Kit’s POV
I try to fight the harsh glare threatening to cover my face as I walk to Mary’s office. I tried to stay out of Roland’s business. I really did. I don’t check his school work like Mary wanted me to, I don’t tutor him because he doesn’t want me to, I don’t force him out into social settings like Andrew hoped I would, I don’t question his germaphobia, I scrap my food to the middle of the trey because that’s the way it has to be even though I hate the reasoning and don’t want to pry and ask why.
But Mary has crossed a line. I only know the part of the story that Roland told me but even just half of the story is enough to make a clear decision on who was in the wrong.
If Mary was going to put him in such a state of distress then she at least needs to know what she did and who had to pick up the pieces.
“Is Mary in her office,” I asked the mean looking receptionist at the front desk. She barely looked up from her computer before pointing at the closed door and going back to her work. “Okay then, thank you.”
I don’t even think about knocking before I opened the door.
Mary sat behind her desk while Andrew stood in front her, seeming rather passionate about whatever he was talking about.
“Kit,” Mary said with a smile, effetely cutting Andrew off mid sentence. “What can I help you with today?”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt. I can come back later,” I said with a sigh as I go to back out of the room.
“No it’s fine,” she said a bit too excitedly. “We were almost finished here anyway.”
“I wouldn’t say that but we can put off the conversation for a few minutes,” Andrew said with a smile as he turned to me. “Would you like me to leave?”
“No it’s probably good that you’re here honestly. It’s about Roland.”
“Did something happen,” Mary asked, concern flashing across her face with a frown.
“Uh yea something did. From what I personally understand you were the reason it happened.”
“Is this about the rain?”
“It’s more about the tool box,” I said with a frustrated sigh. I tried to push down the hatred and keep a level head but how does she not even know what the problem is? “He ran back to the cabin crying and panicking. I had to use half a box of cleaning wipes to clean it. He scrubbed his hands in the bathroom for 30 minutes. He hates you now by the way. I had to hold him for literally hours until he calmed down enough to push me away. I don’t know much about what happened but I do know that was the furtherest thing from okay. I know you had good intentions but I refuse to be the only person looking out for him. You need to do better.”
“That’s actually what we were just talking about,” Andrew said, a small frown on his face. “We’re putting new rules in place.”
“He’s not going to like that,” I said with a frown. He already hated the current rules, adding more was just going to end up frustrating him and making him loose the love for the one thing he actually likes here.
“Not all of the rules are for him. Some are for us. Like we can’t take things from him. Ever. Also if he tells us to stop hovering or that he wants to be left alone for a while we do it. Set a time limit to have a check in with him so he knows you are coming back and aren’t upset with him but leave. His teachers have rules they’ll be following too. Our rules are still new and we need time to see how they work, we might add others, we might take some away or alter them in some way but for now these are some things that we all need to keep in mind.”
“That’s all well and good for the future but what are you going to do about you’ve already done,” I asked Mary, the anger coming back slightly. “What were you even doing after he left? He was crying before he even made it to the cabin and you didn’t think to go after him or at least send Andrew out? If I hadn’t been placed in his cabin what would you have done? He wouldn’t touch that tool box again and his only outlet here would be gone.”
“I thought he’d appreciate the space. I planned on checking in a few days to clean his things but Andrew told me that you had it covered after he had a session with him so I decided space was still needed. I didn’t want to make things worse.”
“I’m not sure you could make it much worse,” I said honestly. “He genuinely hates you now. I don’t know if you try to be this affectionate to all of your campers or if you’re just trying to help him out but you need to do some massive damage control if you’re still hoping to be an adult he trusts.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. Regret was clear in her body as she leaned against he desk. “I don’t even know where to start. He has never liked me and I just keep making things worse.”
“To be fair I don’t really think he likes anyone,” I said honestly.
“That’s not true,” Andrew said with a smile. “He trusts you Kit. That’s why he let you clean his things, and hang out with him all time when he fixes his car, and let you give him deep pressure. I think its just adults that he’s weary of.”
“He’s a foster kid, of course he’s not going to trust adults. You’re just proving to him that he’s right to not trust you.”
“I’m going to do better,” Mary said confidently. “Andrew is going to help me. Roland is a good kid and he deserves to have good role models in his life and I really want to be that for him. I don’t want him making it to adulthood being so skeptical of other people. He’ll never thrive that way once he leaves here.”
“Then you have a lot of making up to do. For someone who works with kids for a living you really aren’t the best at it.” Mary lets a small laugh escape her before sighing.
“I know,” she said sadly. “I used to a mother figure to all my campers. I was the one taking care of scrapped knees, break ups, college admissions, I sponsored three or four kids at a time, I kept in contact with almost every after they left unless they just didn’t want me to. Then we got bigger, we lost grants, I started spending way too much time in the office, and by the time I got us stable again I didn’t know any of the kids anymore. I kept saying the next kid who showed up I would make things right and start becoming a bigger part of camp life again but I just kept putting it off. I want things to go back to how it used to be but it’s a lot harder than I remember it being.”
I couldn’t help but bite back an eye roll.
“Well take your time,” I said, failing to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “It’s not like kids are leaving every year or anything.” Mary sighed and opened her mouth to say something else but I cut her off. “Do you what you want to do, I don’t care but you don’t get to treat Roland like that again. You’re not the one he’s running to after it’s over. Do better or leave him to those who care.”
I don’t let her reply as I walk out and close the door behind me.
Roland’s POV
My eyes scanned over the car I had spent the past week fixing. It was running like a top, I knew I had done everything right by this car, but now that I stood here my heart raced and my hands fought to not shake by my sides.
I was wearing my Camp New Life shirt that was no covered in grease since I nervously checked everything again the second we pulled up to the empty parking lot Mary insisted we use. Mary said strangers weren’t allowed to come to camp for security reasons as well as possible triggers for other kids so all of my car exchanges would have to be done here. Technically I wasn’t;t supposed to be away from camp as often as my car ‘business’ would demand me to be but I guess Mary is making an acceptation.
So now I stood here watching someone else testing my work praying they didn’t find anything I could have missed.
“How old is the battery,” the man asked as he thumbed around under the hood.
“It’s new. The guy before me just replaced it,” I said trying to sound upbeat and casual but the look on Andrew’s face told me I didn’t quite sound the way I had hoped I would.
“And it runs fine?”
“It’s running now,” I point out.
“But will it stay running?”
“Well the engine wasn’t the problem so it should,” I say trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.
“Right,” he said as he got his head out from under the hood. “And you wanted how much for it?”
“I listed it for 16,000.”
“With that I could go buy a new one,” he said with a glare on his face.
“Good luck finding any new car for that price. But when you can’t and give up, this car won’t still be here. So either take it now or stop wasting my time.”
“Would you be able to let it go for 13,000?”
“15,000 and it’s yours.” He scoffed and shook his head.
“14,000?”
“15,000 is the lowest I can go. I spent a lot of time and money on it. I’m not going under 15,000.”
“Okay kid level with me here. I know you didn’t fix this car so how about you call the guy who did so I can talk to him.”
“Roland did fix this car,” Mary said with a scowl on her face. “He spent a week babying that stupid car until it was too dark he couldn’t see. If he says it’s worth 15,000 then that’s what it’s worth.”
“No offensive lady but I don’t expect you to know. Are you his dad,” he said as he looked at Andrew.
“Um no, just a friend. But I can say that he did fix this car by himself. Either pay him or we can take it back home and find someone-,”
“He’s not my dad,” I said with a new glare on my face.
“Okay my bad but still-,”
“No,” I interrupted. “No but still. He’s not my dad. My dad is dead. Andrew isn’t dead because he isn’t my dad. Don’t say that.”
“It’s okay Roland, he didn’t realize,” Andrew said gently, a small smile on his lips as he looks down at me. My eyes are still glued to the man I didn’t even know. He had turned sickly pale the second the words came out of my mouth.
“I’m so sorry for your loss. I really didn’t know. You two just looked so much a like and he’s older-,”
“Older,” Andrew asked with his own glare now.
“Not like old just older than him,” the man scrambles.
“Are you going to buy the car or not?”
“Yes,” he said seeming relived at the subject change. “So 16,000?”
The ride back to camp was awkward. Mary had drove her car to the meet up spot while me and Andrew used the car I was selling but now on the way back the two of them sat up front while I sat in the back and picked my nails.
It felt like it took hours to get back to camp but turns out getting back was the worst part.
“Why don’t we go to my office real quick? We can see about getting you the next car,” she said the second she parked the car. I followed her with a pit in my stomach, knowing where this conversation was about to go, especially after seeing Kit sitting at Mary’s chair.
“Are you happy with the price you got for the car,” she asked as she sat down on her desk, not minding the papers under her butt. Her full attention was on me and I’m not sure I liked it. “It was the listing price. You said you were only expecting to get 14,000 so that’s really cool.”
“I don’t care about the money. You know that.”
“Damn that’s a lot more than you made it out to be,” Kit said with a wide smile. “You should be proud.”
“I am proud. That I sold the car. Not that I have the money. He thought Andrew was my dad. I didn’t think he was going to buy it after that.”
Kit looked like he was about to laugh but the glare, that I’m pretty sure was fake, on Andrew’s face was enough to make him cover it up with a cough.
“So now we talk about what we’ve all been avoiding for a while now,” Mary said, a hopeful smile on her face. “Your pay.”
“I want new baseballs for the baseball team and whatever the art program needs. Sorry I don’t go in there so I don’t know what they need.”
“Okay so we can for sure get that for them after your donation. But as for how much you get, I was thinking 70/30.”
“5,000 is perfect,” I said with a sigh of relief. It’d be plenty to get my next car especially if I found one cheap enough and the parts. But Mary’s face fell.
“No Roland, camp would be getting the 5,000. You would be getting 11,000. Camp would can do so much with the 5,000. We never get donations that big. I promise it will be more than enough.”
“I don’t want that,” I groaned as I balled my hands up at my sides.
“What do you want Roland, realistically,” Kit asked from his spot from behind the desk. He wasn’t smiling anymore and I hate to say that I didn’t like the serious look on his face. It didn’t suit him. “I don’t want to hear any ‘no pay’ or ‘minimum wage’. I want you to be realistic. You’re getting paid. A reasonable wage. If you can make it fair and can get me to see how it’s fair I’ll make it happen.”
“You have the power to do that now,” I asked with a frown. I didn’t think he was all that important here.
“I have the power to get them off your back but you have to help me. Give me a reasonable offer I’ll make them do it.”
“If we can’t do 70/30 what about 60 for camp, 40 for me?”
“At that point why not just go 50, 50,” Mary asked with her smile.
“Explain why 60/40 is fair.”
“Because it’s better than 70/30. I don’t really know. It just sounded better.”
“If your usual revenue is 16,000 it would be 6,400 for each. Roland could get his new cars and part with enough left to put in savings and if he wants anything else. This last car cost him 5,600 so if he consistently does that, there’s 800 for him to spend or save. I think that’s fair since that’s what he wants.”
Mary looked like she wanted to argue but one look from Andrew and a frown from Kit made her stop in her tracks.
“If that’s what you want then that’s what we’ll do,” she said with a smile. “Andrew and I will take you to the bank soon to set up your own account so you won’t have to worry about keeping your money here. Plus if you just want to keep it in savings it will at least start accumulating interest and you can get a bit more out of it in the long run.”
I nod because arguing doesn’t seem right now.
“So, how about we start looking for this next car of yours?”
Last updated January 21, 2024
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