I'd only been living in my apartment for about a year when Sally moved in next door. It wasn't a great building; I only lived there because I was short on cash, and I suspected she was in the same position. Eventually, she admitted that she'd had to move because her ex-husband was sending alimony infrequently at best, and she was struggling to make ends meet.
One of the (few) advantages to being a freelance writer is that I was around all day, so when she had to work late I'd help take care of her eleven year old son, Josh. Usually that just meant that I made sure he actually arrived home when he was supposed to, and once in a while I'd make dinner for the two of us. Of course, I'm not much of a cook, and he probably could have made canned soup as well as me, but I think Sally felt a little less guilty knowing there was someone around to watch over Josh.
At first he was a little shy. He'd dutifully tell me when he arrived, but despite my best efforts, refused to say more than one word per sentence at dinner. After a few weeks, I began to notice that he didn't have many friends, and just moped around Sally's apartment all afternoon. Finally, one day, I offered to take him out for a game of catch. He just shook his head, but a few minutes later, he peeked in my apartment. I asked if he'd changed his mind, and he said yes.
We had a great time, and after that he opened up a little. As I'd suspected, he didn't have any friends, and seemed to have given up on making them. I wanted to help, but didn't know how until one day I got a letter from an old friend of mine which set me thinking.
I'd met him in the Boy Scouts, ages ago, and it occurred to me that Josh might make some friends in the Scouts. Certainly, I'd loved being in the Boy Scouts, and made plenty of friends there, and it might do the same for Josh. A little investigating tracked down some information, and I suggested it to Sally and Josh.
Josh lit up at the idea, and Sally seemed to like it too. And all was going swimmingly until we realized there was a problem: money. Sally didn't have enough to spare to pay for the uniform and other equipment. And for a while, I thought I'd gotten Josh's hopes up for nothing, until I had another inspiration. The local troop was in need of an Assistant Scoutmaster, and they waived part of the fee if a kid's parent volunteered for them. I wasn't Josh's guardian, but they agreed to waive part of the fee anyway.
And so it was that Josh and I both went on a camping trip two weekends later.
Josh was a bouncing ball of energy that morning as we helped load up the vans. His mom was busy, and as a single parent she'd never had time to take him on a trip like this, so it was his first time. I hated to admit it, but I was pretty rusty myself. My involvement with the scouts ended when I was 16, thanks to a cross country move, and I'd only been on a single, rather badly planned, camping trip, back during my college days. All things considered, it was a first for both of us.
"Can you help me with this bag, Bill?"
I turned to find my young charge standing behind me, struggling with a huge bundle of tents. I took it from him and put it into the back of the nearest vehicle.
Josh had been terribly excited that morning. He looked very sharp dressed in his brand new, pressed Scout uniform, his dark hair covered by the accompanying cap. His mother had taken special care to wash, iron, and lay out the outfit that morning before she had to rush off to work. Later on I'd surprised him with a brand new pair of hiking shoes, knowing his mother would never have approved of the expenditure if I'd asked first.
I remembered when we'd attended the first meeting together. He'd been a little embarrassed, since most of the other boys' uniforms were adorned with awards they'd earned. Between that and his natural shyness, he'd almost come to tears, but encouragement from the other boys had been exactly the tonic I'd hoped, and soon he was participating and interacting and generally having a great time.
I was pleased to learn that we'd joined in time for this trip. As I watched him help the other boys load up the equipment, I knew that this would be just the bonding experience he needed. Finally, he'd have friends his own age, I thought, noticing his interactions with a few boys especially. I was almost jealous. I knew he'd be better off with friends his own age, but I'd rather selfishly enjoyed having him all to myself in that area.
We drove out in two large vans, and parked a little ways into the woods. After a simple lunch, we started on the first matter of business, which was, as always, to set up the camp. A few of the kids were familiar with how to do it, but many weren't, so the scoutmaster, the other assistant scoutmaster, and I, had to do much of the work. In theory it consisted of demonstrating how to set up a tent, and then letting the kids try to do one. Unfortunately, this was my first time setting up a tent in quite some time, and I didn't do a very good job of doing it, let alone setting an example.
The scoutmaster, having helped his group of kids get their tents set up, came over and showed me how to do it along with the other kids. I was just glad Josh wasn't there to see me mess up.
With the camp set up, and the day getting on, the scoutmaster decided to send one group of kids on a hike well the rest cooked dinner. After some discussion, he decided that the two assistant scoutmasters would handle about half the kids on a hike, while he'd show the other half how to start a fire and cook a meal.
Lucky for me the other assistant had been to this campground before and knew the general layout, or I would have had no clue how to start. I gratefully let him lead, while I stayed back with the kids. I was thrilled to see that Josh had elected to come with the hikers. Despite the group, I still felt like it was my responsibility to watch out for him, and I discreetly did just that.
To my surprise, the born-and-bred city boy seemed to be taking to nature amazingly well. He stumbled a few times over some of the rougher terrain, but never fell.
Of course, I was so busy watching out for him that I missed a rather large branch that had fallen across the path and found myself face down in the brush.
Josh ran over and helped me up. "Bill, are you okay?"
"Yeah. I just didn't see that branch."
To my surprise, I'd cut my knee. Normally it wouldn't have been a big deal, but I'd forgotten that, wearing shorts, anyone could tell. The other assistant decided that this was a "teachable moment."
"Alright everyone, we're going to demonstrate how to deal with a wound."
And before I could say anything, the entire troop was standing around watching him perform first aid on me. I felt like an idiot, particularly since it was a tiny cut, but at least the kids were learning something.
We kept walking, and I paid a little more attention to where I was going. Eventually we came across a stream. Several boys wanted to get drinks, but that's obviously not safe. It was only as we were walking away and I saw my reflection that I discovered, much to my surprise, that I had a pimple.
Even at my age it wasn't something entirely unheard of, but I'd noticed nothing of the sort in the mirror that morning, and this was a veritable mountain of a blemish. It was, by far, the largest I'd had since my teen years, and it concerned me. I made a mental note to pick up some face cream at the store when I got home.
The rest of the hike was uneventful and despite my ignoble injury, it felt great to be out there. It was starting to get dark, and the cool evening air was doing wonders to relieve my injured pride. Despite that, I caught up with the other assistant leader and, after a brief discussion, we decided it was time to head back. We announced a short break before we started back, which elicited a cheer from several boys.
They had much the same problem as I seemed to, that being a call of nature. Luckily, there was plenty of it around us. As I searched for a suitable tree to water, I was quietly amused by the boldness of several, who seemed to be having a literal pissing contest. I noticed Josh looking for a secluded spot as well, and for a moment we shared a half-embarrassed glance, both having noticed the antics of the others.
I quietly relieved myself and returned to the group. I joined the other assistant and a few boys sitting on a large log as we waited for the stragglers to return.
Once everyone had finally made it back, we headed back. The scoutmaster seemed a little annoyed at how long we'd been gone, but we had dinner and then sat around the campfire which had been set up. We still had a little time before we had to go to bed, and, after a great deal of begging from the boys, we ended up telling ghost stories. Together with a few of the other boys, we even managed to persuade Josh to go first, and he reluctantly agreed.
He did an excellent job, telling a fairly traditional story climaxing in a graveyard, but telling it quite well. At eleven, none of the boys would admit being scared, but it was clear that a few of them were. After that excellent start, a few more of the scouts had a chance before the scoutmaster announced that it was time for bed.
Everyone scattered to their tents and climbed into their sleeping bags. One of the advantages of being an assistant scoutmaster was that I got my own tent. I was exhausted from the hike, and would have fallen asleep immediately if I hadn't been so shaken from the ghost stories. It had been a long time since I'd felt the least bit afraid of monsters, but being out in the woods with the scouts reminded me of what it had been like when I was a boy scout, and that combined with the stories to give me a little trouble falling asleep.
The sound of my watch beeping woke me from a surprisingly restful slumber. Despite my little bout with insomnia, I woke completely refreshed. I'd expected at least a little soreness from the unaccustomed exercise I'd had the previous evening, but there wasn't even that.
I rolled over and realized I wasn't alone. Apparently Josh had joined me at some point during the night. I was a little disappointed, but I could understand. Josh didn't have a lot of experience with sleepovers of any sort, and the first time sleeping away from your own bed can be a little upsetting. I resolved to make sure he stayed in the tent he was assigned the next night.
"Josh," I said, softly. "It's time to get up." I nudged the sleeping boy's shoulder gently, and he stirred.
"Time to get up already?" he mumbled.
"Yep!" I said, perhaps a bit too cheerfully for his taste at the moment. "We have a full day of activities planned you know."
Josh just groaned in response.
"C'mon sleepyhead, let's get dressed. Did you bring your things with you?"
"Huh?" Josh asked, still sounding half asleep. "'Course I did. Put it in here when we set up." He sounded confused, and I figured he'd forgotten where he was.
"Well, let's get going then. I know these early mornings were never my favorite part of campouts, but it gets better," I said, reaching for my bag of clothes.
I pulled out my shirt to put it on, except.... It was dim in the tent, but I could clearly tell that this was definitely not my shirt. It looked like one of the older boys was playing a prank on me. I noted quite a number of merit badges, so it was obviously one of the more accomplished ones. I definitely needed to straighten this out as soon as possible, but for the moment it was all I had. I'd slept in a pair of shorts only, and I didn't really want to go out half dressed, so I pulled the shirt on. It fit remarkably well, so I buttoned it up and pulled on my scout shorts and socks.
I looked over at Josh to see how he was doing as I laced up my shoes. He was moving slowly, but he seemed to doing ok.
"I'm going to go check on something. Will you be ok in here by yourself?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said.
"Alright then. Don't fall back asleep though!"
"Yeah, yeah, get going," he said, annoyed but in good spirits. I smiled, unzipped the tent opening, and stepped out, closing the entrance after me.
The other assistant scoutmaster was going through the camp rousing late sleepers, many of whom had probably never gotten up that early in their life. We gathered around for breakfast, which the scoutmaster was just beginning to prepare. Several of the younger scouts were watching eagerly as he demonstrated.
"Ah, Bill, I'm glad you're here. You have your merit badge, why don't you take over and I'll wake up the stragglers."
Merit badge? He must have been making some joke about the shirt, but I didn't have time to deal with it right now. I continued cooking, and even though I hadn't cooked a breakfast over a campfire in years, it came right back to me.
As breakfast was served, I scanned the crowd for anyone wearing a uniform that didn't belong to him. I didn't want to risk getting anyone in trouble over such a silly prank by bringing it up in public, but I was confounded by the lack of any evidence. Whoever had done this had obviously planned ahead and brought an extra uniform. I only owned one myself, considering the cost and the fact that I had only just started working with the troop.
I decided to let the matter drop for the moment. These were good kids, and I was sure I'd get my property back unharmed before the trip was over.
After breakfast, it was time to break up into groups for the day's activities. I'd expected to be assigned to lead one of the groups, but this turned out not to be the case.
"I appreciate your help this trip Bill," the scoutmaster said, "but I think we can handle this. Why don't you partner up with your friend Josh? I'm sure he'll appreciate having our most experienced camper helping him out."
I was understandably confused by this, but decided to pump Josh and see if he knew who'd stolen my shirt.
"So, did you see anyone sneak into my tent last night? Besides you, I mean."
"Sneak into our tent? What do you mean?"
"Well, someone..." I looked at the shirt. When I'd put it on this morning, it had been covered in badges. There were still several, but not nearly as many as there had been. These weren't things that fell off normally, so something strange was going on, and I needed time to think about it.
"Um, never mind."
We had to help clean up and repack the vans before hiking, but packing was much harder than it had been before. All my old skills had come back to me, but it must have rained the night before. Certainly the tents were much heavier than the previous night.
When we finished, the group started to pair up. As suggested by the scoutmaster, I partnered with Josh again. I knew it probably wasn't a good idea to keep doing it, but Josh's nocturnal behavior illustrated more than adequately that he just wasn't ready to stay with a stranger.
"You all ready, Josh?" I asked. My voice sounded a bit off to me, and I wondered if I was catching a cold.
"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed. "We had to come back way too soon yesterday. We didn't even get to the river!"
I laughed. "Calm down Josh, you'll wear yourself out before we even get started."
Josh giggled, but calmed down. I stopped and looked at him for a moment. I was glad we'd passed on the spare uniforms, because it seemed he was on a growth spurt. He definitely LOOKED taller anyway.
The hike was harder than the day before. I didn't feel as out of shape, but I did feel clumsier. Every rock, branch, and stick seemed to be aiming for me. That was the only possible explanation for the fact that, by the time we reached the river, all the merit badges on the shirt seemed to have fallen off. Whoever's shirt it was, he hadn't done a very good job with them.
Of course, we weren't allowed to drink from the river, but I did manage to splash Josh while he wasn't looking. He splashed me back harder, and I retaliated before the other counselor caught us and made us stop. It felt surprisingly good indulging in such simple pleasures.
We continued on, Josh and I soaking wet of course, still having a ways to go. We were chilled for a while from the cold water, but it was a reasonably warm day, and our uniforms dried out as we walked. The terrain that far out definitely seemed rougher than what we had covered the day before, and I found myself trudging over small hill and large massed of underbrush. Josh was fairing no better, and I found he was helping me along as much as I was him. I supposed the buddy system worked both ways, even when the two were so mismatched. Though I was noticing more and more that I was having as much trouble keeping up the pace as Josh. I vowed to do some hikes at the local park when I got home, so I could keep in practice.
Finally, we reached the waiting van and started climbing in. Standing next to the van, it was obvious something wasn't right. It was just much, much too tall. Actually, so was Josh. I was barely a head taller than him. I turned to ask him if he knew why, but before I had a chance, he shoved me.
"Stop holding up the line and get in!"
Distracted, I climbed in and tried to remember what I'd been thinking about while Josh clambered into the seat next to me. As I sat down, I noticed how skinny my bare legs and arms seemed to have become. I remembered what I noticed outside the van finally, but before I could ask, the scoutmaster began a sing-along. Of course, I couldn't interrupt, so I joined in. By the time we got back to the city, we were all laughing and playing around, and the scoutmaster kept having to tell us to get back in our seats.
The van dropped us off outside the apartment building, and Josh and I grabbed our stuff and bounded up the stairs. When we reached our floor, my first thought was to pull out my key, but the door to my apartment was gone, and Josh's mom opened the door to her apartment.
"Hey boys. Did you have a good time?"
"Mrs. uh, uh...," I stammered. My head was fuzzy. Didn't I live over there? Wasn't my apartment next door?
Then I remembered. Of course I lived there. We had a double size apartment. For the life of me I couldn't remember why I thought there was a second door though.
"Hi mom!" Josh exclaimed, running up the stairs just behind me. "Me'n Bill had a GREAT time! Thanks for convincing me to go with him!"
Sally gathered Bill and I up and gave us a big hug. I was barely bigger than Josh now, I could see. I had to figure out what was going on. But I hugged back. It just felt right.
"I have wonderful news!" Sally exclaimed, after finishing with the hug. "The courts finaly came through and made your dad pay. We don't have to worry about money any more!"
Despite the odd situation, I was still excited and happy to hear the good news.
"That's great, Mom!" I exclaimed. Mom? Huh? My head felt fuzzy again.
Of COURSE she's my mom, I realized. I hugged my little brother.
"To celebrate, I've ordered pizza, and then tomorrow I'm going to take you both shopping for some new school clothes. Why don't you two go unpack and play in your room til it gets here?"
"Pizza!" we both cheered. Me and Josh picked up our camp stuff and headed to our room. We dropped the bags on the floor, and I sat down on the bottom bunk. Josh joined me a moment later.
"Billy, I'm glad you're my big brother," he said.
"Me too Josh. Me too."