Inconvenience

Chapter 9: Atoning

Max held his knew phone tight in his hands. He wasn't in school, or at home. There was no chance in hell that he was taking it out with those 2 around. They'd probably take and sell it on to try and pay off their dept, or more likely just spend on more crap like they always did. Right now he was in a safer place, McDonalds, at 8 in the morning on a Saturday.

He was in a corner booth, back against the wall and feet on the seat. He knew how to log into their Wi-Fi, the problem was actually getting it done.

"Hey Siri?"

There was the double beep and then the phone's monotone voice;

"Yes, Max?"

"Open Wi-Fi settings." As he trailed his finger over the screen he heard things like "Wi-Fi: Switch: On" and "Hot-Spot: Switch: Off". He smirked with joy when he heard: "McDonalds Free Wi-Fi: Unconnected". He did as he was taught by Walter and double-tapped the screen to go into it. The phone said: "McDonalds Wi-Fi: Connected" but was followed by: "Please accept terms and conditions".

His finger traced the screen for over a minute before he finally heard "Terms and Conditions: Check-Box: Unchecked". He double-tapped again and heard "Terms and Conditions: Check-Box: Checked".

"Fuck yes! Siri, Google "Camp Campbell" now!"

A double beep and "Showing results for: "Camp Campbell"."

He traced the screen and heard "YMCA Camp Campbell, safe enriching outdoor camping, ymcasv.org".

"That's not fucking it!" He traced the screen for a bit longer, hearing only about this "YMCA Camp Campbell" and all its shit.

"Siri, Google "Cameron Campbell's Camp Campbell, Lake Lilac, Sleepy Peak, Prime Minister of Thailand".

Beep-beep. "Showing results for: "Cameron Campbell's Camp Campbell, Lake Lilac, Sleepy Peak, Prime Minister of Thailand"."

This time the top result he heard was "Cameron Campbell's Camp Campbell, camscamcamcam.org."

He smiled, double-tapped the screen and began tracing it again, hearing: "Give your child a once-in-a-lifetime adventure!", "guaranteed satisfaction or your money back", and other useless shit, until he finally heard: "Contact". He double-tapped as fast as he could, clicked on the first number he heard.

"Do you want to call this number, Max?" Siri asked.

"Yes!" He yelled, getting impatient with the machine. The sound of dialling, following by that monotonous double-beeping sounded. Max held the phone to his ear and waited with baited breath.

"Hellooooo!"

"David!" Max's gut fluttered, here he was, it was this easy, he was talking to David, the one person who he knew he could trust beyond a doubt, who he knew would help him as soon as he popped a question. He had him, his way out, he had-

"Thank you for calling Cameron Campbell's Camp Campbell! We're sorry but due to a change in management and understaffing we are not accepting new campers until the 1st of May. Please call us back then and we'll give your child the adventure of a lifetime! Campe Diem!"

-a voice message. He had a voice message. Anger flared in Max again. This was so stupid! What would he have said if David had answered? "Hey David, I know I was a little shit who was out to make your life a living hell for three months but do you wanna talk about our feelings and shit?" Thinking about it again Max realized that David would probably cream his pants at the prospect of an emotional conversation.