ago they walked right by me and didn’t say anything.”

“They’re probably just tired from being on the lake. You shouldn’t read too much into it.”

“Alright Curly,” I said.

“I gotta girl at home waiting for me. She real sexy. Big boobs and curves in all the right places.” ZigZag and Squid were talking as Curly and I entered the tent. We each went to our respective cots and I automatically pulled out my sketchbook. I had started to draw a new picture when X-Ray had called my name, taking my attention away from it.

“Yeah X?”

“Do you have a girl waiting for you at home?”

“And your mom don’t count,” said ZigZag to the laughter of the rest of the boys. I cracked a sly smile before replying.

"No, but your mom does."

The boys laughed even harder. i joined in the laughter too before actually answering in question.

“No, I don’t have a girl at home waiting for me. I have three sisters though.”

“Are they hot?” Squid asked.

I gave Squid an incredulous look. “They’re my sisters,” I said simply.

“Whatever,” X-Ray said, bringing the groups attention back to him. I went back to my sketchbook, and they were still talking when I fell asleep.