I smile, happy Sally sees that at least I have put our differences aside and stepped up like a big sister.
Suddenly my bedroom door flies open while I’m still dressing. I cover up with my bathrobe.
Cameron barges in. “I miss Mommy and Daddy.”
“Cameron!” I yell. “Don’t you know how to knock?” He looks so deflated that I can only hug him. I am his big sister first.
“Yeah, I miss them too, but I don’t miss the fighting. Do you?” I ask. He shakes his head. “I don’t miss them yelling at each other or at us. And I really don’t miss seeing Mommy cry. I’m kinda glad we’re here.”
Cameron looks at me curiously. “I thought you hated this place,” he says.
“I thought I did, but it’s not so bad,” I admit. “While Mom and Dad figure things out, we’ll just have to keep having fun and pray that everything’s going to be okay.”
“Are they going to leave us here?” Cameron cries.
“I don’t think so,” I say. “Look.” I stare into his eyes. “I don’t know what’ll happen when we get back home, but while we’re here let’s try not to get down about it. We’ll just have to wait to hear what Mom and Dad decide.” For Cameron, marriage is all too much to understand. It is for me too, but I have to be strong, at least for him. If our parents do split up, I don’t know what will happen to us. Will we have to yo-yo between two places? I have friends who live this way, and most of them hate it. Will we have to meet Daddy’s girlfriend? Will Mommy find someone new? Ugh! I don’t even want to think of that happening. I wipe away falling tears from my little brother’s eyes and hug him.
“Stop crying,” I demand. “You’re a big boy now.”
“I’m only seven!” Cameron sobs. “And now we’re going to be homeless.”
“No, we’re not. Mommy and Daddy will not ever let that happen,” I say as I look at him. “I know this is scary for you. But me and you, we’re going to be okay, all right?” He stares at me with puppy dog eyes, then nods, and I almost forget he’s a pain in my butt half the time. “Now, if you don’t stop crying, Aunt Jeanie is going to start calling you Captain Cry-a-Lot like she used to do to me when I was little.” Cameron smiles. “Remember what I said: let’s not worry, and just make the best of the time we have here, okay?”
“Okay, Captain Cry-a-Lot,” Cameron cracks. And he’s back.
“Ha ha, very funny.” I smirk as I shove him out the door. I dash to the window to see if Sally and Uncle Larry are still talking. The last I heard was Uncle Larry telling Sally that the pool should be ready soon, in enough time for her to have a victory pool party when we win the double Dutch contest. Sally waves off her dad’s confidence. At this rate, our team will really need to work hard if we’re going to have a shot at the competition.
Just when I think my new team and I are going to pick up where we left off yesterday, the camp has other ideas. On Fridays, they make us spend the whole day learning a bunch of warm-up routines and playing silly games just for fun. I guess this is what the double Dutch coach meant by “group activities.” We stretch and do group exercises, and later we’ll do potato sack races and two-legged relays with other kids we don’t even know. Weird. It’s supposedly their way of teaching us “how to adjust to others’ strengths and weaknesses and still win.” It’s cool to be grilled about the importance of respect and working together, but what’s not cool is the counselors yelling at us like we’re some juvenile delinquents at a boot camp. Then again, some of the kids are acting out.
Although a few of the concentration exercises, like carrying an egg on a paper plate as fast as we can for ten yards, make us look like fools, it’s fun. At the obstacle course, I’m running next to a boy with long sandy-blond hair. With just one look, we take each other on as competitors. He beats me over the wall, but I pass him as we jump through the tires and cross the finish line first. Yes! As we try to catch our breath, we share a laugh and he actually high-fives me. Nice!
It feels good to be treated like an athlete—like double Dutch is considered a real sport at this camp. In Brooklyn, jumping double Dutch is “cute” or just a favorite pastime, but here it’s a competition like all the others, and double Dutchers are to be reckoned with. That’s pretty cool. It would be even cooler if I wasn’t so nervous about only having two and a half days to practice with my new team. I wonder if messing around with the boys yesterday was worth it. Maybe so, because the whole time, I keep wondering, Where is Charlie? I’ve kept my eyes peeled all morning, but I don’t see him anywhere. In the gym, around the water fountain, or at the skateboard park…Okay, am I stalking him? Maybe he has a girlfriend and he’s somewhere with her. Maybe he’s sick. Maybe he got hit by a car. Yeah, I’m losing it. Then I remember my cousin did say she thinks he likes me. I stare into space, just thinking about his face so close to mine.
“Kayla!” Sally snaps her fingers in my face. “Earth to Kayla.”
“What?” I come to.
“It’s lunchtime!”
“Oh, okay!” I try to play off my daydream. “So what now?”
Sally shakes her head and runs off to the picnic area.
—
After Sally and I grab lunch trays, we look around for Melissa
