Camp Payback

by J. K. Rock

  “Mrs. Martineau.” Javier turned to her with a smile as if they’d met a hundred times before. “Nice to see you.”

  I frowned. Since when was Javier so at ease talking to parents? He’d been worried about meeting my folks since he first found out I was the Wholesome Home girl.

  Before I could ask about it, he was passing off my backpack to Emily and taking me by the hand. “Would it be okay if I stole Alex for a little while? We don’t have much time left—”

  “Of course!” my mother and Emily said at the same time before my mom kissed me on the check. “Go right ahead. I have a few things to see Mr. Woodrow about anyway.”

  Should that sound ominous? Would Gollum try to talk her out of leaving me at camp? And most of all, did my mother just agree to let me hang out, alone, with a guy she knew I’d made out with? I didn’t have much time to think about it though, as Javier whisked me out of the mess hall and toward the kitchen.

  “Are we cooking?” I asked, confused and overwhelmed by the reception to my talk. I hadn’t expected it to be such a big deal, but it had felt really good.

  Really right.

  “Not now, though I did make Julian some apple-cinnamon empanadas earlier today. They’re my second Secret Camp Angel gift to him. I’ll mail him my third gift from wherever I am next week.” He led me past the food prep area and the sink where we’d gotten into our first fight. “I thought we’d find some quiet back here.” He shoved open the door in back, the one that brought us into the kitchen garden.

  The dirt path through the main row was visible in the deepening twilight, but the plants were taller than the last time I’d been here. My eyes searched for the oregano flowers he’d picked for me that day I’d cried, but I couldn’t tell one plant from another.

  “Here.” He pointed toward a new bench off to one side, a few simple planks bolted onto two posts. “I made a spot for Helena to sit when she comes out into the garden for some fresh air. I just finished sanding it today.”

  He brushed it off with his hand and gestured for me to take a seat.

  “Weren’t you supposed to be doing camper things during your last week?” I sat beside him and pictured him alone out here today while I’d been surrounded by my friends.

  “Hate to tell you, Alexandra—” He drew out the “x” into a soft, rolling “s” that made my name sound like a song. “—but I’ll never be Mr. Social.”

  “But you were so great during West Side Scary.” Everyone liked Javier now that Vijay was gone. They’d probably liked him before.

  “I’m learning,” he admitted, taking my hand and folding it in his. “And I got Rafe to help me on the bench, so we hung out for a while and he told me more about Puerto Rico where he’s from. I’ve been thinking I’d like to go to Venezuela one day and see the sights, even if I don’t find my dad.”

  “Really?” I remembered the cookbook I’d given him and the photos of Venezuelan dishes from around the country. “You could test your cooking skills against the locals and see how you do.”

  “Maybe.” He stared down at my knee where my hand rested on my leg. He didn’t take it, but he traced the backs of my fingers—one by one—until I shivered from the gentle touch.

  All my life I fought so hard for positive attention, but with Javier, I always felt like I had it without having to do a thing. Maybe that’s why it was so easy to be with him.

  God, I was going to miss him. The knowledge that he’d be leaving in the morning socked me in the gut so hard I could have doubled over with the hurt.

  “I can’t believe you’re going.” It sounded like someone else was speaking, my voice high and desperate. “I mean, I know that’s selfish because I’m thinking about how much I’m going to miss you instead of how awful this is for you, but sitting here right now reminds me so much of that first day you talked to me and we came out here.”

  Javier’s knee rubbed mine as he turned toward me. He lined up our fingers and then interlocked them, our hands woven together in a tight bond.

  He lifted our hands to eye level. A dried, woven grass bracelet slid down his wrist. My gift to him.

  “Will you look at that?” He gave me a sad smile even as a tear rolled down my cheek. “No matter what else happened this summer, I’m still floored this happened.”

  “What?”

  “You and me.” He released me and looked into my eyes. “Alex, I’m not the kind of guy who gets a girl like you.”

  “You’re crazy.” I shook my head, frustrated. “You’re gorgeous and talented, and you make amazing food. Trust me, Javier Kovalev, every girl at camp wants you.”

  “You don’t understand. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You left that note that said you wouldn’t change a thing that’s happened this summer. Well, I wouldn’t either.”

  I should be grateful he said that. But his leaving was a giant, dark cloud that settled over me.

  “I still can’t believe you feel that way.” I clutched his shoulders, raising my voice. “I got you kicked out of camp. I messed up this summer for you when it was your last chance with the foster system, your last chance to spend your senior year with your mom. Now you’re changing homes, changing schools…my God, I’ve turned your whole life upside down. You should hate me.”

  “Alex.” He took my face in his hands and held it. “You did turn my life upside down, but that was what made me change.”

  “Are you insane?” For so long, I’d been told I was a nuisance and a problem. I’d never imagined I could be the solution.

  “Remember when you tossed the wet sponge at me and yelled at me for not speaking to you?”

  “That fight in the kitchen when I lost it. Yeah, of course.”

  “That changed things for me.” His fingers slid lightly down my cheeks and into my hair where he combed through the strands. “My whole life I’ve bottled up my anger until it exploded in my face. And I’ll admit, I was pissed off at you that week for getting me in trouble in the first place. But when I saw you crying and I realized I’d really hurt you by ignoring you…”

  He shook his head, and his hands dropped away. His shoulders fell.

  “I don’t understand.”

  He drew in a deep breath. “It’s hard to control my temper sometimes. But shutting you out didn’t work either. Going outside and talking to you…it made me realize, for the first time, that I could be angry and talk through it.” He gave me a lopsided smile. “I know—sounds like some self-help B.S. from your parents’ blog, right? But I wrestled with that stuff for a long time, and this summer, something started to click in my head. And when Bam-Bam took me on that overnight trip, I realized it didn’t just have to work with just you. I could handle things with anyone.”

  “Wow. I—I thought I ruined your summer.” And your life, I added silently. I would never have guessed I’d helped him that much. I wiped my tears away. This was our last night, and I didn’t want to ruin it.

  “I’ve got something else that might cheer you up.” Javier picked a piece of tall grass growing beside the bench he’d built.

  “Shouldn’t I be trying to cheer you up?” I plucked the long blade out of his hands and gently tore it into three strands for braiding. “I get to stay at camp while you have to leave the garden and your new friends and cooking…”

  “I’ll miss you a lot more than the garden.” He tucked a finger in between my wrist and the Secret Camp Angel bracelet that had his name written inside. “Besides, your mom has been doing a whole lot more than just helping you stay at camp.”

  “What do you mean?” I stopped braiding the grass.

  “I guess she volunteers for some organization that helps struggling women get back to work?”

  I nodded.

  “Well she found a job for my mom—working at that restaurant that provided the mobile catering truck back on the movie set, remember?”

  “They wanted you to work there,” I remembered, marveling that my mother had come through in so many ways. Putting
everyone ahead of herself. Getting our lives figured out before she started working on her own future.

  “Right. And having met me, the owner was happy to give my mom a job.” Javier’s eyes were wide. There was a different kind of tension in him.

  Excitement?

  “So she’s got a job when she gets out.” I knew he worried about her, so of course that would make him happy.

  “It gets better. Your mother also found some subsidized housing until Mom gets on her feet. Then she called the jail and suggested my mom was eligible for some kind of early release between good behavior and having a job ready and waiting for her.”

  “She did that?” I could easily picture Mom on the phone nonstop on the way home from Honduras. What blew my mind was she’d been using her contacts—maybe even her fame—to help Javier and me.

  “She’s a dynamo, Alex. Just like you.” Javier shook his head, voice full of wonder. “She talked to my social worker and—based on my mom’s solid set-up—she got a special hearing scheduled for me with the family court judge next week. My social worker is recommending I be reunited with my mom.”

  My brain worked fast to process all that, but I still could hardly believe it. Javier would finally have the life he’d dreamed of. Imagined. My heart glowed as bright as the lightning bugs twinkling in the tomato plants.

  “No group home?” I had to say it. It wouldn’t completely sink in otherwise. This was incredible.

  “No. Effing. Group home.” Javier’s grin flashed a mile wide.

  I hugged him so hard I pretty much tackled him. I nearly rolled us off the bench.

  “Oh my God!” I rained kisses on his cheek. One landed on his ear. I lost my gum. Thankfully, it rolled into the grass and not in his hair. “Mom didn’t say one word to me about any of it.”

  “We were still ironing out the details and talking to the restaurant this afternoon while you were working on your speech.” Javier kissed my forehead. “Mr. Woodrow called me down to his office after breakfast to meet with my social worker, and your mom joined us. She had this whole speech ready to go about the importance of reunification of families and the success of this program she runs…by the time she was done, my social worker was on the phone with my foster family and the judge. It was incredible.”

  “So you’ll be living nearby?” The trip into town was twenty minutes tops.

  “For the rest of the summer.” He gathered me in his arms and pulled me tight against his chest.

  “And I’ll be here for four more weeks.” My voice was muffled, my mouth pressed against his thudding heart.

  “I’m still kicked out of camp,” Javier reminded me, easing back. “Mr. Woodrow isn’t budging on that one.”

  “I’m sure he’ll have some sticky P.R. to overcome with that video circulating of us kissing.” I still felt embarrassed about it. Not the kiss, but that the whole world had seen a private moment.

  “I’ve got an answer to that video that might help you.” He picked up a video camera that he’d sat beside him on the bench. “I videotaped your speech today.”

  “Oh. Okay.” I frowned. “I don’t know if that will help me get into the performing arts school.”

  “Maybe not. But it can be the first upload on your blog.”

  “My blog? Hello? I don’t have a blog.”

  “Well, maybe it’s time you got one. Do you realize all the younger campers know who you are because of Wholesome Home? There’s a whole generation of kids who have followed your life the same way their parents follow Wholesome Home. Why not tell your side of the story? Starting with this?” He waved the camera in front of my nose.

  “Was this my mom’s idea, too?” I couldn’t decide if I wanted to springboard off Wholesome Home fame. I’d spent so much time resenting it.

  “No.” He set aside the camera. “This one was all me. I even set up the blog for you if you want to load it in.”

  “You?” I tried to picture Javier over in the computer lab.

  “Vijay isn’t the only kid with tech skills.” He shrugged as he studied me with dark eyes in the moonlight. “Besides, this is the right way to fight back. Not with fists but with, you know, words.”

  I fell head over heels for him at that second. My heartbeat quickened. I swayed closer. A warm summer breeze lifted a lock of my hair to tickle my cheek.

  “I should have let you give the keynote speech instead of me,” I whispered, my eyes lowering to lips I very much wanted to kiss. “Because you’re saying all the right things tonight.”

  “Alex.” He cupped my chin in his hand and tipped my face up, halting the kiss before it started. “I know you might be in New York while I’m in North Carolina this fall.”

  “I hope I’ll be in New York.” I liked dreaming big dreams with him, but wasn’t it enough that we might still see each other sometimes during the summer? I was already plotting trips into town. “But there are no guarantees.”

  “Right. And I’ll still have social services keeping an eye on me until I turn eighteen. But once that happens, I’ll be able to go anywhere. Even culinary school.”

  “In New York?” The words were a squeak, a wish I hardly dared to speak out loud.

  “I hear that’s the place to go if you’re serious about cooking.”

  My heart lodged in my throat, like I’d been on an elevator that went down too fast. I felt dizzy.

  “Can you even imagine?” I could almost picture a future that would put us on the paths to our dreams. Paths that could intersect again when we were free to really be together.

  “I don’t expect you to make any promises now or anything. But this summer, if there’s any way I can see you sometimes, maybe you could…be my girlfriend.”

  “Javi.” Tears stung my eyes. I wasn’t used to getting half the things I wanted in life, let alone everything. All at once.

  “Just think about it,” he said quickly. “I know I pushed you away in the past—”

  I kissed him. Not just a little. I planted a kiss on him to end all kisses. Arms around his neck, lips sealed to his full, soft ones, I lost myself in the feel of Javier.

  My boyfriend.

  I saw fireworks behind my eyelids. Breathed in the spicy, sexy scent of him. Spread my fingers into his thick, dark hair.

  “Alex,” he whispered between kisses, “is that a yes?”

  I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “That is a yes so definite you won’t forget it. Plus, I didn’t want you to think I needed time to consider it. I already know. I’m yours.”

  Javier

  One year later

  I jogged around a pretzel vendor just past West Houston Street, ducked between a couple of dudes with briefcases arguing about who should pay for a cab, and cruised toward Lafayette and Bleecker.

  I didn’t want my delivery to get cold. My girlfriend was crazy about cinnamon triangles, but they were only good if you served them warm. Last night, I’d played around with a new chocolate sauce recipe I wanted her to try.

  “Hey Javier,” the doorman greeted me. Or maybe he was a bouncer. After three months in the city, I was still getting my New Yorker lingo down. “Got any more arepas?”

  I held up the brown bag. “Homemade pastries today. Do you think they’re taking a break yet?”

  “You’re right on time.” The beefy dude pulled open the big side door where I’d been showing up a couple of times a week for the last month.

  Stepping into the dim theater interior, I saw a few cast members milling around the front of the stage.

  “Javi!” Alex separated herself from a crowd of teens who had small parts in Pod-Cast, an off-Broadway play that opened in two weeks. Thanks to her performing arts school teachers, she’d been able to get the audition that landed her the role as Maureen, a fast-talking, unfiltered vlogger. Clearly they’d cast completely against type. I grinned.

  Her happy smile reminded me of that day in the garden back at Camp Juniper Point when I’d promised myself I’d make her laugh and smile again. I felt proud
of keeping that promise, even though I’d had to follow her halfway across the country to do it.

  “How’s it going?” I held out the bag to show her my offering, and her eyes lit up.

  “Better now that you’re here.” She ignored the food and kissed me first, her lips sweeter than the dessert. Her body warmer than the oven I’d cooked them in. She rose on tiptoe and pressed against me, her soft curves molding against my chest. I inhaled the bubblegum scent of her and ran my fingers through her hair, loving the way the strands curled around my fingers, the feel of her mouth as it caressed mine. We broke apart when a loud cheer rose from her cast mates.

  Red-faced, she stepped back and took the treats from me. “Is this what I think it is?”

  “Still hot, with any luck.”

  “Plus the homemade chocolate sauce?”

  “You have to give me your honest opinion.” I’d been working as a prep cook at Helena’s brother’s restaurant downtown for two months now, and the pastry chef had inspired me.

  I’d graduated high school early in North Carolina and signed up for a couple of online college classes until I got into culinary school in the fall. I still looked at the acceptance letter every morning. Otherwise, I’d start thinking I’d imagined the whole thing. What did they call dreams that happened when you were awake?

  “I’m always honest with you.” Alex kissed my cheek while we walked toward the back of the theater. She slid into a seat, and I sat beside her.

  “You always say what you think.” I tugged a magenta braid she’d woven into her dark hair. “It’s one of the things I love about you.”

  Her emerald eyes darkened. “I love you, too, Javi.” Her soft hand folded into mine. “And I wouldn’t have a successful vlog without speaking from the heart.” She pulled out a cinnamon triangle and the container of sauce I’d packed. “Speaking of which, do you want to film this?”

  She juggled the food to reach into her pocket and pull out her phone, which she passed to me.

  “Sure.” Used to this ritual every time we went out exploring Manhattan, I clicked open her camera and focused on her pretty face.