Page 12 of Sass in the Grass

Jovian smiled his best fake smile and threw it at True, then at Bernie as he walked out of the Mess Hall.

“Thatboyisgonnaget on my last goddamn nerve. I swear, if he makes it a week, I’ll faint dead, and you can bury me in the woods.”

Bernie came over to True, grabbed him around the waist. “You and Gary did a good thing, making him come here. Babe, he needs this place more than most.”

“You really think he’s gonna learn anything?”

“Maybe not, but wasn’t it your mom that raised you and Gary with that lesson? Teach them and then send them on their way. The important thing was the learning. Eventually, it might kick in.”

“You’re not my mother. God rest her old, cranky soul.”

“God rest her. Now, come help me get the work assignments done,” Bernie said after a kiss to True’s nose. He walked off toward the entrance to the Mess Hall and True mumbled, “I’m putting that boy on latrine duty right off.”

“You do that, baby.”

Chapter Five

Theorientationhadopenedhis eyes. They were running some scheme. Getting people to work for them and pay them.

He went through all the clothes he’d brought along, and none of them seemed appropriate for a work detail except for his undershirts.

Those had been brought along to go under Jovian’s clothes, as they were meant to, but not only would he refuse to ruin his real clothes, but he’d blend in better with the rabble.

He had one of every color pastel. They’d go under corresponding shirts, usually, but he chose the pale blue for the next day, then he pulled out his pajamas. After walking to the shower, he walked inside, gazing around to assure he was alone.

It was like he had been transported to a third world country. The shower room was little more than a long line of rusty old showerheads perched on cracking pale lemon tiles. The floor was also cracking, tiny white tiles covering almost all of it except for the rusty drains. “This place is a case of tetanus waiting to happen.”

Not that he was shy. Jovian Masseretti was not shy, not even when he was naked. But there would be no more free rides for anyone at the camp. He got under the shower, remembering that he only had ten minutes. “How does anyone take a shower in ten minutes?”

“Easy,” Lou said as she went by him. “Top, middle and bottom, wash, wash.”

“Excuse me? What are you doing here?”

“I told you, if you didn’t want another gender in here with you, hang the sign for preferred gender.”

“I forgot that,” he admitted, then asked, “Why aren’t you at the camp thing?”

“I’m allergic to graham crackers, of all things, so thought I’d shower.”

“But…but I’m not sure I’m okay with this!”

“If you’d like to wait, I’m not offended,” she said, shrugging a shoulder. “If you are weird to see a woman’s breasts.”

“I’ve seen them. Breasts, I mean,” Jovian said as he lifted his chin. He and Ciana had changed together a hundred times when they shopped for clothes.

Her towel was hung on the hook and her shower started immediately. Turning away, Jovian hung his towel on the hook by the shower farthest from her and took the quickest shower of his life.

In fact, he was finished before she was, and he was covering himself, rushing out of the room and into the locker room to dress.

Again, the fastest he’d ever donned his PJs, and he was out and back in his cabin long before anyone else made it.

He lay in his bunk, the little breeze from the screened windows cooling the place off a little, and also, that breeze brought in the scents and sounds from the rest of the camp.

Wherever the s’mores were being roasted, it smelled like it was right outside his window, and his belly gave a long, low growl. They smelled delicious, but what was harder to stomach was the laughter, and lighthearted conversations.

There were too many to pick out words, but the intonations were all happy and comfortable. Easy talking, happy, like they were at some wonderful reunion, and Jovian supposed they were. A lot of people that had been there multiple times, meeting old friends, like Mike and Kathy.

After turning onto his side, Jovian moved his head so he could grab the pillow and shove it over his head to mute some of the sounds. If he didn’t, he might run out there and try to join. That would not happen. He wasn’t one of them, didn’t want to be one of them.

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