Page 63 of Nerdplay
Needless to say, my dad is a dick, and for a brief moment, I was too.
The game continues with everyone in good spirits. My arrow hits Hunter behind the knee. He goes down, arms and legs splayed like a starfish. Olivia seizes the moment and uses Hunter’s fallen body as a springboard. She leaps into the air with not one but two arrows. She tries to take us out in quick succession, first Adam, then me, but I loose another arrow at the last second. Our arrows collide in midair. We both race forward to grab our respective weapons and throw them at each other. My arrow makes contact, hitting Olivia’s thigh. Hers pegs me in the forehead. It all happens so fast, I’m not clear on which one hit first.
I drop to my knees, simultaneously laughing and gasping for air. “Did I win?”
“Who cares?” Ben says, not unkindly.
I peer up at him. “Isn’t that the point?”
“No, kid. The point is to have a grand old time, which we did.” He offers me a hand and helps me to my feet. I’m careful not to grip him too tightly. He’s built like a reed. One overzealous tug and he’d be sprawled on top of me.
“It’s been a long time since anyone’s referred to me as a kid.”
“You’re what? Thirty?”
“Thirty-five.”
He examines my face. “Once you hit the ages of twenty-five to sixty-five, I find it hard to tell. As far as I’m concerned, anybody under the age of forty is a kid.”
I chuckle. “That’s a long childhood.”
“Meh. We could all use a longer childhood, don’t you think? I started working my first job when I was fourteen and didn’t stop until last year. That’s a lot of hours devoted to work.”
“Do you regret it?”
He shrugs. “How can I? Didn’t have a choice. If I wanted to earn a living, enough to pay bills and take a vacation once a year, then I had to dig in.” He draws a deep breath. “And now I get to spend part of the summer here every year until I die. Couldn’t imagine a better place to cap the end of my days.”
Threads of guilt form a knot in my stomach. “You love it here that much?”
“How can you not? As far as I’m concerned, this place is paradise on Earth.”
Cricket blows the whistle. “Dinnertime!”
Everyone plows ahead like the stampeding dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Angela pushes through us. “Excuse me. Future wife coming through.” She surges ahead, a heat-seeking missile that has identified an unknown target.
When I reach the cafeteria, Cricket is lingering outside. “Did you have fun?”
“I did. It was more exercise than I expected.” I gesture to my sweaty skin. “Hence the well-moisturized body.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Every year I think we’ll try something new, but the campers threaten to revolt.”
“Wouldn’t want that, now that I’ve seen them on a battlefield.”
She gives my arm a gentle smack. “Hey, before I forget. I just want to say that I appreciated your apology to Adam earlier.”
I squirm a little, uncomfortable that she’s opted to draw attention to my brief moment of assholery instead of sweeping it under the proverbial rug.
She appears to notice my discomfort. “Did I say something wrong?” Her face relaxes. “Oh.”
Her ‘oh’ grabs me by the balls. “What?”
“You’re embarrassed that I mentioned it.”
She’s right. I am.
Her hand flutters to her chest. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of it.”
I stuff my hands into the pockets of my shorts. “It’s okay. I’m not used to it, that’s all. People usually only comment when I do something wrong.”
