Chapter three
"Now that you've decided, you can make a phone call if you want. It'll be supervised of course. And then we can be on our way." Genevieve sang as she walked out of the hospital with Anika and Larry.
"Gee thanks." Anika's mumbled voice dripped with sarcasm.
"You're welcome. Larry will go with you." she chirped before leaving Anika at the line of pay phones next to the reception desk and walked out into the parking lot.
"Oh goody." Anika mustered up her annoyed glare and directed it at the retired military man who still bore a hole into her head with his intense stare.
The only phone number she could remember belonged to the one person she was supposed to call last night. Greg answered on the third ring.
"Hello?" his suspicious voice filled Anika's ears. Her headache was now calmed down to a dull throb as the doctor explained that she had suffered from a small concussion when her head bounced off the cop's windshield.
"Hey Greg." Anika blew out a sigh and thought carefully about what she was about to say next. Her shoulders slumped even more when leaned against the wall, still conscious of the sergeant's heated gaze.
"Annie? What happened? Why didn't you call earlier?" there was some shuffling on the other end of the line as more worried voices spoke up now.
"Are Nick and Lex there?" Anika asked, trying to delay the inevitable.
"Yeah, we're here. But where are you?" Lex spoke into her ear so she guessed Greg put her on speaker.
"At the hospital." Anika mumbled, hoping they wouldn't catch it. Judging by the line of curses coming from the boys and Lex's intake of breath, they had heard.
"We're coming Annie." Greg immediately said but Anika was quick to protest.
"Don't you dare. It won't make a difference any way and they'll just take you too." Anika's glare fell onto Larry once again.
"What are they doing to 'ya?" Lex asked, anxiety clear in her voice and Anika could picture her biting her nails.
"Nothing much." she tried to sound casual but the obvious dislike in her to tone made someone scoff at the other end.
"I'm leaving for the summer." she sighed out, suddenly feeling very exhausted.
"What? What do you mean the summer? Can't you do some community service and be done with it?" Nick asked in a panic.
"Nah dude, it's either go to some correctional camp or pay the charges." Anika barely heard her own voice over the soft hum of chatter and the reception phone ringing. Someone cursed and Anika guessed it was Greg.
"Don't worry though, the camp is only for the summer." Anika assured.
"You done yet?" Larry's rough voice barked out roughly, making Anika jump at hearing his voice for the first time.
"Alright, alright just calm your ass down. Wouldn't want you to blow a vein." Anika told him, gaining a few chuckles at the other end.
"Sounds like you're getting along." Nick's amused voice chuckled out.
"Yeah, Sargent says hi." Anika rolled her eyes as Larry growled.
"Well, just be careful." Greg said when the somber mood returned.
"Me? How 'bout you lot be careful. At least I'm getting help for myself." Anika said sarcastically, remembering all the information about Silver Lake that Genevieve told her when they were checking out.
"We'll try. But Kid? You be careful alright?" Greg said again with a sense of worry that she only heard in his voice a few times before.
"And try and see if you can call every week." Lex yelled from the background.
"I'll try. Okay, Sargent looks angry now. See you guys later." Anika received their goodbyes once more before clicking the phone back onto its cradle.
"Come on Lare Bear. Genevieve's waiting." Anika pushed away from the wall and walked out of the hospital without look back to see Larry's strict eyes still watching her.
"And cut it out with the staring. I might start to think you like me." Anika threw a half smirk over her shoulder in time to see Larry's glare darken.
Genevieve chatted the whole ride so far from the passenger seat as she explained in more detail about Silver Lake Camp and what Anika would be doing there.
"Once we get there, it'll be around super time I'll take you down to the cafeteria which is where all the meals are served. Then all occupants go to bed at ten. Because today is Tuesday, there isn't a bon-fire like there is on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. Saturday nights are game or relaxation nights.
"Each day you'll be woken at eight except for on the weekends which will be 'sleep in' sort of days. During the week all activities will be starting at nine. On the weekends they start after the second lunch shift at one thirty. The lunch is divided into two shifts; first lunch is served at eleven thirty and the second is at twelve thirty.
"Every week day, you'll have two activities. One in the morning and one in the afternoon after lunch and only one after lunch on the weekends. They'll change every day so you'll never have the same ones two days in a row. There are group and team activities like volleyball, kick ball, baseball and all those other games like that. And then there are the individual sports like archery, fishing, pottery among other crafts." Genevieve drawled on stating other activities. Anika couldn't help but silently admit to herself that this summer might be a little more fun than she thought.
"Your stay at the camp will be for this summer only. In August, if no other issues arise, we will work with you and your community to get you a job and a permanent residence. Our camp programs focus on building resume skills as well. The goal is to have all of our campers return to their homes with a more sturdy ground beneath their feet. In most cases, a difficult home life starts the negative behaviors and habits. We believe when we assist our campers with better life opportunities, then they will make better choices in their lives. There's also a program designed to help out your families back at home if they choose to accept it. We wouldn't want our campers to return to the same environment just to have them be sent back to us for the same instance."
Just then, Genevieve's phone rang cutting her off from her rant.
"Oh hello Kelly!" Genevieve cheered into the phone. With another silent sigh, Anika turned back to watching the forest pass by in a blur. This camp was turning out to be so much more than she thought. At least they were offering to help out in her situation even after she left the camp. A job and a roof over her head was very tempting. She planned on hopefully keeping her head low and not making anymore waves like those that got her in this situation.
"Turns out we have a change in plan." Genevieve sang in her high-energy voice. Larry, as usual, lifted his glare from the road to momentarily look at his partner. Anika briefly wondered if he hated his job.
"Kelly and Jack were called out to pick up another but they already have one and were nearly back at camp. They're holding him at the train station now and we need to go pick him up." Interest burned within Anika as she wondered who they were picking up. Would he be like her as in he didn't really do anything harmful? Or would he be more... violent?
"How far away is the station?" Anika asked curiously.
"Another hour ahead." Genevieve turned around in her seat to smile at Anika. With a soft groan, the raven haired girl let her head rest against the leather seat of the car where she sat in the back and closed her eyes. The reoccurring headache made her aware of the blood flowing in her ears as the medication the nurse gave her back at the hospital wore off. But with the gentle rock of the car and exhaustion that accompanied the aching in her limbs Anika fell into a quick slumber as the dreadful ride continued.
The sounds of a car door closing had Anika jumping in her seat and immediately alert.
"Are we here?" excitement pushed through her voice as her eyes studied the outside world.
"Sorry to disturb you hun." Genevieve frowned with a worried haze in her eyes. "We're at the train station."
"Is there a problem?" Anika asked taking notice of how quiet the usually bubbly Genevieve was now.
"Just a little hiccup." the wrinkle in Genevieve's forehead darkened.
"Oh. Did Sarge- uh, Larry go get whoever we're picking up?" Anika asked seeing as the burly man was nowhere in sight. Genevieve only nodded.
About fifteen minutes of sitting in the car, Anika was starting to get more uncomfortable with each passing minute. The sun was spilling over her lap and turning the exposed skin where her short shorts didn't cover a light pink and created a slight tingling sensation. The back of her thighs and arms were sticky with sweat and stuck to the leather material of the seat. At least while they were driving a small breeze fluttered through the car, but now that they were idly parked the cabin transformed into a sauna. Just when Anika was about to propose going into the station and even helping Larry, did she see him come out of the doors wearing the familiar glare and red tinged cheeks. Behind him was another macho looking man but instead of glaring at anything that moved, he just frowned as he continued to push something in front of him. That something turned out to be a wheelchair with a kid slumped in on himself. The first thought that Anika conjured was how could a kid like this create a problem? Though she knew not to judge everything by looks.
Genevieve hopped out of the car and clattered in her short heels around the front to open the other back door so Anika could get a good look at the kid that was level with her seated position. Now that he was closer, she realized that he was knocked out but concluded that the forming bruise over his eyebrow and the small trickle of blood emitted from his left nostril was not enough to do the job. And she was right.
"Oh my god! Did you chloroform the guy?" Anika yelled in disbelief when she saw the guy behind Larry carefully put a cloth with a damp spot on it into a sealed baggie. His head snapped up, startled at Anika's outburst.
"It was the safest way to get him out of there with no one getting hurt. Including himself." Genevieve said, now back in the passenger seat.
One look at the boy made Anika wonder how much of a struggle he put up. She could tell he was tall even though his lean stature was slumped over terribly. He wasn't over the edge muscly but she guessed he must have had some hidden strength to land a few hits on Larry, judging by the forming welts on the military man's face. The kid's dirty blond hair was long enough to fall into his eyes and get caught up in his long, light lashes but didn't brush against his tanned cheeks. A few barely noticeable freckles were scattered along the bridge of his long, thin nose and cheeks.
"Can I have a tissue or something?" Anika asked, eyeing the streak of crimson that threatened to spill over the perfectly shaped cupid bow on his upper lip. After a second of movement up front, Genevieve fished a napkin out of the glove compartment. Anika took it and hesitantly started wiping the blood off the kid's skin aware that at any moment he could spring back to life.
"His name is Ryleigh." Genevieve provided. "He's a year older than you." Anika just nodded not knowing what else to do and Genevieve wasn't even looking at her anymore. Yes, Anika thought. He does look slightly older though she didn't know if it was because of the scowl line etched into his forehead or the crisp edge to his square, matured jaw.
"How much longer to go?" she asked as Larry drove the car back onto the highway. Once the blood drip was cleaned up, Anika tossed the red dyed napkin on the floor.
"Two hours." the high energy vibe in Genevieve's voice was forced as she too wished the trip would pass quicker.
Taking a deep breath, Anika rearranged her limbs in a manner that allowed her to be comfortable on the leather seat and out of the harassing sun at the same time. Closing her eyes once more, she prepared to sleep the rest of the way. What she wasn't prepared for was the rough awakening when they were just minutes from the camp.