Chapter 15
I saw Jack outside the office, and instead of avoiding him I went to speak to him.
“Jack, thank you for telling me to carry my radio with me on my walks. I was happy to have it this morning.”
“You know, Lori, in the short time you’ve worked here, you’ve become the biggest pain in my ass.”
I thought he must be teasing me, so I laughed.
“Everything’s a joke with you. Do you ever take anything seriously?” Jack’s voice was getting louder.
“What are you talking about?” I stood there, completely confounded.
“I know that you rearrange the schedules, my schedules, that I work on all winter to guarantee everyone has fun. Who do you think you are, that you can change things without asking me first?”
I had no idea what he was talking about until I remembered how last week two of the Cubs bunks had been scheduled for gymnastics and the other two for softball.
But everyone wanted gymnastics and I had cleared it with the head of gymnastics so all four bunks could do it—but I’d forgotten to inform the softball counselors.
It wouldn’t have been a big deal, but the two women had gone to ask Gilda, as head of programming, why the Cubs hadn’t shown up, and Jack had happened to be with her.
He had immediately radioed me. “Lori, why aren’t Cubs one and two at softball right now?”
“Oh!” I began, “All the girls wanted to do gymnastics . . .”
Jack cut me off and barked back, “I don’t care what they want!” His voice had boomed and echoed in the gymnastics shed, stopping all activity.
I ran outside so no one would hear the rest of his rant.
“I make the schedules because I know what works.”
Obviously, he didn’t know squat about eight-year-old girls. Even though I knew I had made the right decision for the campers, I radioed back, “Understood.”
And now, Jack’s sneer made it clear that he enjoyed my discomfort. He continued his tirade, “No one has ever questioned me about my schedules because this is my camp, I make the rules, not you!”
I stood frozen while Jack pointed his finger in my face and kept yelling at me.
“Now I have to worry about you being attacked by a bear. Nothing like this happens to anyone else. Only you. Why must you walk around the camp by yourself? What is it about you that you’re either creating your own drama or you’re always in the middle of some kind of trouble?”
I tried to stay calm, but my heart thumped hard in my chest. “I take my job very seriously. My campers are happy and well cared for . . .”
“Your campers? Did you just say your campers? All campers are mine. You’ve no idea how hard I worked getting them signed up.”
But I did know. Jack had been charming and persuasive when he came to tell us about his camp. Then the follow-up emails, only two beds left for my daughters, so, yes, I did have an inkling of how hard he pushed to sell Woodlands.
“This camp was falling to pieces before I bought it. I made it successful. Me. I keep the campers happy. I keep them well cared for. Me. Not you.”
I could see the vein in his temple pulsing, and the hand not pointing in my face was clenched into a fist.
“Do you hear what I’m saying to you?”
“It’s hard not to, since you’re screaming in my face.” I took a step back. If he planned on striking me, I wasn’t going to make it easy for him.
He stopped for a moment. He was perspiring profusely, and a band of sweat formed on his upper lip. He was practically panting with rage.
In a place where it was virtually impossible to be alone, I stood face-to-face with a madman. I was sure people were witnessing his diatribe, but no one was willing to challenge Jack and come to my defense.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t fire you right here, right now.”
No matter what I did or said, this wasn’t going to end well.
But I’d been married to and arguing with a lawyer for the past fifteen years, and I knew how to win an argument.
“Do you really want to fire me? The campers like me. I didn’t ask for the bear to appear.
Go ahead and fire me and wait for the harassment papers to show up on your desk.
If you want to take me down, I’m more than happy to bring you along for the ride. ”
Both of Jack’s hands were now clenched. I thought for sure he was going to pummel me. His already loud voice went up a few more decibels. “How dare you threaten me? Who the hell do you think you are?”
It seemed like the angrier he got, the calmer I became. “If you lay a hand on me, I will have this camp closed within twenty-
four hours.”
Jack started shaking from the effort of keeping his anger in check. He unclenched his fists, snarled at me, and abruptly walked away, slapping his hands onto his legs.
I took a deep breath, shivered, and turned toward my cabin.
I was proud of not breaking down. I went to my room where I felt safe, locked the door, threw myself onto my bed, and began to sob.
I didn’t know what to do—I didn’t understand what had just transpired.
When I calmed down, I decided I needed to speak with someone.
Mindy, the camp’s social worker, seemed the best choice.
I needed clarity and she knew Jack well.
She’d be able to explain and untangle what just happened.
I picked up my radio. “Mindy, please come in for Lori.”
“Mindy is with me. She works for me. Not you!”
I dropped the radio, unnerved when Jack’s voice invaded the sanctuary of my room.
How stupid of me. Of course Jack heard all and knew all—he had just screamed that in my face.
I sat on my bed feeling confused and isolated.
I obviously couldn’t get back on the radio again, and if I could, who would I call, Bethany? Abby? Maybe Gilda?
I held my pillow against my stomach, recalling the phone conversation I’d had with Jack back in February. I had been trying to figure out a way to pay for camp when I surprised myself by impulsively calling him and asking for a job.
The conversation came back to me as if it were yesterday.
“The timing of this call seems opportune. Marilyn is sitting next to me. Do you mind if I put you on speaker?” He didn’t wait for my reply. “Marilyn, Lori just asked me if we had a job for her.”
Marilyn had replied, “We’re in the midst of staffing and one of the more challenging positions to fill is division leader. Jack’s sitting next to me smiling and nodding.”
Jack had continued, “After I met you, I could tell you were swimming in leadership skills—can’t resist a camp pun—and thought you’d be perfect in the role of division leader.”
“What makes you think I’d make a good one?”
As soon as I’d asked the question, I felt stupid. If they were willing to hire me, I should have shut up and listened.
“Your energy. You seem to have common sense, but the real tip-off was hearing you say, ‘I wish I could go to camp.’” They both chuckled.
“Doesn’t every parent say that?”
“Are you kidding? Most parents want to hand over their kids as soon as we’ve met,” Jack said.
Marilyn had added, “It takes a certain personality and a lot of spunk to work with kids. Jack said he had seen those qualities in you.”
I distinctly remembered rolling the word “spunk” over in my mind and thinking that was the trait TV boss Lou Grant hated when he used it to describe Mary Richards, the star.
My spunk might be my downfall.
I certainly wasn’t in any shape to be with the campers. I wasn’t sure how long I sat on my bed, agonizing over what to do, when I heard a squeak from the screen door. My heart jumped. Jack wouldn’t dare come into my room, would he?
“Lori, are you in here?”
I was relieved to hear Abby’s voice.
“I’ve been looking for you. It’s not like you to leave your counselors without direction. My goodness, your eyes are all red and swollen. Then I heard Jack on the radio, so I thought, uh oh, I’d better find her. What the heck is going on?”
I felt tears welling up and fought them back. “Isn’t camp supposed to be a happy place?”
“You’d think so. Tell me what happened.”
Before I could answer, our radios let out a high-pitched screech and we heard Bethany announce, “All DLs, please meet me at the OD shack. All DLs meet me at the OD shack. Please copy.”
“Abby and Lori copy,” Abby said into her hip. “Go wash your face. We can talk on the way over.” Abby suggested that we take the long way around to avoid passing the office. “I’m sure you want to avoid Jack.”
“If I never see him again for as long as I live, I’ll die a happy woman. You know what? I don’t plan on seeing him ever again.”
“It’s gonna be difficult to avoid him,” Abby said.
“Not if I drive out of here this afternoon.”
“Really? You would do that? What about Zelda and Hazel?”
“I can’t leave them here with that jackass in charge. I’m going to pack them up right now. Tell Bethany that I will not be at her meeting today, or ever.”
Abby stopped. “Hold up a second, you’re really gonna leave me all alone here?”
I hugged her. “It was great meeting you, and I’ve enjoyed working with you, but I will not allow anyone to humiliate me, especially not Jack.”
Zelda’s empty cabin felt like a steam room, hot and muggy, which perfectly matched my temperament. Methodically, I stripped the bed and threw all her neatly folded clothes on top of the sheets. I stood on the bunk, searching for her trunk in the rafters when the screen door slammed.
Zelda ran over. “Mom, what’re you doing?”
She was with Hazel, and Bethany was behind them.
“Before you make any rash decisions, I thought you should have a conversation with your daughters,” Bethany said. “I’ll leave you alone. Come find me when you’re done.”
“Why is all my stuff on my bunk?” Zelda asked.
“Because I need to leave, and I don’t want you staying here without me.”
The duffel was on the floor, and I began tossing in sneakers, cleats, and rollerblades.
Zelda placed herself in front of me and grabbed my arms. “Stop packing and tell me what’s going on.”