Page 15 of Freak Camp
Tobias just looked at him, his big brown eyes expectant.He didn’t seem to care what details Jake chose to share about his life, he just loved that Jake talked to him.Jake stared at his left knee, where the jeans were wearing through, and braced himself for the next question.But Tobias waited for the story, patient in a way that few people were in Jake’s life.
Jake could make up anything he wanted, and Tobias would smile that same way, with the expression that lit up his whole body and seemed to only be for him.
Jake had used to wish he had a little brother, someone who would look up to him, who he could teach about hunting like Dad taught him.Someone who would trust him the way he trusted Dad, even when Dad was drunk, or angry, or left him with other adults for weeks at a time.He was almost a grown-up now, and he knew he didn’t really need friends and that playing was stupid, but it would still be nice to have someone.Of course, Tobias was a monster and shouldn’t be his friend, but Jake still felt warm when they sat together and Tobias looked at him like Jake was made of all the pie in the world.Tobias would believe anything Jake said, not because he was stupid, but because he trusted Jake.
And Jake couldn’t lie to him.Even about Mom.
“She’s dead,” he said, not looking up from his knee.“She was Sally.Dixon.Hawthorne.”He always said her name that way, because every part was important.The name that was her, the name that was a hunter, and the name that made her theirs, his and Dad’s, and no one else’s.For some reason people tended to forget that last part of her name.He said her name like it was a chant that, said enough times in the right way, would bring her back.
He knew it wouldn’t, of course.He wasn’t a stupid little kid anymore.
He waited for the reaction.Everyone had a reaction.Sometimes amazement (“Oh, you’rethoseHawthornes?”) or disappointment (“He’sSally’s son?”), or an expression that said they had expected more from the son of a national hero, that he should be better than he was.But he wasn’t, and she would never be there to teach him how.
But Tobias didn’t react.When the silence stretched out, Jake glanced up at Tobias.The boy was staring at his knees too.
“I didn’t mean to ask about something that ...”Tobias fingered the hem of his baggy gray pants.He took a deep breath, still without looking at Jake.“My mom’s gonna be dead soon too,” he offered.“She says that’s how we leave camp.It’s a good thing.So maybe Becca and your mom ...maybe they’ll be together?”
Jake’s head snapped up.“What do you mean, your mom’s gonna be dead soon?”
Tobias hunched over and wouldn’t look at him.“She’s going to Special Research.For being a witch.Monsters don’t come out of Special Research.”
“Tobias.”Jake stared at him.He couldn’t wrap his head around it—knowing that his mother was about to die and not doing something about it, not kicking and screaming and fighting every second of every moment to stop that horrible, horrible thing.“Tobias, I didn’t know.”
Tobias glanced at him, and then away.“I mean, it’s not a big deal, she’s a monster.All monsters go there.Oh.”He seemed to realize what he’d said, eyes going wide, staring back at Jake.“I’m ...stupid.Becca and your mom wouldn’t be in the same place.I’m sorry I said that.I mean, I’m sure your mom was awesome.”
Jake took a deep breath and scooted closer to Tobias.He offered him the peanuts, and after hesitating, Tobias took one.“She was awesome,” he said.“She was a hero, and she—”killed monsters.“She loved me, and she made the best waffles, and when she was around”—Dad smiled, unless they were shouting at each other—“we were a family.”
“That sounds awesome,” Tobias said, reaching for the bag and helping himself to another few candies.“What’s a waffle?”
Jake was delighted that Tobias actuallyreachedfor the food—he’d felt the same thrill once when he’d gotten some birds at one of their apartments to come to the windowsill after he left crumbs there, marveling at the idea that something so skittish and wild would trust him.He could shove memories of Mom back where they belonged, far enough away that they didn’t make him feel so much like punching someone.Anyway, it was way more important to fix Tobias’s horrifying lack of knowledge about breakfast foods.
Jake launched into a fifteen-minute monologue in praise and description of waffles, complete with gestures, eating sounds, and recommendations for toppings from the best to worst.The whole time, Tobias watched him like he was the only thing he wanted in the world.Which was ridiculous, because any sane person should also want waffles.
“That’s it, dude,” Jake said at the end, when Tobias seemed no closer to understanding what a waffle was.“Even monsters should know what a waffle is.Next time I come, I’ll bring you one.”
Tobias crunched the last candy.“No such thing,” he said, with a glow in his eyes another child might have at being told that Santa was just as real as all the bad monsters out there.“Not here.”
“Hey!”Jake grabbed Tobias’s hand.“If I say I’m bringing you waffles, I’m bringing you waffles.That’s a promise.”
Then he caught sight of Dad walking across the yard toward them, and he quickly let go as he stood up.Time to go before one of those guard jerks came over.But he turned back to Tobias for a second, sliding the crumpled peanuts bag into his jacket pocket.“Hey, Tobias.It would be cool if our moms were together.Just like it’s cool when we’re together.You know?”
Tobias nodded, really fast and smiling up at him like the friend Jake had never really had, someone who trusted him and liked him and listened.
Jake couldn’t stop smiling, even when Dad glared at him, until they were out of the camp and back in the Eldorado.
***
The next time Jakewent to Freak Camp, he tried to bring a waffle.
It was technically more of a pie, because waffles weren’t really any good if you tried to bring them anywhere.Jake had seen in a gas station a plastic-wrapped dessert labeled as a cherry pie with a waffle base, and he figured that was as close as he was gonna get.Plus, it was small enough that he could wedge it into his pants by the small of his back—where Dad kept his gun—and walk without anyone noticing the bulge.
It didn’t occur to him that the waffle-pie tin would show up in a metal detector until the alarm went off.Weapons were allowed in the camp, but unless you were going in the back entrance with a freak delivery, you had to take them all out and send them through the X-ray machine.
His cousin Lucas Dixon made a big deal of patting him down, then pulled out the dessert.Laughing, he tore open the wrapper, sniffled it, and raised the tin up high like a trophy.“Check it out!Jake Hawthorne is bringing a little cherry into Freak Camp!”
The other guards in the room chuckled.
Lucas smirked at Jake.“Does your father know?”
