KALIKABUZA

Chapter 42

We've paid our rent, napped for hours, and now, we're hanging out in the living room, doing nothing. Well, not all of us. Half of the team is out with Michelle. Who knows what she's doing? I'm not going to bother questioning. But when she comes back, I am reminded that we will be throwing a party here in Cabin 7. Dear me... I can't imagine how this weekend is going to go: parties, and parties, and more parties. I'm not going to get a wink of sleep!

It's 7 P.M. Michelle arrives at last. She comes in with her fabulous Entourage—Duke, Aria, Jackson, Will, Bianca, Robbie, Hasan... and Elise. Doesn't Elise realize she's out of their league? She doesn't belong in that group. She sticks out like a canary among hawks. And the way she stays so close to Michelle... I feel embarrassed for her.

Careless of the fact that there were five of us here in the cabin trying to rest and relax, Michelle's Entourage bursts in, playing music, laughing and making noise. The party begins immediately. Joints of marijuana—which God knows where they even got them from—are lit; and the smell of liquor—which somehow also came into their possession—spreads through the air. Soon, more and more of the Royal 60 members come in. By 7:30, Cabin 7—a cabin built for ten—is filled with sixty people. This is crazy!

"Hey, hey, hey! What's the ish?" Duke exclaims as he jumps and sits on the couch beside me. "Spicysh or what?"

"Yeah..." I reply. He's already half-drunk.

"What's the matter with you, little dude?" Duke takes a sip of beer. "Jonesy, right?"

"Yes."

"Here," he hands me a lit joint.

I look at the joint as if it were a snake bearing its poisonous fangs at me. God!

"Aw, Duke, he's obviously never smoked weed before!" says Michelle, who sits on the couch, to my left. I am now sandwiched between the two most popular people in Kalikabuza. "Or have you?"

I shake my head.

"Well, it's not going to kill you," she says, as if it were nothing but candy. "It's not heroin! Here, look!" she takes a long toke, then exhales. "Ah... So, did I die?"

"No, you didn't die. But, no thanks," I say. I'm not an idiot. I may be shy... I may be antisocial... but I know when to reject something like drugs. The question now is, where should I go? I guess I'll go to bed, sleep through the party, and then go for a walk tomorrow morning, while everyone is passed out. But there are people in the boy's room! Guys and girls sitting around, talking and... kissing! What the! That's my bed! Oh, God!

I go back out to the hallway. There, I see scantly dressed girls dancing to this garbage, three-note, one-chord music without real instruments. Guys enjoy what they see, as they sit around, pretending to be club kings, drinking and smoking. Then, I see how much food is being passed around. Bags, and bags, and bags of chips; candy, popcorn, and lots of ice cream. Oh God, how much did Michelle spend on this? We still have seven days of rent and meals to pay! At this rate, we're going to go broke before we make it to Tuesday. But who will listen to me? Who will heed my warning?

The smell of marijuana is really making me nauseous! It's too strong, and concentrated for such a small, closed place. We may all be seventeen and eighteen, but I still think it's wrong for us to be doing this. And what gives? Where are the camp counselors? Surely they must hear the racket coming from Cabin 7–won't they at least come in and check on us? This camp is total anarchy. This is really bad.

The party is out of control. I can't stop it, and even if I tried, I'd be murdered by all the drunk, and high teens. But I could maybe prevent the next party from happening if I can find the person who is distributing the marijuana and alcohol. There must be a source; some kind of... corrupt camp counselor making money off selling marijuana to the campers; or maybe it's park-goers who know the campers will pay double—since we can only pay for things with Kabuza dollars. But where am I going to find this source? Hm... well, I can start by asking someone who loves this green stuff. "Uh, hey, Will?"

"Hey-o, Jones! You've never said my name before, dude!" Out of all the people I've seen in the party, Will's eyes are the most bloodshot. Geez...

"Yeah, hey. Uh, just wondering, where'd you get the marijuana?"

Will chuckles—then he chokes, and coughs. When he recovers, he says, "Where'd I get the marijuana? Bro, if you want some, go ask Mike."

Weed. Right—marijuana is the parental name for it. "Okay, thanks."

"I didn't know you smoked, man. That's cool."

"I..." Whatever. So, Mike. Mike from Swag? He's the tall guy with the short afro, right? So... he's the one selling the weed, huh? How in the world did he smuggle it all into the park? I spot Mike pretty quickly. He's standing near the bathroom, with two girls at each side of him. I'm terrified of interrupting him, but I have to do this. "Hey Mike..."

Mike briefly looks at me, then returns his attention to the two pretty girls.

"Mike!"

"Yeah..." he looks back at me, not very happy, "what?"

"Uh, you're selling the, uh, the weed, right?"

"Want some?"

"No—yeah—no! Uh, where are you getting it from?"

The two girls look at each other. Mike breaks away from them and crosses his arms. "Where am I getting the weed, this guy asks! Ha! What are you, a teen-cop? Why do you wanna know?"

Oh God, I didn't think this through. That's it, I'm dead. He thinks I'm going to tell on him. But... ah! I can't give up here. I gotta make something up—quick! "Uh... uh... Just, Michelle, uh, you know Michelle?"

Mike raises an eyebrow.

"She... asked me to get her some. I... I wasn't sure from where."

Mike eyes me for a moment. I feel like he's seeing right through me. "For real?" He laughs, and lowers his intimidating posture. "Damn! I didn't know she was such a pothead! Well, I don't have anymore left, actually. But isn't she with Duke? He's the one who has all the weed!"

Duke. Of course, Duke. Why didn't I guess him first? Would've saved me the embarrassment just now. I find him easily. He's still on the couch, beside Michelle—and Elise, of course—and they are surrounded by people. This is the heart of the party. The snake pit. Great... How am I supposed to approach Duke?

Wait, he's standing up. He's... he's leaving. What's he doing? "I'll be back," he says to the party. He walks to the door of the cabin, and exits. Well... there's my chance, if ever there was any. I follow—discreetly.

Strange that Duke didn't go with anyone—wherever he's going. But it seems like he wants to be alone. He checks to see that no one is following. I first wait until he's out of the cabin before I go out myself. Immediately, I hide between two cabins. Where is he going? He's walking out of the Village. I follow, but keep my distance and I hide between the cabins every time he looks back. What is he up to? He leaves the Village behind, and heads toward Dynamo Dome. Well, that's strange. I keep following, but there's less place to hide. Then I stop and ponder as I see that Duke doesn't enter the Dome. Instead, he keeps going, back and around the Dome. I follow, but I know there's nothing there, except the dumpsters. But that's where he seems so keen on going. Behind the dumpster he goes, and disappears from sight.

I walk as close as I can. I'll be smart, and leave some room to escape, in case he appears suddenly, or a counselor catches me here. I see Duke in the gap between two dumpsters. There are two other people with him. One is... what the—Blake! Who's the other? I can't see him. I watch closely. Duke and Blake are... buying weed from this third person. But once they buy it, they give each other nasty looks, and go their separate ways. I stay where I am and wait for Duke to go away. But then, the third person turns around and I catch a glimpse of his face. Oh wow! It's... Tristen—the motorcycle counselor guy! Whoa! So... I was right: the weed is coming from a corrupt camp counselor! Well... this, I am most definitely going to take note of. I'm going to end this corruption!