“You coming?” Bob asked Ted.
“In a sec.” Ted turned to me and lowered his voice. “Let’s meet up for a smoke tomorrow night. I’d like to hear how you’re getting on.”
I hesitated, thinking about being short of breath earlier, but said, “Tomorrow night it is.”
Lying in bed I felt pleased with myself. My plan had come to fruition. I was with my daughters at camp. This could be a life-changing summer, the three of us making memories together.I had a passing thought about how Ronnie must have felt when they left for camp, but it faded as I drifted off to sleep.
I awoke feeling refreshed. It was the first time in months that I’d slept well.
Abby had joined me for my morning walk before meeting up with Maggie and Roger for dirty-water coffee. Even though working at camp was part of the goal to overhaul my life, I hadn’t figured on having to give up hazelnut coffee each morning.
“Are you guys ready for your first full day of activities?” Maggie asked.
“I can’t believe we have to wake up the counselors as well as the campers. Our job should be to pop our heads in to say good morning,” I said.
Maggie shrugged. “Children taking care of children.”
Abby looked at her watch. “We better get a move on. If we’re counting counselors, we each have sixtychildrento get ready for breakfast.”
As we passed through the gates of Girls Camp I asked, “What do you think we’ll find when we open the doors?”
“With any luck, everyone will have slept through the night and we’ll actually have to wake them.” We hesitated before entering the cabins. “Here goes nothing,” Abby said.
I tapped lightly on the wood frame of the first Cubs cabin. The screen door screeched as I opened it. The room was quiet and dark with pinpoints of sun poking through the worn blinds. I sidestepped between bunks to pull up the shades, causing sleepy bodies to toss.
Each cabin was equipped with a radio tuned to the camp station. I turned the volume up just as Roger played “Reveille.” That was met with grunts and whines.
“Good morning my little Cubs, rise and shine,” I loudly sang out from the middle of the room.
I walked by each bed, pushing down on the mattress and addressing each girl by name and saying, “Wake up, sleepyhead,” or “Today’s the first day of camp.” Slowly the cabin came to life. “Wear a hoodie to breakfast,” I called out. “It’s chilly this morning.”
One camper, Leah, was whimpering. I didn’t ask her how she was doing. I felt unprepared to deal with a crier at 7:30 a.m.
When I opened the door of the fourth cabin, most everyone was awake. I noticed that Jasmine, one of the counselors, was still in bed on a top bunk, her back to the center of the room. As I got closer, I heard snoring. I rubbed her arm and said, “Jasmine, it’s time to get up.”
She grumbled, shaking me off. I tried again and she inched closer to the wall. I looked at the other counselors, but they shrugged and continued helping the girls get ready. I wasn’t sure what to do.
I whispered, “Jasmine, please get up. Don’t make me do anything drastic.”
She turned over, one eye opened and glared at me as she pulled the covers more tightly around herself. Was that a dare? I waited as the cabin emptied, then I opened my water bottle and dripped cold water on her head. She sprang up screaming, “What the fuck?!”
“As I said, it’s time to get up.” I looked at my watch. “See you in the dining hall in three minutes and watch your language.”
I walked out, making sure the door slammed behind me.
At breakfast Bethany asked how our first morning went. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Jasmine, wet hair framing her sulking face as she shoveled cereal into her mouth.
“I was surprised that only one of my counselors, Amber, was awake and dressed, and at the other extreme, I couldn’t get one counselor out of bed,” I said.
“Yeah, there’s usually one or two that give us a hard time.”
I turned to see how my own kids were doing. Zelda was stabbing at a waffle and Hazel had a spoonful of cereal halfway to her mouth. They looked as though they’d made it through the night intact.
“Ready for Flagpole?” Bethany asked.
The silver flagpole stood tall and sturdy against the clear blue sky; powdered white lines fanned out down the slope of the hill from its base. The wet grass glistened, and the stripes shimmered under the rays of the morning sun.
Bethany arrived carrying the American flag on the clipboard held against her chest. The campers were in formation, lined up by division, one counselor at the front, the rear, and the middle. The DLs flanked Bethany, Mindy, and Marilyn at the top of the hill.
