The Hooligan
by
Well, due to a variety of reasons,
there’s been a considerable amount of time since the last post. But hopefully
two posts this week will make up for it. This chapter just kind of rolled out.
It’s an in-between chapter, but does address some important character
developments, so pay attention. I hope all is well with you all, and as always,
I appreciate and desire your comments. Please send them to Austin(dot)db(at)gmail(dot)com.
Part 5
True to his word, Nate washed all the urine soaked bed sheets and pjs when he got home. High school gets out an hour before grade school, and he had a whole load done before the crashing of doors and loud voices announced that his brothers were home. I had been out with Mr. Taylor the rest of the morning working aimlessly around the yard and had been glad when Nate had gotten home. After only one night, I already enjoyed the extra energy in the normally quiet house.
“David!” I heard Paul yell from the kitchen. I was sitting with Nate reading in the lounge next to the laundry.
“He wants cookies,” Nate said quietly.
“Why don’t you come up with me,” I said, and Nate followed me up the stairs. Sure enough, all the cupboards were open and Nate’s two younger brothers were frantically searching through all my food.
“Paul, Peter! Jeez, stop it!” Nate yelled, pulling his brothers away. I was a bit surprised by the outgoing confidence in boys, but was glad they already saw my kitchen as home.
“Do you have any sugar in this house?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Not really.”
“How do you survive?” Paul shook his head in disbelief.
“Mom usually has an after school snack for us,” Nate explained.
I glanced at my watch and saw that it was nearly half passed three. “Tell you what, boys. How about today you go without a snack.” The younger two groaned and I saw a glint of disappointment briefly in Nate’s eyes. “But…” All their eyes brightened. “What?” Peter demanded. “Well, there’s a surprise, and a snack would ruin it, so you should really just thank me.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “What sort of surprise? Chuck E. Cheese’s?”
I smiled at the complete lack of excitement in his voice, though I saw Paul perk up noticeably. “No, much better. We’re going to... Taylor’s!”
All three boys looked at me curiously and confused. “Where?” Peter finally asked.
“Best restaurant in town, I guarantee it. Really nice too, so we’re going to have to get all dressed up.”
“Really?” Nate asked, interested. “Where is it?”
I paused and looked slowly at each boy letting the tension in the room rise. “Well, where?!” Paul yelled.
“Next door,” I said quickly.
They all groaned and I had a good laugh. “Don’t groan too loud, you’ll break Mrs. Taylor’s heart.”
“I thought you meant a really nice restaurant is all,” Nate said.
“Well, Edith does cook some of the best food ever,” I said seriously. “And we’re expected over there at five and if I ruin you boy’s appetite, she’ll never forgive me, so no cookies!”
“I’m starving,” Peter groaned loudly, then stopped suddenly. “When’s mom coming home?”
I shrugged. “She called and said at least one more night. She’ll call later to talk with you.” I could see Nate look down disappointed. “But we’ll have fun, and I can help you with your homework!” All three boys groaned again.
“I’m going to go check the wash,” Nate grumbled, then walked downstairs. Leaving Peter and Paul to their own devices, I followed Nate. Once we were downstairs I got a good look at him and I could tell he was on the verge of tears. “Well, I’ll probably have to be doing this again tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I’m not going to make you do the wash.”
“No, I’m saying you don’t have to get the sheets wet.”
Nate glared at me. “Hey, it’s not like I try to wet the bed, ok?”
“No, no. Nate, that is not what I’m saying. When I talked to your mom today she had an idea.” Nate looked up at me questioningly. “You could wear something. Just tonight.”
“Like diapers? Like Paul.”
“Essentially, yes,” I said calmly.
Nate didn’t respond and instead turned his attention to pulling the now dry sheets out of the dryer. “Obviously, it’s up to you,” I continued, “but your mom thought it would be a good idea and it would only be for one night.”
“Would you have to diaper me, like you do to Paul?” He looked up at me and I could tell that was not something he was going to allow.
I shook my head, “Nope. They have briefs, like pull ups. It would be all your business.” He fell silent. “Here,” I said, grabbing one of the edges of the sheet. “Let’s fold these before they wrinkle.” We finished the work in silence.
Edith’s dinner was great. The boys really enjoyed their time. Mr. Taylor kept them laughing nearly the whole time and I was surprised they even had a chance to eat. It was a good solid two hour event and by the time we were walking back to my house, bellies full of pot roast, potatoes, veggies, and pie, I was ready to crawl right in bed. Unfortunately, the boy’s teachers had different plans for me. I had them all pull out their homework and spent the next two hours desperately treading my way through subjects I hadn’t touched in years. I swear I graduated 5th grade, but long division was never this impossible.
Nate had yet to tell me his decision on the diapers and when my cell phone rang, Mia on the caller-id, I knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. After the two younger boys talked with their mother, Nate took the phone and disappeared into my office, shutting the door firmly behind him. I had Peter and Paul pack up their homework and directed them to get ready for bed.
“But it’s just past nine,” Peter complained.
“I didn’t say you had to go to bed, Peter,” I said slowly. His constant questioning of me was starting to get on my nerves. “Just get ready. Y’all can stay up and watch TV until 10, ok?”
He didn’t reply and followed Paul into their room. As soon as Peter left, Nate returned. He silently handed me the phone carefully avoiding eye contact.
“Hi,” I said.
“Well, he said he’d do it, but he made me promise that it was just while he was at your house. Though,” Mia added quietly, “if he sees how nice it is to have a dry bed, we might get him to wear them at home too.”
I nodded, “You never know. How are things with the…lawyer?”
Mia didn’t respond right away. “Fine,” she answered after a moment. “It’s tough. And if we continue doing this, it is just going to get a whole lot worse. David, I’m so sorry for keeping you in the dark. I promise I’ll fill you in as soon as we get back.”
“Don’t worry about it. I just wanted to make sure things were moving along.”
“Oh, they are. I intend to come home tomorrow. John has to work anyways.”
“The boys are fine, but they are bored. Since Nate doesn’t have the key, they can’t get at their toys.”
Mia sighed. “Well, I’m sorry.”
“I don’t even know why I said that. I’m not complaining Mia. You have wonderful boys. I love having them here with me.”
“Even with the wet beds?” Mia laughed.
“Hmm, well, never mind,” I laughed. “Listen, I guess I have to run to the store then so I’d better go.”
“Yeah. Thanks, David. Thank you.”
Mia’s voice sounded different. Something about the way she said thank you. I shook my head knowing I was just hearing things. I quickly said goodnight and hung up. I glanced up at Nate who was sitting quietly at the table, waiting for the call to finish. His eyes followed my hand as I carefully set the phone on the table.
“So, we should run to the store real quick?”
Nate nodded.
“Does your mom ever leave Peter to watch Paul? Do you think they’d be alright for a half hour?”
He nodded again.
After leaving Peter in charge with strict instructions for the now sleeper clad boys to stay put on the couch, watch TV, and not open the door for anyone, Nate and I drove to the 24 hour Walgreens near my house. Once we pulled into the parking lot, Nate started shift about nervously. “Do I have to go in?” He asked quietly.
“Nate, these are for you, not me. I don’t want to be mean, but you can do this maturely.”
“I hate that word,” Nate said sourly.
I thought about it for a second. “I do too. I don’t know what I said it. But the point stands. Let’s go.”
I stepped out into the cold air and started walking towards the store. I was relieved to hear Nate’s door open and slam behind me. I didn’t want to drag him inside.
The store was fairly empty, a few people scurrying about running last minute errands. I led the way over to the baby diaper isle, guessing that was our best guess. We stood in front of a wall of brightly colored packages with smiling babies and toddlers showing off their padded posteriors and I felt quite sorry for Nate. I glanced down at him. He had his hands shoved deep in his pockets and was slouching as if a heavy weight was sitting right on his shoulders.
“These?” I asked, pulling off a package of diapers obviously meant for a baby.
“Not funny,” Nate whispered.
I suppressed a laugh and patted him on the back. “Don’t take life too seriously, Nate.”
“Hey, you’re not the one…” Nate trailed off as an attendant spotted us and started our way. “Go away, not us, go away,” Nate whispered fiercely. I returned the baby diapers to the shelf and smiled at the lady who was coming to our aid.
She looked nice enough. Perhaps forty. Her hair was already covered in gray and bleached blond in all the wrong places. Pink wide rimmed glasses sat awkwardly on her nose and it looked as if a cigarette was always meant to be hanging out of the corner of her heavily made-up lips.
“Can I help you find anything?”
“Actually yes, you can.” I said, giving her a look to let her know I was serious. “We need some, ah, bedwetting pants?” I avoided saying diaper, but I think she got the point.
“How much do you weigh, honey?” She asked Nate softly.
Nate shrugged and frowned heavily, staring steadfastly at the dirty, tiled floor. “Dunno, about 120. Maybe a little less.”
The lady nodded. “Well, I’ll be honest with you, you’re right in-between. ‘Cause we’ve got these,” She pointed to a purple, bluish package that said Goodnights across the front, “But you’re right on the edge and,” she looked up at me, “they’ll leak, believe me. They don’t work for my son and he’s just about your size.” I nodded.
“Well, we don’t want that. Would defeat the purpose,” I said the obvious. Nate seemed relieved by the fact the woman had just let him know he wasn’t the only boy on the planet wetting the bed.
“Well, what does he wear?” Nate asked. I raised my eyebrow, surprised he still had a voice.
“Follow me, honey,” the lady said, and we followed her to another isle. At first it looked like where all the feminine products like tampons were kept, but on closer inspection, I saw that the shelves were stacked with much more subdued packages, adult briefs labeled in various fashions. “And like I said, you’re just in the middle, so most of these won’t work. You probably want the pull up kind, huh?” Nate nodded. “Yeah, those are easier, but we don’t have a size that’ll fit you. These are too big and they’ll leak too.” She pointed to a red and white colored package that had the picture of what must have been a diaper on the front, but you’d have fooled me. It was all fluffy and frilly on top and looked anything but water-retaining. I sighed loudly, ready for the woman to just tell us that there was nothing for a boy Nate’s size to wear.
“But,” She said, “If you don’t mind the tapes, honey, these work perfect.” And with that, the woman pulled off a package labeled as youth diapers and I saw Nate visibly cringe.
“They look like baby diapers,” he said, proverbial venom nearly blinding our kind Walgreens attendant, who just shrugged. “Well, do you want a dry bed? Look, they don’t have the prints on the front, honey. And we all know,” she paused waving her hand, which tightly grasped the package of diapers, around our small group, “that you ain’t no baby, honey. So as long as you don’t think you are, then these diapers won’t make you one. My son threw the same darn fit and I just can’t for the life of me understand why you care so much?”
Nate seemed to be shrinking under the barrage. The woman was emphasizing each point by pointing the package at Nate. I looked down at the boy. “Well? Should we get them? Or do you want to risk it again tonight?” I asked softly. “Either way is fine with me, you know that.”
“Naw, I promised my mom,” Nate said so quietly I could barely hear him. I looked up and nodded at the lady. She patted Nate softly on the shoulder. “They really aren’t that bad, honey, you just wait and see.”
“Jeez, that lady was crazy,” Nate said as we drove back home.
I laughed heartily, happy that Nate seemed to be lightening up. “I thought she was about to hit you with the package in there. We probably could have sued them then, gotten a year’s worth supply of diapers for you and Paul.”
“I can’t believe we ended up getting the regular kind,” Nate said, suddenly subdued.
“You mean as opposed to the pull-ups?”
“Yeah.” He was staring out the window watching the street lights slide past. “Does this mean that now…you’ll have to diaper me?”
I glanced at him, trying to catch some eye contact, but his face was glued to the window. “That is up to you, Nate. It’d be easier, I’ll be honest. But we could figure something out. I’m sure you could handle it.”
Silence fell. I considered turning on the radio, but decided against it. There is something sentimentally pleasing about a quiet car ride at night. Not all the loud city cars around you, just you, and the street, and the lights.
“I guess I don’t really care,” Nate said.
I just nodded. “How’s school going, Nate?”
Nate looked over, surprised at the sudden change of subject. “Good.”
“You making lots of friends?”
“Sure,” Nate said, shrugging.
“Who do you hang out with?”
“I dunno. You don’t know them.”
“Not those trouble makers, right?”
Nate shrugged. “Maybe.”
I glared at him for a moment, but held my tongue.
“I don’t see them around the neighborhood since school started. Where are they terrorizing now?”
Nate shrugged again. “Listen, they are good people. Maybe a bit crazy, but they’re good friends. My only friends right now.”
“What about joining a sports team? You’ll meet new people that way.”
Nate laughed sarcastically. “Me? Sports?”
“Running?”
“I’m not doing cross country.”
“Nate, I don’t want you hanging…” I stopped short, realizing what I was about to say. Way out of line, I realized.
“What? You don’t want me what?” Nate asked and I could feel tension that wasn’t there a second ago.
“Nothing. It’s none of my business,” I said softly.
Nate was glaring at me.
“I’m sorry, Nate. I care about you. I can’t help it.”
Back at home, I quickly diapered Paul and got the two younger Argrow boys in bed. “Feel safer about sleeping next to your brother tonight?” I asked Peter, smiling. He rolled his eyes. “Still can’t believe your making me sleep with my baby brother!” He said and lightly punched Paul on the arm. “Hey!” Paul squeaked. “I’m not a baby.”
“I dunno,” Peter said. I saw some movement under the covers, then Paul suddenly scooted away from Peter. “Yep, felt a diaper under there!” Peter laughed. “Keep your hands to yourself!” Paul cried.
I laughed, glad to see the boys playing. “Ok, that’s enough. Sleep well, boys, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night, David,” they both said. I flipped out the light and shut the door softly.
Nate was in the living room watching TV.
“You staying up again tonight?” I asked.
“Can I?”
I looked at him carefully. Considering our conversation in the car, I wondered why he even asked. “It is up to you. You’re responsible enough to get the right amount of sleep. But maybe you should get ready first. That way if you fall asleep on the couch, you’re all set.”
“So, are you going to…help?”
“Do you want me to?”
Nate shrugged, staring at the TV. After a bit of silence, when it became obvious that he wasn’t going to move very fast, I told him to go get his pajamas on, then we could talk. He nodded and shuffled out of the living room, shooting a quick look up at me as he moved by. I went into the kitchen and removed the package of youth diapers from the bag. After opening and putting the package on the table, I pulled one out and inspected it. They were thick but didn’t look that big. But the size specifications on the side put Nate well within the safe zone, so I was sure they would work. I heard Nate yell that he was ready, and with that, I took a deep breath and went to his room.
Nate was standing in the middle of his room, wearing his freshly washed, baby-blue, footed sleepers. He looked shyly up at me as I entered, shuddered when he saw the diaper in my hand, then quickly directed his eyes back down at the ground.
“You ready?” I asked softly.
He nodded.
“Lie down on the bed, then.”
Nate crawled up on the bed and slowly laid down, his hands at his sides.
“I’ve gotten pretty good at this,” I said sitting down next to him on the bed, “now that I’ve had some practice with your younger brother.”
Nate took one last look at me and nodded, then he shut his eyes tight and I knew they would not open again until he was diapered. I took hold of the zipper on his sleeper and pulled it down. It went all the way until his feet, revealing that he was wearing nothing underneath except white briefs. I paused for a second, thinking back to the first time I saw Nate. The small boy caught red handed standing in my moonlit back yard with soaked pants. I would never have thought that just a short time later, I would be diapering that same boy. It’s a funny thing, life.
I pulled Nate’s legs free of the sleeper and pulled off his briefs in one quick movement. The boy was still shy of puberty, I noticed as I placed the youth diaper under Nate’s bottom and pulled the thick protection up between his legs. In no time at all, I had the tapes snuggly fastened, and his sleeper zipped back up. I tossed his briefs over to his bags and patted him on the knee. “All done. You’ll be dry as Death Valley this evening, buddy.”
Nate opened his eyes slowly. “Death Valley?”
“Lowest part of our continent, also one of the driest. California. What do they teach you in school these days?”
“Useful things,” Nate said.
I swatted him softly on his leg. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Maybe,” Nate said softly. He smiled. “That was quick. You’re right, you’re pretty good.”
“Well, you’re easy,” I said with a wink. “Did you brush your teeth?”
Nate shook his head. “Well, up! ‘Fore you fall asleep on me. I don’t want to have to brush your teeth too.” I pulled him off the bed, giving him a couple good tickles before I set him down on the ground in front of me. He squirmed and laughed in my grip. “Oh, I didn’t know you were ticklish!” I said, an evil smile creeping up on my face.
“No, David, don’t.” Nate pleaded. “Too late!” I cried, pulling him into a bear hug and tickling him under his armpits. He squealed and squirmed, trying to break loose. “Oh, you really are ticklish, huh?” I laughed. After I had him writhing about, I stopped and just hugged him. He quieted down and I felt him relax. Suddenly, I put my arm under his knees and lifted him up into the air. Nate cried out, laughing. I held him out like a battering ram. He was a bit heavy, but definitely light enough to carry.
“Let’s see. Do you think you’ll make it through the door?” I asked, heaving him back and forth as if I was about to toss him. “Put…me…down…” Nate got out in-between fits of laughter. Instead, I marched out the door and into the bathroom, setting him down on the counter. I took a step back and we grinned at each other.
“You’re crazy,” Nate said. I shrugged. “Maybe, a bit. But who isn’t these days?” I asked. “Brush your teeth. You can come out and watch some TV when you’re done if you want.” Nate nodded and I left the bathroom. After he cleaned up, Nate came wandering out into the living room. The crinkle of his diaper was audible and he was walking with a slightly awkward gait. “How do they feel?” I asked.
“I dunno. Fine, I guess. A bit big.”
“Well, hopefully they work.”
Nate nodded and took a seat on the couch. It wasn’t long before I went to bed, and I’m sure Nate followed soon thereafter.
*******************************
“Hey!”
Simon and John both turned around to find Alex sprinting down the dirt trail towards them. They waved and waited.
“Good thing we got rid of those diapers right away,” John whispered to Simon. Simon nodded, also thankful they had quickly disposed of the incriminating evidence of their escapades.
“Hey,” Alex said again, out of breath as he reached the other two boys.
“How was the service project?”
“Sweet!”
Simon and John looked surprised. What kind of service project was fun? “What did you guys do?”
“Nuthin. I just had to help Father O’Malley clean his office then he let me play.”
“Huh? Play?”
“Yeah. He’s got arcade games in his office and he even let me go in his hot tub!”
“Hot tub? It’s summer?”
“So what? It was great.”
“That’s weird,” Simon said, and the three boys continued down the trail. “Was it just you?”
“Yeah. I had all the games to myself!”
“I’ll bet you loved that,” John said sarcastically.
“Wait!” Alex said, suddenly standing still. He tilted his head sideways and eyed John and Simon carefully. “What about the dare? I didn’t miss it did I?”
John glanced at Simon quickly. Simon just shrugged.
“You guys already did it, huh?” Alex said, disappointed.
“Yeah.”
“What was it?!”
John and Simon both shrugged and kicked at the dirt. “Can’t tell you, remember?”
“Well, then let me do it. I want to know.”
John looked questioningly at Simon. Simon honestly didn’t have any idea what to do. He didn’t really want to go through the ordeal again and just making Alex do it alone seemed weird now.
“Well well well, look who it is…”
The three boys froze, recognizing the voice.
“Hi Ray,” Simon said coldly, looking up the trail. Sure enough, sauntering towards them was their nemesis from the eighth grade. “Where is your crew?”
Ray spread his arms wide as he swaggered up to the younger boys. “Crew? I don’t need my crew. I can bug you all…by…my…self!” Ray tapped his chest with fast, hard raps. Simon looked up at him, unimpressed by his bravado. Ray looked a whole lot smaller without his mob surrounding him. Ray put a hand on Alex’s shoulder and the boy shrunk away from the touch. “Relax, son. I ain’t gonna hurt ya,” Ray said, putting on a soft southern drawl. “You boys been staying out of my canyon?”
“You can have them mosquitoes,” John said bitterly.
“You been keeping your pants dry, boy?” Ray said with a laugh.
“Lay off Ray,” Simon said sharply. “You gonna bug off? Or do you like hanging out with us younger boys. Make you feel tough?”
Ray glared at Simon.
“You forget, Ray. There are three of us. There is, if I’m counting correctly, one of you. We could take you, so you just leave my friend John alone, ok?”
“I’d like to see you try,” Ray spat, pushing Simon hard. Simon tripped backwards and fell down onto the hard packed trail. For some reason, Simon’s blood started to boil. Pent up frustration from their harrowing canyon experience, maybe. New confidence from his experience that afternoon, maybe. Or maybe Ray just deserved to be beat. Simon felt himself rise up and with a strength he didn’t know he had, he pounced on Ray and laid the older boy out cold with a fist directly to his face. Ray tumbled backward and in a spectacular fall, ended dazed and confused, face in the dirt, muttering something about his mother. Simon stared down at Ray, completely bewildered at the change of momentum. He held his hand gingerly.
“Holy shit,” breathed Alex.
John whooped a loud war cry, then pounced on Ray. “My turn!”
Simon and Alex watched surprised as John started punching Ray repeatedly in the face.
“Jesus, John, stop it,” Alex cried and, together with Simon, pried the fanatical John off of his prey. “You’ve knocked him out, now,” Simon said, kneeling down by Ray, who was now completely unconscious, blood dripping from his nose and gathering into a small puddle in the dirt.
“That was kind of a low blow there, John,” Alex said quietly. “You don’t hit someone when they are down.”
“No,” John said, shaking his head and breathing heavily. “He deserved it. He made me wet my pants, then he hit me with his sling shot. Someone like that doesn’t get regular pleasantries. Sorry.”
The three boys stood over Ray silently, no one quite sure what to do. It had all happened so quick. One minute they were talking, next Ray was laying unconscious and bleeding at their feet. Suddenly, John hopped up and yelped with excitement. “I’ve got an idea.”
“Well, that’s obvious,” Simon said.
“Oh man, Simon, let’s go get one of them diapers and put Ray in it and hide his clothes that way when he wakes up he’ll have to walk through camp in just diapers and everyone will see him and laugh and it will be funny and he’ll be embarrassed and-”
“Whoa whoa, breathe buddy,” Simon said, laughing lightly and putting a hand on John who was turning blue from talking without taking a breath.
Alex looked at the two of them quizzically. “Diapers?” he asked slowly.
“Yeah,” John said, then realizing what he had let out of the bag, he looked at Simon for support.
“Diapers?” Alex asked again.
“It’s a long story,” Simon said quickly. “But that is not a bad idea. John, go get some now. Alex and I will make sure Ray doesn’t get away.” John didn’t need to be asked twice. He sprinted off down the trail. Alex looked bewildered, taking turns staring at Simon and the unconscious Ray. “Do you want to explain to me what is going on?” He finally asked after John had been gone for a minute.
Simon shuffled about nervously for a moment, trying to decide how to break Alex in on the situation. He decided John’s privacy was going to have to be sacrificed. It was his fault for mentioning diapers in front of Alex anyways. Simon took a deep breath and explained the fact John wore diapers to bed for bedwetting and that there was a whole stash of them in his cabin.
“How’d you find out?” Alex asked.
“He told me.”
“How come he didn’t tell me?”
“He was afraid you would make fun of him.”
Simon could tell Alex’s mind was having trouble processing the entire situation. He wasn’t sure if he should laugh at John or what. So instead, he just stared at Simon, scratching his head absent mindedly. “Wow,” he finally said.
Simon shrugged. “So, now we get to have some fun with Ray. He deserves it. You in?”
“Of course,” Alex said quickly.
Soon John returned, sprinting down the trail, his backpack flapping around wildly on his back. Luckily, the whole occurrence had happened on a very reclusive trail, one that rarely saw any traffic.
“Let’s hope he stays out,” Alex, who was nervously tapping his feet around, said quietly. Simon wasted no time in going to work. He quickly stripped the older boy of his shoes and shirt. Next he yanked off Ray’s pants and soon the bully was naked in the bushes.
“You can diaper the quickest,” Simon said, standing back and motioning for John to step in.
“How do you know that?” Alex asked.
“Never mind,” Simon said quickly as John squatted down and pulled out two thick diapers from the bag. He securely fastened them to Ray with pins, then slipped a rather loud pair of frosty plastic pants up over the diapers. The whole operation had lasted less than five minutes. Simon stuffed Ray’s clothes in the backpack and the three now vindicated seventh graders took a step back and admired their handy work.
“Wow,” Alex said. “I don’t think I’ve seen diapers on anyone this old before.”
John giggled and a smile crept across the face of Simon. “We got him good, boys. Now let’s scram before he wakes up.”
Just as Simon said that, Ray mumbled something and rolled over, the plastic pants emitting a satisfying crinkle. John let out a high-pitched laugh and the three boys took off sprinting down the trail just as Ray sat up, completely disoriented and confused.
Ray woke up quick. Maybe he had some practice recovering from hard hits because it seemed that he was incredible lucid within seconds. He let out a blood curdling cry with the words, “Give me back my clothes!” somewhere mixed in with the primal rage. Simon snuck a peak backwards and was met by the hilarious sight of Ray, in nothing but diapers, sprinting down the trail after them. They had a good lead on him and Simon wasn’t really worried, for now.
With perfect timing the lunch bell sounded throughout the forest and Simon yelled, “Go to the mess hall.” They were already quite close to the center of camp and it wasn’t long before they arrived out of breath at the mess hall. For reasons Simon did not understand, be it pure rage, stupidity, or courage, Ray didn’t break away when they entered the main camp area. That is until Simon, Alex, and John made it safely inside the mess hall. They quickly got deep into the crowd of boys gathering for food in order to have a safe buffer zone in between them and Ray.
Ray burst in through the door, screaming and yelling, then froze. It seemed only then did it dawn on Ray that he was now standing in front of nearly 200 boys in nothing but diapers. Time seemed to freeze, and at no other time has time frozen for quite so long. Everyone, even the counselors, stared. Then finally, laughter began. First as a stifled hiccup, then a hoot, then a rumble, and finally a rolling thunder of laughter filled the mess hall as every boy bathed in the glorious defamation of the bully nearly everyone hated. Simon almost, almost felt bad. But instead he let himself enjoy a satisfying snicker.
Ray glared at everyone for a moment, then turned around slowly and walked out of the room, back into the sun, and disappeared.
“Oh man,” John said laughing, “we are so dead.”
“But oh so worth it,” Simon replied.
******************************
I slept all the way until my alarm sounded the next morning. Rolling out of bed and shutting off the annoying squawking, I cleared my head of the night’s fog. I still couldn’t believe Nate had to get up this early. I mean, how could any high-schooler learn waking up this early? After splashing some water on my face, I went into Nate’s room and flipped on the side lamp. He rolled away from the night and covered his face.
“Good morning, bud. Time to get out of bed and learn!”
Nate groaned loudly. “Just five more minutes,” he mumbled.
I shook my head. “Not a chance, Nate. You’ve got to shower, eat, catch a bus, and I’m not driving you to the bus stop like yesterday. I’ve got to get Peter and Paul ready when you’re gone. Up!” With that I yanked back the covers and took a hold of Nate’s feet, pulling him off the bed. He landed with a thud on the thickly carpeted floor.
Nate rubbed his eyes for a moment as he sat on the ground, waking up. The he looked up and smiled softly. “Good morning to you too,” he mumbled.
“Did they work?” I asked.
Nate shrugged, looking down at his diapered middle. “The bed’s dry, ain’t it?”
“Yep. Miracle of modern technology.”
Nate rolled his eyes and slowly stood up.
“Shower and I’ll have some great breakfast for you when you’re ready,” I said as I walked out. “Oh,” I said.
“What?” Nate asked.
“Make sure you wash your, you know, really well. You don’t want to start smelling funky midday.”
Nate nodded and disappeared into the bathroom.
Mia got home early afternoon and came over to pick up all the boys’ belongings. I helped her pack the clothes as I told her all about what her boys had been up to the last two days, which wasn’t much. School, homework, sleep, and wet beds. I told her about Nate’s diaper situation and she was surprised that he’d let me diaper him.
“Well, he had his eyes tightly shut the entire time,” I said with a laugh. “I felt bad for him. But, you know? They worked great. It’s not a bad idea.”
“Yeah,” Mia sighed. “Me diapering my fourteen year old again, now that’s a thought,” she laughed.
We finished the packing and soon had a pile of bags at the front porch. “Well, there we go,” Mia said, breathing deeply. “David, thank you so much,” she said, looking me in the eyes. I looked back at her, comfortable in her gaze. She looked so much calmer and clearing then she had a month ago. She really was recovering fast. Mia reached her arms around me and pulled me into hug. We held each other for a while, standing there in my house, just holding each other. It was strangely right, really. I felt like I should feel weird, but I didn’t. I felt good.
After a while, I finally let Mia go and she stepped back, smiling. She brushed her auburn hair out of her eyes. “Thanks,” she whispered.
On the front porch, she started loading all the bags on her shoulders and back. “Do you think I can carry them all?” she asked, laughing.
“Should I grab a few?”
“Naw,” Mia said with a wink. She somehow got them all somewhat securely situated on her body and she started walking down the drive. Mia looked back and smiled one last time. “I’ll give you a call,” she said.
I just nodded and waved. I watched her until she disappeared into her house.