Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 21:05:40 -0400 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Part X 1 Explanation: Okay, between parts three and four of WAR, I promised that I would dig up a few of the little stories I had written while writing the main story. This was one of those stories. This is the story of Billy and his dad's camping trip that took place between parts one and two. Now remember, this is not meant to be a stand alone story. It was written to give me some more insight into the characters at a time when I was trying to get ready to start Part Two. I really hadn't done much with George at that point. He was just the dad character. I wanted to get a better picture of him in my head before he had to do some major things in Part Two. You'll notice a change in style for this chapter. Billy is not the narrator and the story is told more from George's point of view than Billy's. I'll have more after the story. W.A.R. Part X -- The DVD Extras The Camping Trip George Roberts loved fishing and camping. His son, Billy, on the other hand, really didn't seem to like much of anything. Billy was a boy who only seemed interested in something when it involved the television or computer. No matter what George tried, he couldn't convince Billy to get out and do things with him. He didn't want to go hunting, he didn't want to go fishing. So when George decided to take a four-day trip into the mountains for his vacation and take Billy with him, Billy was less than thrilled. Fishing and camping for one night was okay, but three nights up in the mountains... It had already been a difficult summer for both George and Billy. Billy's grandmother had been ill and Paula, George's wife, was taking care of her. George had to work longer and find other small jobs to keep the family fed. When the strain and stress got to be too much, the whole family was at each other's throats. Billy ended up with a black eye that outsiders thought was a little suspicious. George felt terrible about it, because he felt that it was, in fact, his fault that Billy had been hurt. So when Billy's grandmother passed away, it let to some strange emotions. The family was very sad, of course. But there was also the feeling of relief that made Billy feel uncomfortable. He began to feel torn between feeling sad that she was gone, yet happy that his family was back together. Then there were the times when he would want to talk to someone about the problems he felt building up in his life. His grandma had always listened to him and given him good advice. Now he had no one to whom he could tell his secrets to. There was no one he could turn to when his world was starting to unravel. Billy couldn't turn to Brett, his best friend. For Brett was the source of many of his problems. Billy was feeling things and thinking thoughts about Brett that he knew were not "normal" for a boy. He wanted to tell Brett, and he finally had the opportunity after his grandma's funeral. But it had been so awkward that afterward, Billy and Brett both avoided each other for a week. But the feelings he felt about Brett were not going away, in fact they were even stronger than before. Billy couldn't be around Brett without feeling a weird mixture of emotions. He couldn't describe it, but he knew he wanted to experience it even more. Bad news came in the mail from the school. Brett would not be in any of Billy's classes at school for eighth grade. At least he would have one of his other friends, Dustin. But the news that he would have to go through every class without Brett was just the perfect ending for the kind of summer he was having. Later that night George had come home with the news that he was taking Billy up to Bedford County for camping. "What do you mean we have to go up to a crumby old cabin for three days?" Billy said when George gave him the news. "I don't want to go away for a whole weekend! That's stupid! Why don't you take mom?" George tried to stay calm, but it was hard to keep calm with Billy lately. Billy wasn't the perfect little boy he used to be. His intelligence had turned into being a smart-aleck. His love of sports faded away into skipping ballgames to hang out with his friends. And now he was becoming more and more defiant, and frustrating. George decided to stand his ground. "Billy, there will be no discussions about this. This is something that you need to do. You're not doing it for me, you're doing it for yourself." "Come on dad! I hate fishing! It's stupid!" "You're going and that's final." George said. "Well at least can I ask Brett to come along?" Billy asked. This was the question George was afraid of. He knew that if he said yes that the argument would be over and Billy would be excited to go. But George knew that if Brett came along that his plans for a father-son outing would be ruined. If Brett was there, then George knew that Billy would spend the whole time with him. George wanted Billy to himself for once. Brett was a nice boy and all, but sometimes he annoyed George. Brett didn't have a father, and George thought he was a little bit spoiled. "No. This is a time for you and me. No one else." "But that's not..." Billy started, but George interrupted. "You can spend the night over at his house when we come back. But we're doing this by ourselves and that's it." Billy grumbled a little to himself, but George just ignored him and walked away. What had happened to the sweet little boy who used to sit in his lap and fall asleep? When did he become the brooding little monster that seemed to reject everything George and Paula asked of him? Where had he learned that look of defiance that he could use so well? George knew all too well that Billy was growing up. He had walked in on him by accident a few weeks ago when Billy was playing with himself. Billy had been furious and had used words that shocked George. But George was able to calm him down and by the end of the night, things were better between them. But ever since then, Billy seemed very self-conscious around George. Billy kept his door closed a lot and never walked around the house without being fully clothed. Just weeks before he would walk around in his underwear if he felt like it. So the days passed and little changed. Billy did not want to go away one little bit. George stood his ground, determined that the weekend was just the thing to fix the problems Billy was having. George wanted the weekend to go perfectly. He knew that once they were on the road that Billy would feel better. They packed up George's truck and set out toward the turnpike. Billy sat quietly with his arms crossed looking out the window. He reminded George of Paula when she was angry. Billy may have looked like George, but he sure thought that he acted like his mother. There was a time when Billy talked so much about the most foolish things. Back in those days, George used to wish that he'd just shut up. Now he wished he'd never felt that way. He longed for the day when Billy would talk to him about something foolish. George wanted to think of something to say to cheer Billy up, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Why hadn't he paid more attention to Billy lately? Maybe then he could have known what to do to make him smile again. "Well, boy... Looks like we'll be in the mountains pretty soon." George said. Billy turned his head from the side window to the front, looked at the mountains up ahead, then turned back to the side again. "Yep." He said. "You hungry, boy?" George asked. "Nope." Billy replied. "Want a pop?" "I guess." Billy said. George, feeling happy that he'd finally found something that he could interest Billy in, reached into the cooler in the back and felt around for a pop. By accident, he pulled out a beer. Then George got an idea... "Hey boy, you want one of these instead?" George asked. Billy turned back to look at his dad and his eyes grew wide. Was his dad actually offering him a beer? "I don't know... It's against the law..." Billy said, his eyes still fixed on the can his dad was holding. "Nah, you're with me. I'll let you just this one time. You want it?" "Sure." Billy said. George handed Billy the can and smiled. He knew it would work. Billy would quit being such a grump now. He felt a bit guilty that he was encouraging his son to break the law, but he figured no one would ever know. Billy took a drink and his face contorted. "Ugh!!! It tastes like piss!" George laughed. "Of course it does, boy. What, you thought it would taste like Kool-Aid?" Billy looked at his dad suspiciously. Then he took another drink. After a few hours, they arrived at the Bedford exit of the turnpike, and Billy's beer can was empty. George stopped at McDonald's drive-thru and ordered a few cheeseburgers. Billy ate two cheeseburgers and half of his dad's before they started toward the cabin. As the road twisted and turned as they made their way through the mountains, George asked Billy to look at the map. Billy didn't respond. George turned to see if Billy was asleep, and only then noticed that Billy was turning green. "Oh shit." George said as he pulled over, but it was too late. Billy burped and threw up all over himself. "God dammit, boy! Why didn't you say something? Open the door!" George said angrily. But before Billy could open the door he threw up again, this time on the floor of the truck. "Awww fuck!!!" George said angrily. Billy sat stunned, covered in his lunch, and starting to cry. "Ah, don't start bawling on me. There was nothing you could do about it." "I'm sorry, dad!" Billy sobbed. "I told you not to worry about it. What was I thinking, giving a beer to a thirteen year old? You just sit tight. Roll down your window and we'll be at the cabin pretty soon." George found the map and before too long they found the cabin. The cabin belonged to George's friend Mr. Nicholson. He was George's boss before he retired. George had remained good friends with him and many weekends, George came up to the cabin with Mr. Nicholson and other friends. Paula didn't know that George and his friends would then go play cards with different people. George had a gift for counting cards. Some nights, they could rope in some people for several hundred dollars. George knew that Paula would disapprove, so he hid the money he won in a compartment in a box of his coin collection. Paula didn't care at all for old coins, so he knew it would be safe from her nosiness. He kept it a secret from everybody. The only thing that worried George was that Billy was fascinated by his coin collection. If Billy should accidentally find the money, then Paula would want to know where it came from and it would lead to nothing but trouble. That money was for Billy, should anything ever happen to him. He knew that Paula would want to use it up. So he made Billy his own coin collection to keep him from looking through the one where the money was hidden. Then when Billy found out where he kept the key to the safe, he hid it in the barrel of an old shotgun. But George had no intention of going card sharking this weekend. At the moment, he was more concerned that his son was now covered in vomit. After parking the truck, he went to the small shed to find a hose. George had almost forgotten to turn off the silent alarm in the house. If he hadn't, then after five minutes, the state police would show up and wonder why there was a person at the cabin without Mr. Nicholson. George returned to the truck with the hose. Billy had already gotten out, so George sprayed out the truck quickly. Then he turned to Billy. "Okay boy, take off those clothes." "What?" Billy asked. George could see that Billy had instantly become self-conscious about it. "I'm not going to have you go through that house and get puke all over the place. Take off your clothes and I'll spray them down." George said matter-of-factly. "But, dad..." Billy started. "Billy, no one's out here. No one's going to see you. Hell, you could run around bare assed out here and no one would ever know. Now, you don't have anything that I've never seen before, so off with them." Billy stared defiantly at his father for a minute. Then he slowly pulled his shirt up over his head. He was surprised when he got blasted in the face with water from the hose. "Dad!!" Billy laughed as he put his hands in the way of the stream. George laughed too as he finally got to hear what he had been hoping for, Billy laughing and having a good time. Billy slipped off his pants for George to spray as well. Then he grabbed his bag from the back of the truck and headed into the cabin to change. Mr. Nicholson's cabin was bigger than Billy's house. Billy knew that Mr. Nicholson had been his dad's boss, but he didn't know that he owned a castle in the mountains. Billy had pictured a little ramshackle shack with an outhouse and no electricity. As soon as he had himself dry and clothed, Billy explored the cabin. It had a large main room that Dustin's house could have fit into. There were many rooms off that main room on two floors, with a balcony for the walkway on the top floor. The tv was the biggest one he had ever seen, with about five different video game systems hooked up to it. There was also satellite with every kind of channel imaginable. George walked into the house, carrying a large bag in each hand. "Well are you going to stare at everything all day or help me?" He said. "This place has more stuff than our house!" Billy remarked with awe. "Go look at the kitchen." George said. George watched as Billy walked to another room off of the main room and heard Billy's voice. "Holy shit this refrigerator's bigger than our kitchen!" He exclaimed. George laughed, ignoring his son's profanity. George had thought the same thing the first time he saw that thing. Billy returned to the main room. "How in the world did Mr. Nicholson afford all of this?" Billy asked. "His wife's got money. She inherited lots of land and money. She had him build this place years ago." "Did you wire it?" Billy asked. "I reckon. Wasn't much to it. You weren't even born yet when I did that. In fact, you were conceived right there by the fireplace." George said. Billy quickly jumped away from the fireplace. "Ewww!! I did not need to know that dad!" George laughed again. "They have lots of grand kids, that's why there are so many video games and such. Well, if you're hungry, you can have something to eat. Seeing as you left your lunch in the truck." "Ha ha. Very funny. That was your fault you know. Giving me beer. I should tell mom." Billy said. "Billy, there are some things your mother doesn't need to know." George said. Billy had his choice of rooms, and after George set the alarm for the night, the two slept soundly. Billy slept in one of the rooms on the second floor. It had a waterbed. Billy was sure to use the bathroom twice before going to sleep to avoid having any problems. The next days were filled with fishing and hiking and cards. Billy wondered how his dad could win so much when he played cards with him. After a few hands of poker, in which Billy was crushed every time, he had enough. "Okay, how are you doing that?" "Doing what?" George asked. "How are you winning every time?" Billy demanded. "Just be quiet and throw your five of spades and eight of hearts. If you pick the top two cards you'll have a queen and king to go with your king of hearts and queen of diamonds. Your ace of diamonds is just an extra." Billy looked at the cards in his hands. His dad had just described exactly what was there. "How did you do that?" Billy asked in amazement. "It wasn't too hard. Just something I do for fun. Here..." George started flipping over the cards in the pile between them, naming the cards before flipping them over. "King, queen, six, four, five, four again, ace, deuce, three, nine, jack, jack, four, six." Billy's eyes widened. George was right every time. Billy stared at his dad, who smiled at Billy. "How the heck did you do that?" "I have a way of remembering all of the cards. It's something I've always been able to do. I just see the cards on the table and remember how they've been played." "You should go to a casino or something!" Billy said. "I did, they kicked me out." George said laughing. Billy was amazed at discovering his dad's ability. He thought it was neat that his dad could do so many things. He could look at an engine that was running poorly and just by staring at it for about ten minutes he could tell exactly what was wrong with it. He could figure out how to take apart anything and put it back together and have it work even better than it had before. And just when Billy thought he had him all figured out, George would do something new and Billy would be left scratching his head trying to figure out how he did it. Unfortunately, Billy would be scratching something else before the end of the weekend, though. While fishing on the lake, Billy felt the urge to use the bathroom. Since they were out in the middle of nowhere, George pulled the boat ashore and Billy ran into the woods. After a while, Billy returned feeling much better. George guided the boat back to the middle of the lake and they continued to fish. After an hour or so, Billy started to squirm. "Anything the matter, boy?" George asked. "No, just a little itchy." Billy replied. "Itchy where? George asked. "Ummm... Well... It itches where I wiped earlier." Billy said uncomfortably. "Oh no... You didn't... Billy, what did you use after you went to the bathroom?" "Leaves." Billy replied. "They were growing on the tree." "On the tree or on vines growing on the tree?" "Vines, I think..." Billy answered. "Billy!!! That was poison ivy!!!!!" George exclaimed. By the time they made it back to the cabin, the itching was unbearable. Billy was squirming and scratching like crazy. George gave Billy some lotion, but it wasn't much help. By the end of the day, Billy was absolutely miserable. George decided that they would leave the next morning for home. The next morning, Billy could hardly walk without pain. George had to take care of the packing, as Billy was too miserable to move. At about noon, they left the mountains and started for home. They had only cut the trip short by a few hours, but Billy still felt miserable about it. He was feeling a lot of pain where the poison ivy was, but there was also a feeling of pain inside him as well. He felt as if he had ruined his dad's vacation as well. As they reached the turnpike, Billy finally felt that he had to say something. "I'm sorry I ruined our trip." He said sullenly. George smiled at Billy. "You didn't ruin anything boy." "I threw up in your truck. I got poison ivy on my ass. Yeah. Great weekend." Billy replied. "Well, I had a good time with you." George said. "Really?" Billy asked, surprised that his dad would admit to having fun with him. "I did. I'm glad you came with me, boy. I wish we would have done this years ago. That's my fault I suppose. I figured you would just be in the way and I'd have to watch you the whole time. It never occurred to me how much fun you'd be. I'm glad you came with me, Billy." "Me too." Billy said. Even though my ass is killing me. Maybe a beer would help?" George laughed and punched Billy playfully on the arm. They joked and talked the whole way home. George realized that he was a lucky man. He had a neat kid for a son. He knew that no matter what happened, he had a son that would make him proud. x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Well, that was fun. I wrote this the first time soon after I finished part one. I had just killed off grandma and I was wondering what direction to take the story next. I wrote this little story as a way to get a grip on what Billy and the family would do to get their lives back in order. That way, I didn't have to use the story itself to do it, I could jump right in to dealing with Brett's problems. You'll notice a few things in this story that were used in later parts. They just kind of stuck with me. This story will help you to see the difference in George when Part Five begins. And speaking of Part Five... Yes there will be a Part Five. And a Part Six. That will be the end, though. I always planned on following through to the end of the story, and I intend to finish it. I have the story outlined and that. It's just a matter of getting motivated and having the time to flesh it all out. I do have the first chapter of Part Five done. But I won't release it until I have the rest of the story finished. Billy and Brett will be a little older, and Billy will be working on getting his driver's license. Part Six takes place two years after that. But that's all in the future. For now, I hope you enjoyed this little adventure. I think the next X Chapter might be about Brett and Dustin. It's about a time when they were friends. Won't you do me a favor and write a quick letter to me to let me know what you thought of this or any other part of the story? My addy is: vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com See you next time!