Page 5

Chapter Five

The orientation had opened his eyes. They were running some scheme. Getting people to work for them and pay them.

He went through all the clothes he’d brought along, and none of them seemed appropriate for a work detail except for his undershirts.

Those had been brought along to go under Jovian’s clothes, as they were meant to, but not only would he refuse to ruin his real clothes, but he’d blend in better with the rabble.

He had one of every color pastel. They’d go under corresponding shirts, usually, but he chose the pale blue for the next day, then he pulled out his pajamas. After walking to the shower, he walked inside, gazing around to assure he was alone.

It was like he had been transported to a third world country.

The shower room was little more than a long line of rusty old showerheads perched on cracking pale lemon tiles.

The floor was also cracking, tiny white tiles covering almost all of it except for the rusty drains.

“This place is a case of tetanus waiting to happen.”

Not that he was shy. Jovian Masseretti was not shy, not even when he was naked. But there would be no more free rides for anyone at the camp. He got under the shower, remembering that he only had ten minutes. “How does anyone take a shower in ten minutes?”

“Easy,” Lou said as she went by him. “Top, middle and bottom, wash, wash.”

“Excuse me? What are you doing here?”

“I told you, if you didn’t want another gender in here with you, hang the sign for preferred gender.”

“I forgot that,” he admitted, then asked, “Why aren’t you at the camp thing?”

“I’m allergic to graham crackers, of all things, so thought I’d shower.”

“But…but I’m not sure I’m okay with this!”

“If you’d like to wait, I’m not offended,” she said, shrugging a shoulder. “If you are weird to see a woman’s breasts.”

“I’ve seen them. Breasts, I mean,” Jovian said as he lifted his chin. He and Ciana had changed together a hundred times when they shopped for clothes.

Her towel was hung on the hook and her shower started immediately. Turning away, Jovian hung his towel on the hook by the shower farthest from her and took the quickest shower of his life.

In fact, he was finished before she was, and he was covering himself, rushing out of the room and into the locker room to dress.

Again, the fastest he’d ever donned his PJs, and he was out and back in his cabin long before anyone else made it.

He lay in his bunk, the little breeze from the screened windows cooling the place off a little, and also, that breeze brought in the scents and sounds from the rest of the camp.

Wherever the s’mores were being roasted, it smelled like it was right outside his window, and his belly gave a long, low growl. They smelled delicious, but what was harder to stomach was the laughter, and lighthearted conversations.

There were too many to pick out words, but the intonations were all happy and comfortable. Easy talking, happy, like they were at some wonderful reunion, and Jovian supposed they were. A lot of people that had been there multiple times, meeting old friends, like Mike and Kathy.

After turning onto his side, Jovian moved his head so he could grab the pillow and shove it over his head to mute some of the sounds. If he didn’t, he might run out there and try to join. That would not happen. He wasn’t one of them, didn’t want to be one of them.

No, he was fine on his own.

The next day, he woke to see a few of the campers were still in bed, like him, but more were up and walking around, still others gathered around a big corkboard by the door. Mike came over to him and asked, “Who’d you piss off?”

“What?”

“Latrine duty,” Mike said, then snickered. “Newbies rarely get that right off the bat.”

After sitting up, groaning, and running his fingers through his hair, he hummed, “Bunch of jealous assholes, trying to get me to quit. They think if they can keep me out of the clubs, they’ll keep their boyfriends.”

“Yeah, uh, whatever. Almost time for breakfast. Get moving or you don’t get the best coffee.”

“Coffee? That, I could use.”

“Come on. We’re headed there in five minutes.”

“Five minutes? Without…sunblock or moisturizer or anything?”

“We’ve been up for an hour. You’re gonna have to set your alarm.”

Jovian suddenly thought of the paper money his mother had insisted he take, just in case. “Could I possibly, uh…pay you to bring me a coffee while I get ready, hmmm?”

Mike laughed, but Kathy came right to him. “Twenty.”

“Fine. Twenty. I take sweetener, not the pink one, and a tiny bit of nonfat cream.”

“They have powdered creamer and the pink stuff, blue stuff or real sugar.”

“Ew!” Jovian thought it over a moment and said, “Blue stuff, and no cream. That powdered stuff is terrible!”

“Got it. If I can sneak some milk, you mind a little 2%?”

“I’d give you an extra ten.”

As she ran off, Mike sat on Jovian’s bunk. “That was nice.”

“Nice? It was?”

Mike whispered, “She’s been saving for her surgery for years. She’s almost got enough. Next year, she might be…be whole, if you know what I mean.”

Jovian couldn’t imagine not wanting his dick, but he didn’t fault anyone else. “Well, good. I just need to hold her down and give her a makeover.”

Mike laughed and clapped him on the back. “You’re a good guy under all that…that.”

Jovian did not know what he meant by that, but as he watched Mike walk away, he thought about his assignment. “I shouldn’t have hurt True’s little feelings. Well, fine. The bathroom might actually be clean for once! They will not get me to quit.”

After he was dressed and he’d gone to the bathrooms to wash up, he was applying cream to his eyes as Kathy made it back with his coffee.

“The lunch crew has a friend of mine, so I got you skim milk, and they just happened to have the yellow packets in the back. I got you enough for today’s and tomorrow’s coffee. ”

Jovian was so happy he gave her two twenties. “Thank you.”

The coffee wasn’t what he was used to, but it wasn’t too bad. It was downed quickly as he applied a little foundation and lip color, then headed to the Mess Hall to eat.

Out of everything available, he got some scrambled eggs and apple slices, and when he turned, he saw Mike waving him over. When Jovian got to that table, he mentioned to Mike, “I thought you ate a long time ago.”

“I stayed back to jaw with some friends. Jovian, this is Amy,” he said, and Jovian turned to see a pretty blond with a long braid that fell down her back.

He shook her hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. I’m new too. I just got here. Mike’s been trying to get me to come for years.”

“ I didn’t come by choice,” he said, with a definite snootiness in his voice that the others ignored.

“Well, so far, it’s lovely,” she said, smiling. “The mountains, oh, they’re so pretty.”

“Amy is from the east. She doesn’t get into many mountain areas.”

“Prairie girl, it’s true,” she said in a singsong voice that sounded like she was an opera star. After she left, Jovian hurried to ask, “She’s a lesbian?”

“No, she’s bisexual. Still, coming from a little eastern town, she doesn’t see anyone in our community. I met her when I broke down on my way through her town, and we have been friends since.”

“She’s very pretty, but she needs new clothes.”

“Jovian! Lord, boy, you’re too damn shallow. Let me walk you over to the latrines and show you what to do.”

The moment Jovian heard the word he winced like he’d been punched. “Latrine. I swear, they’re trying to break me.”

“Okay, Cool Hand Luke,” Mike said to him.

“Who?”

“Never mind. Come on.”

On the way to the bathrooms, Jovian looked it up on his phone during a moment of reception which was few and far between at the camp. “Who is that? He’s gorge!”

Mike glanced over at Jovian’s phone. “Paul Newman?”

“Are you asking me?”

Mike laughed, and that confused Jovian more. “No, no. That’s him. Old movie, old actor.”

“Oh, he’s old now?”

Mike just chuckled again.

In the small building with the latrines, there was a closet and Mike pulled out the broom, mop, bucket and sponges, then pointed to the shelf on top.

“Your choice of cleaners, some people hate bleach, so there’s ammonia and some other stuff.

There’s a stand there to keep people out while you’re cleaning.

Clean the stalls, the tops too. Dix checks. ”

That name had Jovian’s attention, even if the instructions had his mind wandering. “Dix?”

“Yeah, Coach Dix. He inspects.”

“Oh. Oh, well, good. I mean, that’s fine.”

“I’m telling you, Jovian, don’t try it. If you don’t think there are a hundred guys that have come here and tried, you’re nuts.”

“A hundred guys that couldn’t wipe the dirt off my very expensive sneakers.”

Mike had a nice smile. “Nice sneakers to work cleaning a toilet, but you do you, babe.”

“Thanks. I will.”

He found rubber gloves on the shelf and decided on the bleach, though he’d never used it. After reading the warnings alone, he went back to the shelf and tried to find something that couldn’t kill him in a heartbeat or burn his perfect skin, to no avail.

“Well, great. I guess I can just risk death to get my man.”

He got the bleach again and mixed it in the bucket, starting on the tops of the stalls first, leaning on the windowsill, the walls of the stalls and then he stared at the first toilet like it was a monster.

“How many nasty butts have been on you in the short time this place has been open?”

Of course, it didn’t answer, but Jovian just shrugged.

The toilet brush was a ghastly thing, but he picked it up and scrubbed every toilet.

None seemed like they’d been properly cleaned in ages.

The bleach was strong, but it worked to get years-long stains from the porcelain and when he was done, he set his hands on his tiny hips and smiled.

“Well, let him inspect. Maybe we can dirty the place up a little after.”