Stan Morris - Surviving the Fog

“We have a related problem,” said Yuie. “Some of us are growing out of our clothes.” There was a murmur of agreement from some of the kids.

“The bigger kids are going to have to share some of their clothes with the younger kids,” Erin stated. This brought a protest from some of the older kids.

“What happens when we grow out of our clothes?” an older boy asked.

“If you are a boy then you can wear some of the clothes that we took from those men, or else you can wear some of the clothes that we found in the RV,” Erin answered. “We girls might have to make some new clothes, although we have some of Jackie’s things, some of the other counselor’s things, and we found some ladies clothing in the RV.”

“Where are we going to find more material to make dresses?” Makayla asked.

“We could use the tablecloths,” Desi suggested. The boys began to get restless and bored, so the girls agreed to discuss this later.

“I have a new rule,” said Mike when their attention turned to him again. The whole group groaned.

“What now?” Kevin moaned.

“From now on, no one can piss in the Porta Pottys.”

There was a chorus of outrage.

“Listen,” Mike said. “We don’t have any way to empty them. And they are almost filled up. You know they stink. You have to use the bathrooms behind the dining hall to piss, or else you have to go in the forest. And try to use the bathrooms behind the dining hall for number two, too. In other words, don’t use the Porta Pottys unless you absolutely have to. Hector said that he would use his truck to empty them in a few days. He’s got to find a place, and when he does, he’ll need help.”

“Oh, and another thing,” he added to another chorus of groans. “The paper towels are off limits. You will have to use a real towel to dry your hands.”

“Why is that?” a camper demanded to know.

“We need to save the paper towels for toilet paper,” he explained. There was dead silence and not a single protest.

One day, some of the kids approached Mike, and they asked him why they didn’t have any church services on Sunday. Mike was non-committal about the idea, but he announced that on Sunday there would be a service in the dining hall for anyone who wanted to attend. There was a lot of argument about the idea of a church service. Some argued that it was a good idea. Some argued that it was a bad idea. Some liked the idea, but they did not like how it was arranged.

On Sunday, late in the morning, Mike waited at the podium for the kids to come to the service. John, Desi, and Yuie were in the dining hall waiting. The time for the service came and went. No one appeared.

“Where is everyone?” Mike asked, mystified at the lack of attendance.

“They’re probably not coming,” Yuie told him.

“Why?”

“Some of them didn’t want to do this anyway,” said Desi. “And most of them are holding their own service down in the meadow, across the river from where we buried Jackie and Pete. Luis is saying the words.”

“Ahmad did a thing on Friday,” said John. “He got his blanket, and he put it on the floor of his cabin. He was trying to figure out how to point it to… um…”

“Mecca,” Yuie finished.

“Yeah, Mecca,” John agreed. “And Jacob did his thing yesterday.”

“And Rasul shares my little shrine I built next to the cave,” said Yuie. “He prays to his Gods, and I pray to Buddha. I wish I had a little statue of Buddha. I take my picture of my parents and my sister there, and I lean it against a rock while I pray. And I’m trying to make prayer beads.”

“I don’t think anyone is going to come to your service, Chief,” John said. “Remember these were American kids. Still are.”

“What’s that got to do with it?” Mike asked.

“They are Americans, Mike. They aren’t going to a government church.”

“What?”

“True. Here, you are the government, Chief,” Yuie explained.

“Yeah, he’s the Government Chief,” joked John. The others rolled their eyes and groaned.

“Well, what do you want to do?” Mike asked, as the strains of ‘Amazing Grace’ came wafting up from the meadow.

“Let’s play cards,” Desi suggested.

“All right,” agreed Yuie. “What about Spades?”

“What about Hearts?” John said.

“How about Strip Poker?” Mike joked.

“You wish!” Yuie answered, as she shuffled a deck. “With your rules, it’ll be a long time before you get to see a girl naked.”

Mike glanced furtively at Desi who gave him a small smile. Mike blushed, and he looked down at his cards.

The work of building the Lodge continued. By the middle of August, the log wall was almost complete. In the last rays of the sun, many of the kids would sit on the grass below the unfinished wall and enjoy the breeze and their free time.

Erin and three of her friends could often be found there, enjoying the late afternoon sun. They talked about many things, and one of their favorite subjects was boys. They compared this one and that one, and they discussed their few good points and their many bad points.

“What about Hector?” one of the girls remarked.

“He’s cute,” said another. “But he’s a little old.”

“And Mexican,” added a third.

“What’s that got to do with anything? Are you prejudiced?”

“No! But what if he’s illegal?”

The other girls laughed. “I don’t think that matters anymore,” Erin said.

“Well, I think Hector’s really cute in a Latino sort of way. Maybe I’ll make a play for him.”

“Oh, yeah? Maybe he would rather be my boyfriend.”

“I think Latino’s prefer girls with bigger breasts,” Erin said with a grin.

“Ha! Just because you are such a Moo Cow.”

“I am not,” exclaimed Erin. “I’m just right.” The girls continued to jibe at each other, except for Kathy. She remained quiet and thoughtful.

The next day, she found Hector working on the wall as usual. She was one of his regular crew. Their task was to carry buckets of thick mud from a low wet spot in the meadow up to the wall, and then they would pour the mud onto the highest log, so that when Hector put the next log on the wall there were no air spaces between the logs.

Kathy approached Hector at the end of the work period. The other kids were hurrying away, glad to be free at last. She handed Hector a bottle of water and waited as he used a bandanna from his rear pocket to wipe his face.

“Thanks,” he said, and he took a big swig from the bottle. “Ah…you wouldn’t think that you could get so hot at this altitude.” He was breathing hard. “You’re…?”

“Kathy. I’m Kathy. I work on your crew. I’m fourteen. And a half.”

“Kathy. Well, thanks for the water, Kathy.”

“Um…I was wondering if I could talk to you.”

“Sure, Sweetie. Talk.” Hector leaned back and poured part of the bottle on his face.

“Um…I was wonder if I could work with you. Not just carrying mud I mean. I don’t mind that. But I was wondering if I could help you. I mean, I want to learn to work with the wood.”

Hector used his bandanna to wipe his face again. He gave her a good look . She’s a pretty girl , he thought. Kathy was blond and blue eyed. Her body was just now developing, but it was clear that, one day soon, she would be a lovely young lady. She wasn’t tall so, since Hector was not a tall man himself, she stood just below his shoulder.

“You want to work with the wood? You mean you want to learn carpentry,” Hector said.

“Yes,” replied Kathy. “I used to help my Dad a lot. He wasn’t a regular carpenter, but he worked with wood a lot. Mostly he built bird houses and things like coat racks, but he built the fence around our house, and he built our garage. I helped him with that. Once, I helped him build a big tree house for one of our neighbors.”