ound Easy’s, on top of the knob. “Okay,” he agreed.
“That good for you, Easy?” X-Ray asked.
Easy looked around. For a second I thought he’d ease off, but then he said, “How the hell am I supposed to know when there’s a commercial?”
He tried to turn the knob. Zigzag tightened his grip.
I could see the strain on their muscles and the tension on their faces. Easy’s eyes began to water. Suddenly, he yelped like a dog and jerked his hand away.
“You’re whacked out!” he exclaimed. “Look what he did to my hand!”
The channel knob was imprinted on Easy’s palm. Cuts in his skin were shaped like little numbers.
Later, when a counselor asked Easy how he hurt his hand, he said, “I slammed the tent door on it.”
That is what you should say whenever you get hurt in a fight, or even if someone hurts you accidentally. You never tattle.
We were always getting our hands or noses bashed in by those damn tent doors. It doesn’t matter that there are no doors on the tents, just canvas flaps.
Later that night Zigzag lay on his cot, reading his TV Guide. He let out a deep sigh and said, “Man, too bad we don’t get cable.”
7
Tarantulas (and Other Spiders)
This is what Mr. Sir says about tarantulas: “Their bark is worse than their bite.” I think what Mr. Sir means is that tarantulas are a lot more scary-looking than they are dangerous. But Zigzag said he heard one bark.
If you see a tarantula crawling up your shirt, just brush it off. If it bites you, just wash the area with soap and water. It might be sore and red for a few days, but that’s about it.
The general rule at Camp Green Lake is the bigger the spider, the less deadly the venom. Tarantulas are big and hairy, about the size of a fist. They don’t have to be deadly because they scare everyone away. The smaller spiders need toxic venom to protect themselves. The most dangerous spiders at Camp Green Lake are the ones that are so small you can hardly see them.
Habitat: I don’t know where tarantulas live. I just saw them crawling around, pretty much wherever they wanted. Smaller spiders make their homes under rocks and in the cracks in the concrete of the shower stalls.
Never pick up a rock with your bare hands. Use your shovel. X-Ray’s eyesight wasn’t very good, so before he would turn on the shower, he used to stomp around the area wearing just his shoes. It was kind of funny to watch, but we never laughed at X-Ray.
Survival Test Three
You are filling your canteen at the spigot outside the shower wall. Someone says, “Hurry up, Snotface!” and shoves you from behind. The next morning when you wake up, the guy on the cot next to you tells you that you have a black eye. So how did you get the black eye?
A: A spider, living in the cracks by the spigot, bit you just below the eye.
B: When you were pushed, your face smashed against the water spigot.
C: You got the black eye fighting the guy who pushed you.
D: All of the above.
E: You don’t have a black eye. It has been five months since your sheets were washed. That’s dirt, grime, and mildew on your face.
answer to test three
The tent door slammed in your face.
8
How to Dig a Hole
At the beginning of each day, Mr. Sir will tell you where to dig. Don’t stop and ponder. Just get started. You want to get as much dug as you can before the sun rises.