Memoirs of a Diaper Boy II
Chapter 7
Camp Damien
“Hey Brian time to get up. We’re about to land.” Brad said as he felt the planes landing gear lock into place and the plane started to descend.
“Wha? Came the sleepy reply.
“I said the plane is about to land.”
“Oh Ok.” Brian responded as he stretched a bit before putting his seat into its upright position.
“Didn’t you get any sleep?” Brian asked seeing his brother’s expression.
“Too nervous.” Brian shook his head at this just as he felt the plane touch down . Ten minutes later the plane was pulling up to the gate and people started getting out of their seats and grabbed their things from the over heard bins and under their seats. Brian started to do this as well before one of the stewardesses came up to them.
“Boys, you’ll need to stay in your seats until the plane as been emptied and one of us can escort you to the terminal. With a frown, on hearing this, Brian slumped back down into his seat.
“You the Miller boys?” The boys were asked by a man that looked like he was in his early twenties once they were through the gate area.
“They are. And you are?” The steward escorting them asked. Before an answer could be given, Brad felt someone grabbing him from behind. Without thinking, Brad responded to what he thought was an attack and the boy that had grabbed him was kissing the floor with Brad’s knee pressing up against his neck while his arm was pinned to his back.
“Kellen, I’d like to meet your cousin Brad.” Brian said after a few moments of laughter
“You can let him up Brad. He’s just fooling around.” Brian continued after getting his brother’s attention.
“Oh sorry.” Brad replied sheepishly as he released his grip and let the other boy up.
“No problem. I thought I was grabbing Brian. I’m Kellen, by the way.” Brad was told as the boy stood up and held his hand out.
“Brad. And I am sorry about that.” Brad answered as he took the offered hand looking up at his cousin‘s face.
“Well, since it’s obvious that you all know each other I guess introductions won’t be needed. I’m William, by the way, but you can call me Bill.” The man meeting Brad and Brian said after getting over his shock of how quickly Brad had managed to pin the larger boy.
“It’s a couple of hours drive to the camp do either of you need to use the bathroom?” Bill inquired of the boys he just picked up.
“I could use a change.” Brian answered.
“Me too.” Brad echoed a second later. Bill nodded at this and led them over to the restrooms. Without saying anything Brad and Brian entered the family restroom locking the door behind them.
“I guess we did need a change.” Brian laughed once they both had their pants down.
“Looks that way.” Brad added when he got a look at the front of his brother’s diaper.
“Hey, don’t take what Kellen did personally. He must have got us confused. He’s always doing things like that”
“Okay. I just wasn’t expecting someone that big. I mean dad said that he’s only like ten or eleven.”
“He turns Eleven next month. He gets the height from his mom’s side of the family.” Brad was told with a shrug as he pulled his wet diaper from between his legs.
“Oh. You don’t think he’ll hold a grudge do you?” Brad asked with a bit of a haunted look as he passed some wipes over to his brother.
“Nah. If he was going to hold a grudge he wouldn’t have apologized. Besides with how quickly you had him pinned, I doubt he’s try anything.” Brian said with a laugh.
“I’ll tell you though I really wish I had a camera for that. The look he had on his face when he was coming over your shoulder was priceless.”
“If you say so.”
“Oh lighten up will you?” Brad was told as his brother gave him a slight shove. The boys completed the rest of their diaper change in silence and were soon meeting back up with Kellen and Bill.
“You know Kel, it’s a good thing your dad has such a good job. They’d be in trouble otherwise with how you keep growing on them.” Brian laughed as they were led out of the terminal and over to a van with the camps.
“Yeah, well it’s a bit of a pain being the biggest and tallest kid in the class. The coach keeps trying to get me to try out for the football and basketball teams. And I could care less about them. I mean it’s okay playing them for fun but after seeing how some of my friends parents act during some of the games I’ve been to I wouldn’t join if my life depended on it.
“I know what you mean. I’ve known people like that myself. Luckily , we don’t get to many parents like that on the swim team.” Brian replied as they climbed into the back of the van with three people that were already there. Brad, Brian, and Kellen introduced themselves as they took the remaining seats.
“So what’s Brad’s story?” Kellen asked about an hour later when he saw that his cousin was asleep.
“What’s your dad told you so far?” Brian asked softly.
“Just that he spent some time in a group home after his parents died and not to ask any questions about it.”
“Then there’s your answer.”
“C’mon Bri. I know you know what the real story is.” Kellen whined.
“Kellen, all your dad has told you is that Brad was in a group home then that’s all I’m going to agree with.”
“Oh c’mon it can’t be that bad. I mean it’s not like he’s been in jail for killing anyone.” Kellen joked.
“Kellen, just drop it Ok? I’m not going to tell you any more than you’ve already been told.” Brad answered while keeping his face neutral.
“Fine!” Kellen pouted the rest of the way to the camp.
“Okay, boys we’re here. Welcome to Camp Damien.” Bill announced as he got out of the van and opened the side door so everyone in back could get out. With a cheer, the boys filed out of the van, except for Brad, who was still dead to the world.
“One of you boys want to wake Brad up.” Bill asked as he pulled Brian and another of the boys aside.
“I’ll get him up in a minute.” Brian said as he walked over to where Bill motioned from.
“That’s OK Bri, I’ll get him up.” Kellen called as he jumped back into the van. Before Brian could stop him, Kellen had slapped his hand down on Brad’s shoulder. Brian didn’t make it more than three steps towards the van before his cousin came flying back out of the van from the force of the punch Brad landed on him.
“What was that for?!” Kellen exclaimed starting to cry from the pain of the black eye that was now forming.
“Brad gets a bit jumpy at times when he sleeps.” Brian explained as he motioned for the driver and Bill to look at his cousin as he climbed into the van to get his brother up. As Brian figured, Brad was already dead asleep again.
“Hey Bro, we’re here. Time to get up.” Brad was told as Brian gently shook his shoulder. Brian, of course, was ready for the punch that was coming at him and caught it easily.”
“Easy Brad.”
“Wha? Oh, sorry.” Brad said as he woke up and saw his brother still holding onto his fist.
“It’s okay. But you’ll need to apologize to Kellen.”
“Don’t tell me I..” Brad started to say before his brother started nodding.
“Ah, shit. They’re going to send me home aren’t they?” Brad asked as he stood up and grabbed his bag.
“I doubt it We should be able to work something out so that doesn’t happen. Besides, I know dad put down that you tend to throw punches at times when getting woken up in your file.” Brian said as they came out of the van and ran right into the camp director.
“Boys.” they were told as he motioned for them to follow him.
Twenty minutes later all three boys were entering the cabin they would call home for the next eight weeks. Brian spent little time introducing Brad to everyone else in the cabin that he knew from previous summers. By this time though Brad was already a minor celebrity for having managed to punch out someone almost twice his size. That the person was almost two years younger didn’t matter much. Kellen was still a bit sore about what had happened but after things had been explained to him and the camp’s director he let things slide.
“Okay guys, that’s the fifteen-minute warning. For those of you that have been here before you know what it means. For you new people, that sound means a meal is getting ready to be served. When you’re not in the cabin and you hear you that sound you need to make your way back to the cabin and get washed up, if needed, then head to the mess hall. Meals are taken as a cabin .” David, their cabin counselor, announced.
Brad was taken back at the size and how modern the mess hall looked After a few seconds of gawking he was pushed slightly forward by the kid behind him and this got him moving again.
“Just grab a tray and get what you want.” Brian said from in front of his brother Doing what his brother was doing Brad followed through the line and got things he thought looked good.
“You better get more than that or you’re going to be starving by dinner time.” Kellen laughed when he saw how little Brad had taken.
“I wasn’t sure how much we could take.”
“Oh. Well you can pretty much take what you want. They have a rule about that though, “Take what you want but you have to eat what you take.”” Kellen informed his cousin as he pointed to a sign over the beginning of the serving line that had the very words he just told his cousin. Brad didn’t know how he had managed to miss the sign but was glad he had gone a bit light since he wasn’t yet sure what his appetite was going to be like.
“So what are we going to be doing today?” Brad asked to no one particular. David decided to handle the answer.
“Once we’re done here we’ll be going back to the cabin so I can show you where everything is. After that you’ll all be sitting down to write a letter home.” On hearing this most of the boys at the table groaned.
“Don’t give me that. You guys know the routine.” David told the table with a chuckle.
“Just so you new guys know, you need the letter home to get into the mess hall for the next two days. If your parents didn’t send you enough writing material and stamps those can be purchased at the General store. I’ll point that out on our way back to the cabin. Also so you know, later this afternoon we’ll be going to the pool for your swimming qualification. This is mandatory. How well you do will determine what swimming activities you can do. You can retest at any time to upgrade your level so don’t think you’re stuck at whatever you happen to first test at. “The boys were told though most of what was said was geared towards the new campers. Twenty minutes later, David announced that it was time to go and that all the trays and dishes were to be stacked neatly in the center of the table so they could be picked up by the mess hall staff.
“So how do you like it so far?” Brian asked his brother.
“It would have been better if I hadn’t had to meet the director like I did in my first ten minutes.” Brad said sullenly.
“Well, at least you didn’t get sent home and everything got smoothed over. There is something I need to tell you though.”
“What’s that?”
“Dad told me to let him know if I thought you were holding back any on the swimming test. And I saw the tape they made of your test at school a couple of weeks ago.”
“Oh.”
“Besides, even if I hadn’t, I’ve seen you swim enough times at home to know that you’d be able to get an expert level rating without even trying.” Brad just nodded at this.
“Alright Guys, there are a few things I need to go over before you get started on your letter home.” Bill said as the group walked back into their cabin.
“First off, I’d like to introduce you to Chris. He’s the C.I.T. for this cabin If you have a problem and I’m not around he’ll be able to help you out. Secondly, as I’m sure you all know by now that, everyone in this cabin has some type of wetting problem, so I better not hear any teasing. Since several of you are return campers, you know how things are handled. For you new people the rules are simple, everyone is expected to wear protection when they go to bed each night. This includes if you decide to lay down for a nap. As embarrassing as it might be, you will be checked to make sure you have said protection on before you climb into bed.”
“What do you mean by protection?” One of the new campers asked. This question generated some light chuckles from the more experienced campers.
“That’s enough of that guys. And I was about to show you what I mean.” Bill stated while glaring at the people who had laughed as he led everyone into the bathroom that was off the main room Opening one of the lockers that lined the wall.
“That’s A Diaper!” the boy exclaimed when he realized what Bill was holding.
“That’s correct. And you will be expected to have one every night.” The boy was told calmly. Brad guessed, correctly, that Bill has had run into this problem before
“I’m not wearing that. Those are for babies.” The kid announced firmly.
“Jacob, as your parents should have explained to you, for health reasons diapers are required to be worn by all campers that have wetting problems.”
“I told you, I’m not going to wear those. You can’t make me either.”
“Fine, Chris would you take Jacob back to the main room. I’ll be there in a moment.” Bill said just as calmly as before.
“Now as I was saying, protection is required to be worn by all campers that have a wetting problem.”
“We don’t have to wear them all the time do we?” another first time camper asked.”
“It’s Tim right?”
“Yeah.”
“It depends on what kind of problem you have. If you just sleep wet them you only need to wear them to bed or if you lay down for a nap. For those of you that have day-time problems as well then you’ll need to wear protection all the time. Now as you may have noticed all of you each have two lockers. One has the clothes that were sent to us by your parents. The other has the protection you’ll need while you’re here. We will check from time to time as to how your stock is doing but it’s up to you to let Chris or I know if you happen to start running low. Any other questions?”
“Yeah, what do you do if you don’t know how to put one on?” Tim asked, turning a bright red as he did so.
“If you need help, you can ask Chris or myself for help. Or, if you’re too embarrassed, you can ask one of the other boys to help you. I’m sure they would be willing to help if asked nicely.”
“What about if we have a night-time activity after we’ve already gotten ready for bed?” Another kid asked.
“Then you’ll go as is. You can change into regular clothes if you want but once the diaper goes on for the night it stays there unless it needs to be changed or if you need to go number two.”
“Oh.”
“What’s this?” One of the return campers asked pulling out one of the swim diapers that was in his locker.
“That’s a swim diaper. The full-time wearers are expected to have those on under their trunks when we go to the pool or lake.”
“Aren’t those normally just used for number two though?”
“Normally, yeah. But these are different. They work like a normal diaper before they get exposed to pool water and like a swim diaper afterwards.”
“Oh. Kewl.” the kid stated with a smile before putting the pants back in his locker.
“Well, if that’s all, you have thirty minutes to work on your letters home before we have to get ready to head for the pool. Most of the kids groaned at hearing this, but filed out of the bathroom and got started on their letters. Brad saw Bill lead Jacob out of the cabin and wondered if he would the kid again. He wouldn’t.
“Alright everyone, get your letters put up and go get ready for the swim tests.” Chris announced thirty minutes later since Bill still wasn’t back from taking Greg to see the camp director. Brad and Brian both quickly finished the part of their letters they were working on and followed the rest of the boys into the shower room.
“Kind of cozy in here isn’t it.” One of the boys commented when he accidentally bumped into Brad while they were trying to get out of their clothes.
“A little.” Brad replied as he pulled his shirt off and started to remove his shorts.
“Dang, what happened to your back?” The boy asked in shock when he saw the faint scars crisscrossing Brad’s back.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Brad said in such a way that the person would understand that he didn’t want to talk about it, but wasn’t overly hostile either.
“Gotcha.” the boy answered. Brad, and several of the other full-timers heard some light snickering when they dropped their pants and started to remove the diapers they had on under them. Since they couldn’t tell who it was they all chose to ignore it for the time being.
“Let’s get a move on people.” they were told when Chris felt they were taking too long.
“Do I need to worry about a towel or shirt?” Brad asked his cousin a few moments later as he walked over to his bunk to get his sandals on.
“They’ll have towels at the pool you might want to use a shirt for the moment.” Brian replied as he pulled on a shirt himself seconds later they were part of a group of five boys walking out of the cabin. Brad figured they must have been repeat campers since they didn’t bother waiting for Chris or the other people in the cabin. Since Brad hadn’t heard anything said about having to wait for everyone else he elected to join his brother and the other people that exited the cabin with him.
“Name and Cabin number?” Brad was asked when the guy going down the line checking names off got to him.
“Brad Miller, Cabin 12.” Brad answered.
“Ok. You’ll be in the blue group.” The guy said as he handed Brad a small tag and pointed him towards a group of kids that was forming off to his right. Brad was pleased to see a couple of his cabin mates in that group already.
“Do you think this will be very hard?” a boy of about nine or ten asked nervously.
“Nah. They’ll split us up into groups of six and run us through some exercises and then have us swim around the pool’s edge doing different things The level we get depends on how well we do.” The group was told.
“What if we don’t know how to swim that well?” The same boy asked.
“Then you’ll get a non swimmer or beginning swimmer status and the activities you can do will be cut down a bit.” The older boy explained further. About this time one of the counselors came over.
“Ok guys, I just want to start off by saying there is nothing to worry about with this. Even if you don’t do that well you’ll still be able to do most water activities. Though there will be some that you’ll be barred from if you’re below a certain level Any questions?”
“How will we know which ones we can and can’t do?” a boy behind Brad asked.
“All of the water activities will have a level requirement next them when you get your daily signup sheets. This will tell you which ones are open to you. Now let’s get you all limbered up a bit before we hit the water.” The boys were told as they were led through some basic warm up exercises.
“You were still holding back.” Brian told his brother as they walked back to the cabin after the swim test.
“A little bit. I didn’t see the point of going all out. I saw the number of people having problems and didn’t see the point of making things look to easy.”
“Well, you still did that and since you still ended with an expert level rating I won’t tell dad about it.”
“Thanks.”
“So what kind of water activities do you think you’ll be signing up for?”
“I don’t know. I was thinking of maybe taking the scuba classes they have.”
“That sounds like fun. I talked to a couple of guys last year that had done it and they really liked it.”
“Cool.”
“How do you like things so far though?”
“I’m still a bit nervous about being here but it looks like fun so far.”
“What’s to be nervous about. You’ll have loads of fun once things get started.” Brian said with a grin as he and Brad walked into their cabin and made a bee line for the bathroom to strip off their wet trunks and swim pants.
“Okay guys, before you get too comfortable, I’ll need you to fill out your activity planner for tomorrow.” The cabin was informed by Bill as they came out of the bathroom after changing into something drier.
“Now ,just so you know, for tomorrow we’ll be using the honor system when it comes to any swimming activities. The level needed is next to each item. If we find out that you lied about which level you have there will be trouble so don’t risk it.” They were told as Bill handed them the forms.
“What do you plan on signing up for?” Brian was asked as Brad sat next to him at the table in the center of the room.
“Don’t know yet. And Just so you know you don’t have to do everything I do. Just sign up for things that sound fun to you.” Brian stated as he turned his paper so his brother couldn’t see what he was filling in. Brad shrugged at this and started looking over the list. Inside of twenty minutes he had a pretty full day planned for the following day.
“Okay guys the rest of the day is yours to do with as you please. Just remember none of the group activities have been set up yet but you’ll be able to sign out equipment and such.” we were told as Bill finished picking up the sheets and looked them over to make sure the names and cabin numbers have been filled out properly.
Brad followed Brian and some of his friends out of the cabin and down to a field were several small groups of boys had already started to get together at. To Brad it seemed obvious which boys were first timers and which weren’t.
“Hey you!?” A voice called out causing Brad to jump a bit since he had been watching the touch football game that Brian had been sucked into.
“Ya, you.” The boy stated when Brad pointed to himself after turning around.
“We’re a guy short you want to join us?” The kid asked.
“I don’t know to much about the game.”
“That’s ok. You’ll be on my team. I’ll let you know if you do anything wrong.” The boy said.
“Ok. I guess so” Brad said with a shrug and walked over to the boys whose team he would be joining.
“I’m Brad.” Brad told the boys he would be teamed with.
“Les.” The boy that had called Brad over said.
“Oh, we’re the skins so you’ll need to take your shirt off.” Brad was informed as the rest of the boys introduced themselves. Brad heard some giggling when he started to take his shirt off and the top of his diaper popped out over the top of his shorts.
“Yeah, I need to wear diapers. If you have a problem with it, I suggest you keep it to yourself.” the group was told calmly as Brad continued to remove his shirt. Brad wondered what got the gigglers to shut up first the scars that crisscrossed his back or his muscle tone.
“No problem from us.” One of the boys said as he realized that Brad was the kid he had seen lay out someone almost twice his size when he was getting off the bus that morning.
Brad spent the next several hours having the most fun he had had in quite some time. He was especially glad that nothing was said when he had to go behind some bushes to change during the break they were taking a couple of hours after the game started.
“So how long have you been playing?” One of the boys from the other team asked as the game broke up in a tie so they could get back to their cabins and have a change to shower and change clothes before dinner.
“Not counting some of the pick up games my brothers and friends have gotten into, this is my first time playing.” Brad explained.
“No shit? I would have figured you had played in a junior league or something. I’m Kenny by the way.” The boy said in introduction.
“Brad.”
“So what cabin are you in?” Kenny asked.
“Twelve. How about you?”
“Oh. I’m in Ten.” Kenny said guardedly while eyeing Brad again though this time acting like Brad had just sprouted another head.
“Kenny, if you have a problem with what cabin I’m in just say so and we can quit pussyfooting around before it even starts.” Brad told his companion bluntly.
“Uh, I think I see some of my friends up ahead. I’ll see you around.” Brad was told nervously as Kenny took off for a group that was a few yards ahead of them.
“What was that all about?” A voice asked making Brad jump in surprise.
“Make me piss my pants why don’t you.” Brad grumbled once he got his breathing back under control and saw that it was Kellen.
“Oopps, Sorry. So what was that all about anyway.” Kellen said with a smirk as he nodded towards Kenny’s quickly retreating back.
“It’s nothing. He just kind of freaked out a bit when I told him I was in cabin 12. How‘s the jaw and eye doing?” Brad explained.
“Yeah, that happens every now and then. Just watch out by tomorrow morning the whole camp will know what cabin you’re in. And it still hurts a bit. Just remind me never to get you really mad at me. Brian told me what happened the first time his dad came into wake you up. Well, we better hurry up they be sounding the dinner bell in about twenty minutes and you kind of smell.” Brad was told with a smile.
“Yeah, well you’re no bed of roses either.” Brad shot back as he nudged his cousin a bit and started running up the road to their cabin.
“You two have fifteen minutes to be showered and dressed. Chris informed Brad and Kellen when they came bursting through the cabin’s door. Both of the boys just nodded at this and headed right for showers.
“Good to see you’ve got your appetite back.” Brian laughed as he saw the amount food that Brad had on his tray.
“Yah, well.”
“So how do you like things so far?”
“I don’t know. It still feels like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“What do you mean?” Kellen inquired.
“I don’t know for some reason I get this feeling that something is going to happen. I just don’t know what or when. I think this might have been why I was kind of reluctant to come in the first place.” Brad said with a shrug.
“Did you tell dad about this?” Brian questioned
“Nah, I didn’t think they’d believe me. Or they’d just think it was a case of nerves.”
“I can tell you. They’d take something like that seriously. How strong is the feeling?” Brad was asked.
“Not as strong as it was. It seemed strongest when I was around David. But I don’t know why.”
“Well, they don’t let campers make any calls home till the end of the week. I’ll talk to Bill after dinner and see if one of us can get on the list for as early as possible.” Brad accepted this and turned back to his meal before it got to cold. The rest of the meal was spent going over what they had planned for the following day.
“Boys, you’ll have an hour to finish up your letters home before we get ready to head for the opening bon fire.” Chris informed everyone as Brian took Bill aside and talked to him about getting on the call list for the coming Saturday.
“We will need all of you guys to be ready for bed though before we leave though.” he added a moment later.
“Why? It’s not I’m going to fall asleep during it.” One of the older boys called out.
“That may be true but some of the younger campers might and we’ve found that there is a lot less hassle if everyone is ready than if we single out the younger ones only. Now if you don’t want to go that is your choice but you will be ready for bed when we leave regardless. Besides look at it this way, if you’re already ready for bed you won’t have to miss any of the program because you have to go to the bathroom.” Bill stated in answer to the outburst. Most of the other people in the cabin seemed to accept this.
Just under an hour later the cabin finished getting ready to head out to the fire pit that was located behind the main theater. Brad chuckled a bit as everyone in the cabin got ready since all the return campers seemed to know this was going to happen and pulled out sweats or jogging pants to wear over their diapers instead of the regular pants or PJs that most of the first time campers had on.
“Thanks of the heads up about bringing these.” Brad informed his brother as he pulled on his own sweats. Catching a glimpse of himself in a mirror, Brad was amazed at barely noticeable the outline of his diaper was under the sweat pants he had on. He figured that with how dark it was the odds of someone noticing what he was wearing under his pants .
“It’s nothing. I learned that trick from one of the people I met when I first came here myself.” Brian replied as he pulled on his own pants.
“Are you going to be coming Jeremy?” Bill asked as he came back into the main room after have helped one of the younger kids get ready.
“No.” the boy who had argued earlier about going to the bonfire with a diaper on.
“Your choice. You’ll know where we’ll be if you change your mind.” Jeremy was told as Bill led the other campers out of the cabin. Most of the return campers broke away when they saw one of their friends walking past or ahead of them. Brad did the same when a couple of the people from the team he was on earlier in the day waved for him to join them.
“Brad, I hope you don’t think I’m making fun of you or anything but I was wondering what it’s like to wear..” Les started to say nervously but seemed to get stuck on the final word.
“Diapers?” Brad supplied helpfully.
“Yeah.” Les answered turning so red that Brad was able to pick up the blush in the dim light being cast by the porch lights of the cabins they were walking past.
“I’ve never really given it much thought. I mean I’ve only been back in them full-time for about six months now. I guess I would say that it’s like wearing really thick underwear.”
“Wow, you’ve only been wearing them again for six months. From how you were acting earlier, I would have guessed you’ve been wearing them a lot longer.”
“I’ve worn them to bed for a bit longer than that but I’ve only needed them again during the day since about Christmas.”
“Oh, how did it happen? I mean were you in a car wreck or something?” Les inquired. Not seeing any reason to lie, Brad told his friend the truth.
“Nah, nothing like that. My uncle’s mom pushed me off a balcony.” Brad stated bluntly. Hearing this caused Les to take a misstep.
“Your grandma pushed you off a balcony.”
“No. My uncle’s mother pushed me off a balcony. She thought I was attacking one of my younger cousins. She pushed me back as she grabbed him out of my arms.” Brad explained.
“Then it was an accident.”
“It’s possible, but I doubt it. Anyway why were you wanting to know what it felt like to wear a diaper?” Brad asked getting the conversation back on course.
“I don’t really know. I guess I’m just curious. I mean I’ve heard about cabin 12 ever since I started coming here a couple of years ago and I’ve made friends with several people that stayed in that cabin but I never had the guts to ask about this before. I mean everyone always seems so tight lipped about it. You know?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Tell you what, if you want, I could seek a couple of pairs of the pull-ups out and you could see what it’s like for yourself.”
“Nah, that’s Ok.” Brad was told quickly as Les hurriedly changed the subject.
By the time the bonfire ended Brad was certain of two things. First was that he was in dire need of a diaper change and the second was he wasn’t sure if he would make it back to the cabin before he fell asleep.
“I had better be later than it seems.” Brad said groggily after snapping awake when the hand touched his shoulder.
“It is. You just haven’t caught up with the time change yet.” Chris said with a laugh.
“No go get out of the soggy diaper and grab a shower the breakfast horn should be sounding in about twenty minutes so you don’t have much time to get ready.” Brad was informed as Chris helped him out of bed and helped him off to the showers.
“Dang Bri, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone sleep that heavily.” Cal said in awe as he watched Chris try to wake up Brad.
“It happens all the time at home if Brad stays up to late the night before.”
“I guess it must really annoy your ‘rents when that happens.”
“Not really. If he doesn’t get up right away when my dads go in to wake him up we just set the dogs on him.” Brian said with a laugh.
“You set dogs on him if he doesn’t wake up?” Brad was asked in shock.
“Sure. You have any idea how hard it is to sleep with three 75 to 90 pound dogs jumping all over you trying to say good morning to you?” Brian asked still chuckling. This got several other boys in the cabin laughing as well. Brian took this laughter as proof that the boys laughing had had the same thing happen to them at least once.
“I might have to keep that in mind for tomorrow.” Chris said as he came back into the main room to get everyone getting back to work on getting dressed and in a few case of helping people strip their beds after their diapers had leaked on them.
“Ten minutes guys!” Bill called as he stuck his head into the bathroom. Brad and a couple of other stragglers staggered out of the bathroom a few minutes after this call.
“You better get a move on Brad you still have to make your bad before you can eat.” Brian informed his brother just as the horn sounded for breakfast. Grumbling a bit at being told this, Brad quickly got his bed made and was soon charging out the door to catch up with everyone else.
“Damn.” Bill said in awe as the golden dollar finished its third bounce. Bill decided to try that little trick when he saw Brad racing out the door after spending less than three minutes on his bed. With an approving nod Bill left the coin where it was and then headed to breakfast himself after locking up the cabin.
“Why didn’t you tell me about us having to make our beds in the morning?” Brad complained when he and Brian sat down at their table.
“I didn’t think I needed to. It was in the rules that dad read to us and had us read over before we got here remember.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. Did you get a chance to ask Bill about the phone call?”
“Yeah, he said that he’d get me on the list for this coming Friday.”
“What about me?”
“You still have to wait till Sunday, but if it’s anything important I’ll let you know right away.” Brad just nodded at this.
“So what do you have planned for the day?” Brad asked.
“Don’t know yet we still need to get the forms back from yesterday.” Brian replied as he shoved some more food into his mouth.
“Well Brian, you’re in luck.” Bill chuckled as he dropped a folded piece of paper in front of him then did the same for Brad. After reading their letters Brad and Brian exchanged them and started laughing when they saw that they had signed up practically the same things only at different times. The only thing they had together was the paintball they signed up for.
“You’ll like the paintball. Maybe we’ll even have a chance at the inter-camp trophy this year.” Kellen said after hearing what his cousins were going to be doing.
“What’s that?”
“Well, the best teams from the camp go up against a couple of nearby camps and have a major fight who ever is the last team standing gets a trophy.” Bill explained.
“And this camp hasn’t won the cup since our dads and uncles were here.” Kellen added. This got the attention of the camp director, who was walking past at the time.
“And who might they have been?” Kellen was asked.
“Jason Murphy, Brad, Ian, Isaac, David Miller, and Steve Levinson.” Brad, Brian and Kellen answered.
“You three are related to those guys? No wonder this year started like it did.” the director laughed.
“I was a junior counselor when they were here the year we won. I can’t remember a more interesting time at this camp since. Especially with the number of run-ins Steve and Brad had. Maybe you’ll be able to fill me in on what they’re doing now later today when you have a break?” the boys were asked politely.
“Sure that won’t be a problem.” Brian answered for the three of them having caught the tone the director was using.
“Good, then I’ll let you boys finish eating and get ready for the day.” They were told as the director walked off to greet some of the other return campers.
“Hey dad? It’s Brian.” Brian said when he heard the line pick up after a couple of rings.
“Hey kiddo, everything alright? I thought they didn’t let you use the phone till after you’ve been there a week?” Steve asked a bit surprised that Brian was calling home so soon.
“Yeah, everything’s fine for the most part. Brad’s been getting some quirky feelings all week and wanted me to call and make sure everything is fine at home.”
“Thing’s are good on our end for the most part.” Steve stated off handedly hoping Brian wouldn’t pick up on what he just said or hoped it was a joke.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing . David was involved in a little mishap at the jamboree. But he’s doing fine and should be home from the hospital by mid week.” Brian was told calmly.
“What happened , and please don’t jerk me off. I know that when you use terms like “mishap” people are either injured or dead.” Brian pleaded.
“David was involved in a slight cave-in while doing some hiking. But he’s home now and should be out of the hospital by mid week.”
“That’s good to hear but what happened and why weren’t Brad and I told?” Brian asked angrily.
“Lose the attitude young man. We’ll let you know what happened in a letter we’re sending you today. And you weren’t informed because we didn’t know how serious things were at the time. Since David is doing fine and there are no lasting injuries we didn’t think that it was required to bring you guys home. Besides David asked us not to. Okay?”
“Yeah, Ok. Sorry I yelled at you.” Brian mumbled in apology.
“It’s okay. Now how are things going there? Brad’s been a bit tight lipped in his letters home.”
“Things are going great. I normally only see him during meals, scuba lessons, and paint balling. I did happen to catch him doing some diving the other day at the pool during free time and you’ll probably freak when you see the video I sent you.”
“Why? What did he do?”
“I’m not really sure how to explain it. But I can tell you that it’s something you’ll need to see to believe Hey dad I need to go my time’s almost up. I’ll try and talk to you next week.” Brian said before hanging up.
“So what’s going on at home?” Brad asked almost as soon as he saw Brian walk up to the door and start shaking off the water from his raincoat before coming into the cabin.
“Shoes!!” Several people called when Brian started to walk in wearing his mud caked shoes.
“Sorry.” Brian said a bit red-faced at his mistake.
“So?” Brad started in again when Brian came over to the table Brad, Kellen, and several others were playing a game at.
“David was involved in a slight mishap but dad assured me that he’s doing fine and should be out of the hospital in a couple of days.
“How could it be slight, if he’s in the hospital?!” Brad exclaimed as he started to get out of his chair. This caused Kellen and the others at the table to back away a bit from the look on Brad’s face. Brian, being used to these outbursts, stayed in his chair and eyed his brother calmly.
“Brad, calm down. Dad won’t be very pleased if you do something stupid and get sent home.”
“Fine.” came the huffy reply as Brad sank back to his seat.
“Anyway, I asked dad those very questions and more. He just said they were sending a letter that would explain everything and not to worry.” Before Brad could respond to this the door to the cabin burst open and one of the kids from another cabins stuck his head in.
“MUD FIGHT!!” he yelled before ducking back out the door and running down the street. On Hearing this all the return campers bolted from their seats and headed for the door Except for the few that wore 24/7, they headed into the bathroom and were soon running back and running out the door. From what Brad was able to see all of them were now in their swimsuits and none of them were diapered.
“C’mon Brad. You don’t want to miss this.” Brian laughed as he dragged his brother into the bathroom and started stripping himself down.
“Well what are you waiting for an invitation?” Brian laughed as he jumped into his swim trunks.
“Don’t worry about those. Just put your trunks on and follow me.” Brad was informed as he started reaching for a pair of pull-ups. Brad barely had time to grab his water shoes on the way out the door.
Brad was kind of shocked when they made it to near the edge of the lake where a mud flat was located and saw at least half the camp involved in a giant mud fight. He really was surprised when Brian didn’t slow down any and tackled two boys from behind and dragged them into the mud. Before he could even stop to get his shoes on the same thing happened to Brad. By the time the boys trudged back up to the cabin a couple of hours later the rain had stopped and everyone of the campers they saw were covered head to toe in mud.
“Not one step more guys!” Bill yelled as they approached the stairs to their cabin.
“You’ll all take your trunks off right where you’re at and place them in the trash can next to the door here. And don’t worry about being shy you’ve all seen each other naked often enough over the last week to know you all have the same equipment and not to be worried about it. Besides, I highly doubt you’d be able to see anything through that mud anyhow. After placing your trunks in the trash can, you will make you way to the shower stalls and clean off. Make sure you stay on the plastic sheeting that’s been laid down at all times till you’ve finished with your showers. You’ll need to double up on the showers to make sure you all get cleaned thoroughly. In each stall you’ll find a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, use that to clean your ears out. Chris will show you how to do this properly. Are there any questions?” They were asked. Looking around Brad didn’t see any see any raised hands, but did see that the cabins up and down the street were getting the same treatment as they were.
“Man. that was fun.” Kevin, the kid Brad had been paired up with for their shower, said as they got to their stall.
“It was at that. I was kind of worried we’d be stuck inside till the rain stopped.”
“Tell me about it. I was kind of nervous when my parents told me they were sending me to camp this year. But I have to say that I’m glad I did. It’s good to see that I’m not the only kid with a bed wetting problem.”
“I know what you mean. I was nervous as well But it’s turned out better than I thought it would so far.”
“To much talking not enough cleaning in there boys.” Chris yelled from the other side of the curtain.
“Yeah, we hear you.” Kevin called back and started cleaning off.
“Here turn around and I’ll get your back and then you can do mine.” Since Kevin was about his size Brad didn’t worry about any funny business going on especially since Chris was in the room to make sure things like this didn’t happen. He needn’t have worried. Less than two minutes after he started, Kevin said he was done and it was now Brad’s turn.
“We’re done!” Brad called out a few minutes later.
“OK, get a towel and cover up, then come out here with the brown bottle.” Chris called.
“Over here and lean your head over the sink.” Brad did so and nearly jumped when Chris started pouring the contents of the bottle into his ear.
“Easy there. This is just to clean out the stuff you didn’t get while showering.” Brad was told as Chris held his head steady.
“You’re done. Go ahead and start getting dressed. They should be announcing lunch in a few minutes.” Brad and Kevin nodded at this and after stopping at the toilets to take care of some additional business he got a clean diaper out of his locker and after putting it on got dressed.
“So are you all calmed down now that you’ve let off some steam?” Brian asked as Brad walked into the main room to put his shoes on.
“Yeah, I am.” Brad replied with a smile.
Just as the last person came wandering out of the bathroom the horn for lunch was sounded. Everyone that Brad passed on the way to the mess hall seemed to be talking about the mud fight and how they hoped they got a chance to do it again before the end of summer.
“Why do I have to be paired up with the babies? I‘d prefer to be with team four.” Brad heard a kid say heatedly when they announced how the teams were going to paired during the camp’s “Capture the Flag” competition. Brad looked around at the other members of the team and rolled his eyes at hearing this.
“I say we frag the guy the first chance we get.” Kevin muttered on hearing this.
“I’ve got a better idea, providing the kid doesn’t get kicked of the team first.” Brian said with a smile on hearing this comment. On seeing the grin on his brother’s face, Brad started smiling as well since he knew Brian had something devious in mind.
“If you have problem with my organizational skills, you can always drop out, Robert.” the counselor running the event stated.
“I’ll stay, but they better not slow me down any”
“That’s between you and your teammates.” Robert was told.
“Now then, you guys have the next two days to get your plans together and get them turned in to me.” The teams were told as the meeting was dismissed.
“Us slow him down? I saw how Rob was with his last team he didn’t like the guy running it so he kept trying to take over. The only reason he wanted team four is because they’ve won the game the last three years running and most of his friends are on it.” Brad heard another guy on their team state. Looking around Brad saw Rob talking with most of his friends and pointing in their general direction.
“Take a look.” Brad told Brian after getting his attention.
“I think maybe Kevin’s right about fragging the guy.” Brad added.
“Don’t worry about. I’ve got an even better plan.” Brain said with the same grin he had on before.
“Guys go get your gear and meet back at Cabin Twelve in ten minutes. That means you to Rob.” Brian announced loudly.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get your diaper in a knot. I’ll be there when I feel like it.” Rob replied while walking past them with his friends.
“Okay, how many of you have, or had, relatives in the military and have they shown you anything?” Brian asked after starting the team’s planning session. Several of the boys said they did and with a smile Brian started laying out his plan to fix Rob but good. All the boys started laughing when they heard this.
“This is going to be good.” one of the guys said as he watched Rob walk up the street with the team’s plan in hand a few hours after he had arrived.
“His friends are going to freak when things really start up.” Another kid added with his own laugh.
“Brian, not wanting to dampen everybody’s spirits about this plan, but you do realize that a lot of this depends on Rob sneaking this to the other team and then joining them.” Brad said, playing Devil’s advocate.
“I know, but you see I know for a fact that Rob’s pulled this trick once before with David a couple of years ago. I’m betting he hasn’t changed that much.” Brad was informed with a smile. A few minutes later one of the other guys came back into the cabin nodding his head.
“See what did I tell you. I had Ricky trailing him just to make sure. Now guys lets get to work on the real plan.”
Over the next day and a half the rest of the team worked hard planning out their game plan. Brian was pleased with how things shaped up during this time.
“Okay guys we need to choose who’s going to guard the flag. To make things fair, I want you all to write your names on a piece of paper and place it in this hat.” Brian said as he handed a hat around. After all the people on the team had placed their names in the hat, excluding Rob, since he didn’t bother showing up at this last minute meeting.
“Tim, could you come over here please we need you to do something for us really quick.” Brian asked a small 8-year-old.
“Ok.” The boy said nervously as he came over.
“I just need you to reach into the hat and pull out six names.” The boy was told with smile.
“Oh, OK.” Tim replied in relief.
“All Teams need to report to the paintball field in fifteen minutes.” A voice announced over the PA just as Rob walked into the cabin.
“You babies better not slow me down any out there.”
“Don’t worry Rob, if you stick to our plan they’ll never know what hit them.” Brad said as he picked up his equipment and headed for the door.
“And Brad don’t forget that package Steve sent you for this.” Brian called out as he walked out the door.
“Gotcha.” came the chuckled reply as Brad stuffed the packaged into his bag.
“I need to turn this in. Team Six had a last minute change.” Brad stated as he ran up to the judges table and handed them the revised plan Brian had come up with. The judge nodded at this and stamped the envelope they were handed. Brad was glad that they didn’t bother to read the new plan and even better placed it at the bottom of the pile they had in front of them.
On reaching the field Brad just nodded to his brother to let him know that everything had been taken care of.
“All right everyone you know what to do. Now let’s go out and get dirty.” Brad said with a laugh.
“OK, guys there’s been a change in the plan.” Brad said as the other four people he was with set up their team’s flag.
“In ten minutes, Frank and I are going to head off and get the Team Four flag. Just stay hidden and everything will be fine.”
“But what if we get taken out? How will we keep from losing?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve left a little surprise with the flag. And here are a couple more.” Brad told them with a grin as he passed out a couple of paint grenades to each of the people on his squad.
“Now remember the grenades have a four second fuse so make sure we don’t score any home goals.” Brad said before he and Frank slipped off into the woods.
“Are you sure this is the right way to their flag Rob?” One of the newer people on the team asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Me and the other guys have it all figured out. And don’t worry, pretty soon we’ll be setting a new record for the fastest win in the camps history.” Rob boasted loudly not even bothering to keep his voice down.
A second later Rob’s vision was obscured by a bright blue blotch covering his goggles.
“What the hell?!” He yelled as he registered several more hits to his body as well. Looking around he saw that everyone else on his squad on had similar blotches appearing on their clothes as well. In a matter of seconds it was all over and the counselor acting as that area’s umpire declared them all dead. As soon as he heard this Brian motioned for his team to stand up and move in to take remove the armbands the other squad was wearing thing.
“Thanks Rob. You led them right to us as planned. Your plan couldn’t have worked better.” Brian said loudly as he removed Rob’s armband and placed it in his pocket. All the boys Rob and been leading looked at him with murder in their eyes thinking that Rob had been the one that planned the ambush they had just walked into. The same thing was happening all over the woods that the game was being played in. Like at this one, the squad leader of each group commented loudly about how well Rob’s plan and Intel worked for them.
“Those babies won’t know what hit them.” James chuckled softly to the other five boys with him as they approached the clearing with Brad’s Team flag.
“Tell me about it. I’d love to see their faces when they hit that ambush we set for them at the false flag site.” Another boy joked not noticing the small objects flying through the air at their group. However another boy did.
“GRENADE!” He called as he threw himself flat. One of the other people weren’t as quick and ended up getting hit when the grenades went off.
“What the hell was that!” James yelled trying to figure out what just happened.
“Paint Grenade.” One of the boys stated as he picked up one of the used cylinders.
“Damn. OK guys be careful. It seems the other team is playing dirty.” James said. The surviving members of the little ambush nodded at this.
“Guys, it seems the other team is playing it careful now. What I want us to do is once they see the flag John and I will hit them with everything we have while Sean and Seamus move around behind them. This way they’ll think that only two people are guarding the flag. John and I will probably get taken out during this so it’s up to you two to take out anyone that is left after Brad’s booby trap. Everyone clear on this?” Carson asked after they got back to where their flag was. The others nodded their understanding . The McIntyre twins just looked at each other and grinned before nodding to each other as well and headed off to their own ambush site.
“Now!” Carson yelled as he and John stood up and opened fire on the team heading towards them. They managed to hit one of the other boys before getting cut down themselves.
“Man, you guys are so stupid. Haven’t you ever heard about shooting from cover.” James gloated as he walked over to yank the Team Six flag down. Motioning for rest of his squad to stay where they were. He was so intent on taunting the John and Carson that he didn’t notice the trip wire strung in front of the flag.
BOOOM!! James spun around quickly on hearing the explosion behind him and saw that the remaining people on his squad were covered in paint.
“You were saying?” Carson asked laughing at the dumbfounded look on the older boy’s face.
“Fine, but I still have your flag and all of your team is dead which means my team still wins.” The boys were told snidely as James turned to walk out of the clearing. He didn’t manage to get more than five steps before half a dozen rounds slammed into his head and chest.
“WHAT THE FUCK!!!???” James screamed as it dawned on him that he was dead. At This point Sean and Seamus came out of the bushes nearby and walked past the stunned teen with identical shit-eating grins on their faces.
“I want my team declared the winner, and those babies kicked out of the competition!” James, the leader of Team Four was still yelling ninety minutes later when it was announced that Brad’s team was the winner.
“Why’s that?” James was asked.
“They cheated! They weren’t following their plan and they used illegal items on the course.”
“We didn’t cheat, everything we did and used was clearly stated in the plan we turned in before the game started. Don’t blame us because you got faulty intel. And all the items we used are perfectly legal. The camp‘s rules only discourage their use but doesn‘t forbid them.”
“Brad, from what I see here you did deviate from your plan. And He is correct that the camp only suggests that certain items not be used but doesn‘t prevent their use.” The judge mentioned looking over the plan Brad had Rob turn in.
“Actually sir, if you take a look you’ll find that we had a last minute change of plans and it was turned in before the ten minute warning.” Brad said with a smile while he pulled out an envelope from the bottom of the pile in front of the judge.
“It’s seems Brad is right they did follow their plan. Team Six is the winner.” the boys were told after the judge took a few minutes to read the revised plan.
“They still cheated! They booby trapped their flag for god’s sake! That’s cheating!”
“Actually, there’s nothing in the rules that say you can’t set booby traps. Just that you can’t do anything that could possibly cause injury.” Brian said trying his best not to laugh.
“You still cheated!” James yelled one last time before storming off with the rest of his team following behind.
“I have to tell you Brian that some of the things your team did was skating on thin ice but no rules were broken. Where did you get the idea of trapping your flag anyway?” Brian was asked as he and the judge walked away from the field.
“Oh, I can’t take credit for that. Brad was in charge of the flag.” Brian said with a smile. Even he was taken back a bit by that little turn of events.
“I see. Well try not to cause too much damage when you go against the other camp. I do have one question though, Why did you change your plan at the last minute. From what I read your first one was pretty good”
It was until you take into account that the other team already knew about that one. You see, Rob turned our first plan over to the other team on his way to hand it over to you.”
“That explains why it looked like he had been fragged.”
“That it would. Well, I need to go take care of something, if you’ll excuse me.” Brian laughed.
“Sure, I’ll see you around.” Brian was told with a smile.
“So how did everything else go?” Carson asked as they sat around cleaning their gear after having gotten cleaned up themselves.
“Perfectly. The look on the guys’ faces, that James had waiting to ambush us at the false flag site was priceless. I especially liked the part when Brad showed up with those extra squads remaining from the other teams. How did you manage that anyway?” Brad was asked.
“Simple really, I had run into people from other teams on my way to get the Team Four flag and found out that James and his goons had already taken them out of play and I asked if they wanted a little payback. Since their flags were already captured it made the people still “alive” able to join up with other teams if they wanted or they could act like insurgents. I guess they liked the idea of payback more.” Brad said with a grin
“Wait till dad hears about this one. They’ll bust a gut laughing.” Brian said with a laugh of his own.
Of course the one thing that James never found out about was the fact that Brad had an intel source of his own in James’s cabin and that this source fed Brad everything he could on James’s plan’s. Brad, of course, relayed all this to other teams whenever possible. Though he never told anyone who his source was.
The following two weeks were hectic for Brad and Brian as they made plans for what they were going to do for the Inter-camp war games. Not to mention all the studying they were doing to get ready for their final SCUBA test.
“Gather round guys.” The boys taking the SCUBA class were told by their instructor.
“This is your final test for your advanced rating. Each of you have been given an envelope containing a set of coordinates. At each set of coordinates you’ll find another envelope to follow as well as a token, bring back all of the tokens along with the envelopes and you get your certificates. You each also have a flare with you. If you run into any trouble, surface, fire off the flare, and we’ll be there to get you as quickly as possible. Just remember though, don’t panic if you run into any trouble. That will get you into more trouble out there than any thing else. Now are there any questions?” The assembled boys were asked.
“Okay then, if there aren’t any questions then get with your swim bubby and suit up.”
“Dad better not find out about this Brad.” Brian said as they suited up.
“Will you quit whining. They signed the forms for us to be able to take the SCUBA lessons so why should they get mad?” Brian was told in a tired voice.
“Yeah they said it was OK for us to take the normal lessons. I don’t think they had were meaning for us to take the advanced course.”
“Well, if you were that worried about what they would think about us taking the advanced course, why did you join up for them?” Brad asked with a smile when he saw the look on his brother’s face that this comment generated.
“OK, I see your point.” Brian replied after a few moments.
“Besides, what could possibly happen that they’d find out that we did this?” Brad asked.
“I don’t want to even think about that.”
“OK boys just one last thing, Your tanks all have about two and a half hours of air in them so you have that long to complete the course. If you finish early though, feel free to stay down a bit longer but you had better not exceed what I’ve set down as a safety reserve unless you actually run into trouble. Is this understood?” Everyone on the boat nodded and were given the go ahead to start their dives.
“What’s wrong?” Brian asked as he and Brad surfaced after Brad had frantically waved for him to do so.
“I think I saw something down there that I want to check out.”
“We’re almost to our reserves. You better give me a really good reason to push it.” Brian told his brother after looking at his air gauge.
“Is this a good enough reason?” Brad asked holding up a gold coin he found laying on the bottom of the river they were currently in.”
“OH shit, is that what I think it is?” Brad was asked in awe as his brother took the offered coin.
“I think so. I think I saw something more down there and I want to check it out. You with me?”
“Why not. I doubt they’d send us home with only a week and a half left.” Brian said as he put his regulator back in his mouth and cleared it.
Twenty minutes later the boys realized that they had hit on something a lot larger than a few coins.
“Swim to shore we’ll need to work this out first.” Brad said as the boys surfaced again and headed off to the nearest river shore.
“What do you think we should do?” Brian asked as he and Brad stripped off their air tanks and other gear.
“I’m not really sure. But I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone else take credit for this.”
“Here give me your board.” Brad said after a few minutes of silence.
“What are you thinking?” Brian asked in confusion as he handed the board over.
“You have your camera on you?” Brad asked without answering his brother.
“Yeah. Why?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute.” Brian said with a grin as he scribbled out a message one side of the board and after taking a snapshot of it turned the board over and took another shot of the coordinates along with the coins the boys had brought up with them. He also pulled the memory card from the dive camera they had with them and downloaded that to Brian’s camera before erasing the final set of pictures from it.
“OK. When we get back to camp I want you to send the photos to Uncle Jason on that computer/phone you aren’t supposed to have with you.” Brad said with a smile.
“How did you know about that?”
“I ran across it when you asked me to get you the itch cream out of your bag.”
“Oh. You aren’t going to tell dad are you?” Brian asked nervously.
“Nah. But he’ll probably find out about it any way.” Brad replied as he wiped the last set of numbers and wrote in something else.”
“What did you do that for?!”
“So no one else will find this stuff. Now we better hurry, We have about a mile to walk before we set off the flare.” Brad stated as he picked up his gear and headed off up stream.
“Brad what were you thinking?!” The dive instructor yelled an hour later.
“I thought I had seen something and wanted to take a closer look.” Brad said sheepishly
“And It was in and area that I told you all to stay away from because of the currents in that area. You’re damned lucky your brother was there to save your ass. Now since you already had turned in your tokens and such I’m going to sign your license but you are banned from making any more dives during your stay here. Is that understood?!”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Not get out of my sight.” Brad was told heatedly.
“Hey, Uncle Jason, It’s Brian. I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time?” Brian asked his uncle while Brad was off getting his but chewed out.
“Not at all. What can I do for you?” Jason asked. A bit surprised when he picked up the phone and heard his nephew on the other end.
“Well, Brad and I were finishing our dive test today and found something while doing some exploring. Brad thought I should let you know about first.”
“OK what do you think you found?”
“Well, you know those old pirate stories you used to tell me and David?”
“Yeah, used to drive your dads crazy with how the two of you started digging up the backyard looking for buried treasure after I told you those.” Brian was told with a laugh
“Yeah, I remember that. Well, I think Brad may have just found one.”
“Run that by me again?”
“I think Brad and I might have just found some old pirate treasure” Jason was told quickly as Brad looked around to make sure the cabin was still empty.
“And what makes you think that?” Jason asked deciding to play along with the joke he thought his nephew was playing on him.
“I’m sending you the photos we took of the stuff.”
“OK, hold on for a sec.” Jason laughed wondering what the photos were actually going to be of.
“oh. Crap.” He muttered as the photos finished downloading and he got a look at the coins Brad had photographed.
“You haven’t told anybody about this yet have you?” Brian was asked seriously.
“No. And so far only you, me, and Brad are the only ones that know the actual coordinates.”
“Good keep it that way. I was going to be going up to Camp David with the family this weekend but I think we’ll be coming there instead.”
“Great it’ll be good to see you again. It’s family day this weekend anyway so dad should be here as well ”
“I figured you’d like that. Well, this will be interesting then. I take it you haven’t let your dads know yet?”
“Not yet. I was going to tell them when they got here on Saturday. I’m not really supposed to have the phone I’m calling you on.”
“I see we’ll talk about that as well.”
“Yes sir.
“Well, I need to let go my next meeting just showed up.”
“OK. I’ll talk to you this weekend.” Brian said as he ended the call. Brian made sure that the computer was fully locked down before hiding it back in his bag and headed to lunch.
“So did you get a chance to contact Uncle Jason?” Brad asked as he and Brian sat down at their table.
“Yeah. He said him and everyone will be here on Saturday for family day.
“What?!” Brad gasped shooting the milk he had just taken a drink of out his nose.
“Yeah, he said they were going to be going to the cabin this weekend anyway so they were going to swing by here first.
“Oh man. Dad’s going to have a fit over this.”
“Tell me about it, but to late now.” Brad just groaned at this.
The rest of the week went by quickly with Brad becoming more nervous as Saturday approached.
“Hey, guys. Happy to see us again?” Ian and Steve asked as they walked into Cabin Twelve to greet Brad and Brian.
“DAD!” Brian yelled as he raced over to Steve to give him a hug. Brad started to do the same but was quickly intercepted by Devon.
“Brad!” the toddler yelled happily as he jumped into his brothers arms Knocking them both back onto the bunk that Brad had just gotten up from.
“Good to see you to, kiddo.” Brad laughed as he returned the hug that Devon was giving him.
“Well, I see coming to camp has been a good thing for you. I hope you’ve been staying out of trouble?” Ian asked as he helped Brad back to his feet.
“Yeah, I have. For the most part.” Brad replied with a slight grin. Before things could go much further Kellen looked over at the door and yelled in surprise.
“Dad, Uncle Jason!” Hearing the second part made Steve and Ian both to turn around quickly.
“Jas, what are you doing here?” Ian asked in shock at seeing his brother.
“Well, Brian called me a few days ago to say that he and Brad had found something so Madge and I thought we’d come down and see it for ourselves.” Ian was told with a smile.
“Madge is here also?” Steve asked before heading for the door.
“Yeah, the whole family is. We decided to make a small detour before heading for the cabin.” Jason laughed as his brother-n-law walked past him. Still chuckling the rest of their group followed him.
“Somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on? And who gave you the right to land a bloody helicopter on my soccer field?!” The camp’s director yelled at the pilot as he walked up.
“That would have been me. I trust you don‘t have a problem.” Jason answered. Having overheard the director.
“Uh. No, sir. I don’t.” The director stammered when he saw who he was talking to.
“Wait a minute I know you three.” Ian, Jason, and Steve were told as the director got a closer look at them.
“Of course you do. You probably saw us on T.V. a few months back.
“No. I mean I know you guys from here.” They were told as the boys caught up with them. Seeing Brad and David standing next to each other helped things fall into place for him.
“OH god. I might have known.” The director mumbled with a shake of his head.
“Took you long enough, Chad.” Steve chuckled.
“So what brings such an illustrious alumni group back to our humble camp?”
“Well, my nephews seemed to have found something while doing their last dive and I though I’d come by and take a look for myself.” Jason informed him.
“Though, I think that maybe this conversation is better held behind closed doors” he added looking at the group that was starting to gather around them.
“You might be right.” Chad agreed and led them towards his office.
“OK boys lets see them.” Madge said once everyone was seated.
“Jesus! Are those real?” Chad exclaimed when he saw the coins.
“They sure are.” Madge answered after inspecting them for a couple of minutes.
“And you boys found them on a dive here?” Brad and Brian were asked.
“Yes, sir. During our last dive.” Brian answered.
“Great! That makes it property of the camp.” They were told gleefully.
“Sorry, but it doesn’t.” Brad said with a grin.
“Sure it does. And I can prove it.” Chad shot back as he pulled out a couple of files from his desk.
“These are the forms that Mr. Henderson turned in for your Dive certificates. As you can clearly see all the positions you have marked are clearly inside the boundary of the camp.” The group was told as they were shown a map with all of the boys dive spots marked on it.
“Except for the fact, that Brad changed one set of coordinates. I sent the real ones to my uncle.” Brian stated.
“And I’m having the position checked now. If they’re correct, and I have no problem believing that they are, then they’re on public land and it becomes the property of whomever finds it.” Jason stated then rattled off the different sections of the Maritime Salvage Rights that covered this.
“Fine! I want all of you off this land in thirty minutes or I call the cops and have you arrested for trespassing.” Chad snarled before storming out of his office.
“Nice to see some things don’t change.” Steve commented after Chad’s less than graceful exit.
“Tell me about it.” Jason agreed with a shake of his head.
“Okay, guys go get packed. I guess you’ve just been kicked out of camp.” Ian told the boys.
“Well that sucks.” Brian announced as he stood up.
“I’m sorry for causing so much trouble.” Brad mumbled as he got to his feet as well.
“Don’t worry about it Brad. That guy has always been a prick.” Ian said as he led the boys out of the office.
“You know, I really would have liked to have seen what I managed to get for that last marksmanship qualification.” Brad said as he finished packing his trunk twenty minutes later.
“Tell me about it.” Brian added as their dads came up to help them with their trunks.
“What was that guys?” Ian asked hearing the last part of the conversation between the boys.
“Well, we had the last round of Rifle and Archery marksmanship a couple of days ago and were just wondering how we did. The instructors said that the certificates were going to be handed out during the final dinner. I guess we won’t find out how we did now.” Brian informed his dads.
“Steve can you help the boys load their trunks in the car? I’ll be right back.” Ian said before walking out of the cabin.
“I’ll see you guys around and don’t forget to write.” Kellen told his cousins as they walked out of the cabin.
“We will. And I’m sure our dads will probably get a family reunion together some time soon seeing it’s been a couple of years since the last one.” Brian said as he started to climb into the car.
“Uh, guys you’re getting in the wrong vehicle.” Steve said with a grin.
“What do you mean dad? If we aren’t going with you then how are we getting home?” Brad asked as he stepped away from the car.
“Your ride is over there.” Ian replied with a smile as he pointed over his shoulder to the helicopter that Jason came in.
“Cool!” Brian yelled as he ran to where Jason was still standing, after giving each of his dads a hug. Brad did the same but with a huge grin on his face.
“We’ll see you guys in a few hours!” Steve yelled to the boy’s retreating backs. He wasn’t sure if the boys heard him or not but it didn’t matter. With a smile of his own he turned to help strap the Trips into their car seats. They were pulling through the front gate just as several state troopers came roaring up.
“Think we should go back?” Steve asked seeing the squad cars.
“Nah, let Chad deal with it himself.” Ian replied with an evil grin.
“Fine by me.”
“So guys, how did you like the ride?” Brad and Brian were asked as the helicopter landed at Camp David.
“Cool!” Brad stated.
“Wicked!” Brian laughed.
“Glad you liked it. And just so you know we have another surprise for you when we get to the cabin..” Madge said as the door opened and Jason exited the aircraft.
“What is it?” Brian asked excitedly; still pumped up from the helicopter ride.
“Well you’ll just have to wait till we get to the cabin to find out won’t you.” his aunt teased.
“AW C’mon.” Brad added to the conversation.
“Nope. You’ll just have to wait and see.” Jason just chuckled at this, but wasn’t about to spoil his wife’s fun.
“Hey guys. I was wondering when you’d get here.” A voice called out as the group walked into the cabin.
“David!” Brian yelled as he ran up and gave his brother a hug with Brad close behind.
“AHH! Watch the ribs!” David grunted in pain from his brother’s hug.
“Sorry.” Brian said quickly as he released his brother.
“It’s all right.” Brad and Brian were told as David sat back down. It was then that the younger boys noticed the casts on David’s right leg and left arm.
“What happened to you? Dad said he was going to send a letter but we never got it.” Brad asked as his brother.
“I got caught in a small cave-in on my third day at camp.” David shrugged and changed the subject. The boys were smart enough to follow along. Since the boys were all looking at each other they didn’t notice the frowns that their Aunt’s and Uncle’s faces.
“Ian, you might want to have a talk with David when you get a chance” Madge started after all the boys had turned in for the night.
“Why? What happened?” Ian replied wondering what his son had done this time.
“Brad and Brian apparently never got your letter concerning what happened to David. And when they asked him about it all he would say is that he got caught in a small cave in and then changed the subject. And we all know that they’ll be pissed if the first they hear about what really happens is at the award ceremony in a couple days.”
“Good point.” Ian said with a shake of his head, thinking at how much his son was like him when it came to things that he had done that caused special recognition to be put on him. The adults stayed up chatting for about another hour before deciding to turn in for the night.
“Ian, I know this is still a bit of a sore subject for you, but what do you plan on telling the boys about your change in careers?” Steve asked his husband as they got ready for bed.
“I don’t know. I guess I’m still more than a little pissed about the whole thing to think about it clearly.” Ian sighed as he thought back to the embezzlement scandal that he had been involved in over the last few months and even though he had been cleared of the changes when the real culprit had been found out Ian had still decided to resign his post. He did make sure that all the people that worked for him had positions lined up in other offices or had letters of recommendations written if they chose to move on to other things.
“Well you better hurry and tell them. I don’t think they’ll like it to much when they walk into their Computer Science course their first day back at school and find their old man teaching it.” Steve said with a smile.
“Oh I don’t know, I think the shock would be good for them. I already made sure that none of the boys are in any of my Computer classes. Besides, I’m only going to be a sub for the computer classes when they need it.” Ian replied with a grin of his own.
“So if you’re only going to sub when they need you what are you going to be teaching?”
“Well, When I had that little meeting with Chris back in March he floated something by me. I turned him down at the time but I did run it by Lana and she seemed interested in the idea. After all the crap died down I called Chris back and asked him if the offer he made was still open. It was, so I took it.”
“And what was the job?”
“Oh, Chris suggested we start up an ROTC program at Stonehenge. I Told Lana about it and she ran it by the board of directors and the school’s PTA. Everyone seemed to like the idea so they’re going to offer that as a replacement to gym for those that want it.”
“And let me guess they made you the C.O..” Steve stated with a chuckle.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Yeah, the guys are really going to like that one.” Steve said with another chuckle.
The rest of the summer vacation went by quickly for the boys. Ian had a long talk with David concerning what had happened to him during the jamboree and the awards he received as a result of it. As Steve predicted, Brian and Brad were a bit mad when they found out what really happened to their brother. The biggest shock came for Brad when the news got out about the treasure he had found. This was especially true when it was discovered that it wasn’t just the two chests like it was first thought but an entire ship. After some long research, it was concluded that it was one of the gold ships that Spain had lost some six hundred years before. On Brad’s request all but the first two chests were returned to Spain (minus a small Ten percent finders fee). After keeping a few things from the chests for himself, Brad had part of it sold off to collectors. The rest he donated to a local museum. Brad, of course, was a bit nervous when he was told that his grades were now good enough to start attending Stonehenge full time with his brothers. But they were able to get him calmed down enough that by the time he started it was nothing worse than start of the school year jitters.