Family + Camp (working title)

Chapter 27: Children of Divorce

She congratulated herself on not squeezing said tricep. That would have been...awkward. They walked away towards the exit.

"How has it been?" she asked, once they were far enough away from her parents and Rob. "Having my dad take over?"

Cash shook his head. "I'm...not going to answer that. I sense a test."

"Fair enough," Nell said. "How about this: Do you miss the last camp director?"

"Hm," he said. "Well, to be honest, I didn't have a lot to do with him. He seemed very...what's the word I'm looking for? He seemed like he was on a pedestal, and he handed a lot of work off to the program director and summer camp director. So we plebes didn't have a lot of contact with him." Cash shrugged. "But I guess he was fine, for, you know, for a boss."

Nell nodded.

"Do you miss your old camp?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation. "It was home. The only one I've known. When I was a baby, we were at another camp in Washington, but we moved to Fields Creek when I was like two or three. It's really the only place I've known."

"I've lived in San Francisco my whole life," Cash said. "I can't imagine leaving it. Although I will be soon."

"College is different. It doesn't count."

He laughed. "What do you mean it doesn't count:?"

"I mean, your home will still be there. You're just going to school, and then you'll come back for holidays and such."

Cash didn't answer.

"It'll still be there, right?"

He grimaced. "Not exactly. My parents are divorced."

"Oh." Nell wasn't sure if she should say she was sorry. Some of the kids back at Collins High had divorced parents. Len's mom was a single parent, and he never really talked about his father. Jenny had a step-mother. Her friends didn't seem too broken up about it. It wasn't like they were super jealous of her folks who were not exactly lovey dovey, but they were a team. They were a team Nell and Jamie could count on, and that felt safe.

"Yeah," Cash went on. "My dad moved out when I was sixteen. And now that my mom has a—an empty nest as she calls it—she's putting our stuff in storage and giving up our apartment."

"Why? Where is she going?"

"Mexico."

"What?" Nell could not believe her ears. "What about you?"

"She said Rob and I can stay with our dad during the holidays."

"Okay...but what is she doing in Mexico?"

Cash laughed, but it didn't sound happy. By now, they had reached the Costanoa campfire and found two seats close to the stage. A fire ring lay in front of it, the wood already set up to be lit.

"That is a very good question, Nell. That is a very good question indeed."

She waited. Cash sighed.

"She's saved up some of her own money—she was a housewife but got a part-time job after I started high school. And...I guess she's just going to hang out there and paint for a while. At least, that's what she told us. I have this awful idea she's going to be all sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but...ah...I do not want to think very hard about it."

"I get it," Nell said. And she did. "My parents have only had sex twice: me and my brother."

Cash laughed, and she was relieved and proud to hear the sound, to have drawn him away from what seemed liked something that was actually kind of painful. He held the door to the meeting room open for her, and they went inside, ready to be trained some more.