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Going Camping - Chapter 8

Does Norway have earth Quake?

I know that’s a stupid question but I’ll tell you that it was perfectly relevant for the situation I was in for. My whole world rocked so hard these days and the motions I felt could be nothing but an earthquake either that or the cheese I ate before had gone bad and was coming out to hunt me. I will go for the first option since the only other thing that can move me like this was Howie´s snoring and that was totally out of the question since the guys had dumped me so rudely this morning.

The fact that I was laying down on the ground, using my own jacket as a pillow, made it even more clear that it had to be an earthquake that was shaking this part of the world. An eight on the Richter scale no doubt! Half asleep I did my best to wake up. It was hard since my eyelids were heavy as lead and all I wanted to do was to go back, sinking into oblivion since being awake reminded me too much that the guys had left me and I was on this camping trip all alone.

There it was again, the shaking!

This time my shoulder, my whole body shook and it made me feel like a fourth of July celebrator that had a bit too much to drink. Dizzy as hell. On top of everything my mouth was even drier than the Sahara desert and I desperately longed for something to drink. Despite the rocking I opened my eyes, only to stare into a pair of brown ones that could only belong to one person.

AJ!

My mouth dropped to my chin when I saw my main man staring down at me, looking like he’d seen a ghost. Was I dreaming? Was I dead? Was this a nightmare? The view of my big brother is not the most pleasant thing that you could encounter. It usually involved both pain and torture and I held my breath as I waited for something to happen. Like a cold bucket of water over my head. The bucket trick I had been a victim of one time too many and it’s not nice one I’ll tell you. Especially not when you are snoring away, wait that was not me who snored it was Howie, oh well I was drawing z´s when I was hit with freezing cold water. In my face! It wasn’t too bad I just hoped that he could have the courtesy to bring out the ice before deciding to baptise me.

"YO Kaos, You awake?" AJ yelled, shaking my shoulder. Hard.

Blinking slowly I tried to clear out the new situation I was in for. When I had fallen asleep after playing the Game boy for what seemed like hours I was certain that no one would ever come for me and I would have to live my life like that dude Robinson Crusoe. Boy was I wrong.

They had come back for me!

They still loved me!

When it dawned upon me that it was AJ and not one of my dreams I jumped to my feet. Never in my life, I think, had I been this happy to see my big bro. One big hug where I nearly squished my man AJ shoved me away, rudely. "What´s the matter with you dude? Have you gone crazy?" I knew I was interfering with his cool attitude, yet I didn’t care. Instead I continued to hug him, bawling on his shoulder like a big oversized baby. This had my friend frowning in disgust.

"AJ I really missed you." I piped up.

"Missed me?" Judging by his disgusted _expression it was like I had asked him to marry me. The reaction he showed was mixed. First he hugged me tighter then he pushed me away only to hug me again and finally push me away again. This time it was with concern. "Are you all right dude? You're acting pretty weird. Did the sun get to you?"

"No." I shook my head, not wanting to let go of my friend. "I never thought I would see you again but you came back for me!"

The words must have sent more fuel into the already pressed situation as AJ called out for Kevin a bit further away. "Hey Kev you got to come and see. I think something is seriously weird with Nicky. He’s acting really strange."

"It’s Nick we’re talking about. He’s always strange. Nothing new there."

Well thank you for that one Kevin. I looked up with a glare.

"Yeah well he is strange even for being him." AJ said as he shrugged away from my bear hug. I sat down on the ground again, Kevin by my side.

"Ok what is it then?" he asked, doing his best not to show his un interest in my situation. When I didn’t answer at first, I mean I had really no obligations to do so since I was not the one that had been left behind. Kevin asked me in a gentle tone, "What’s wrong Nick? Is it your ankle? It’s not getting any better?"

"No, It´s not that." I shook my head widely. Why were they acting so strange? First they dumped me and then when they finally came back for me they act like nothing was wrong. I watched them in suspicion. What if they weren’t my brothers? What if this was some copy of them and the real ones were abducted. Can you tell that X-files are my favourite show on TV?"

""What is it then?" Kevin had a worried expression on his face.

"His head!" AJ filled in. "The one he has hair on." The bastard had the nerve to laugh at me and so did Kevin.

Ha ha ha funny funny. I glared at them. Getting snide comments from the guys was not something I could deal with right now. Instead I decided to play Garbo and went silent again as I pondered my own situation. Didn’t they have any sort of humanity in those bodies of theirs? I mean come on first he ditched me and now he is trying to play the good guy. I so wanted to tell him what I felt about it all but instead I kept my mouth shut. They were the ones that had to take the first step to bring up the subject. Not me!

Frowning Kevin felt my forehead. "Nope you’re not warm." He was talking to himself as he was doing his best to access how I was really feeling. "So it can’t be heat exhaustion. You took something for the pain? Like aspirin or Tylenol?" The inquiring questions went on.

"Nope." I did not but at this time it didn’t sound too bad. What was wrong with this dude? Here he had left me and now he was acting like I was the crazy or the sick one. I could never understand these guys. Something in my eyes must have told Kevin that not everything was as peachy as I tried to make it. Either that or the fact that I did use nothing but short words like No and Nope.

"Then what is it Nick? A deep sigh. It was rather clear that Kevin was sick and tired of babysitting me and I started to wonder when he would say that this was a bad idea, pack his things in the car and then move back to Oslo and the management. I, Bri and Bone had made a bet about that. B said that it would not happen. Kevin never admitted a defeat and he would rather suffer than he would go back. AJ thought it would happen day 3 and I was guessing on day two. If things continue like this I would be the winner, something I looked forward to very much.

"Something happened while we were gone?" Kevin pressed on, the words cutting through my thoughts.

I snorted. What kind of act was this? Something happened? You tell me Kevin! You were the one that left me and now comes back and acts like I was the one that left you. It didn’t make much sense but does it ever when I try to think straight being in a pressed situation. I opened my mouth to answer when Brian interrupted me.

"Is he alright?"

Good old Frick came to see how I was doing. Why they were all so concerned about my health all of the sudden when they hours ago had left me to rot in the Norwegian wilderness really beat me. I’m sure they have their reasons.

Kevin nodded. "Yeah I think he is." Way to go bro, answer for me. "Are you Nick?" He was talking in a slower tone that he used before which would say something since his talk is sometimes so boring that you have to hold your eyes open with toothpicks or you'll fall asleep.

No I’m not! "Yes!" I talked in short sentences, words mainly, because I had nothing more to say and it also marked that I was upset about something, that was if the guys could read me right, which they usually can. Now I waited for that to happen. Waited for them to explain their absence.

"Ok what is up with you?" AJ had enough. But then I had news for him. I had enough too.

"What is the matter with ME?" My voice was shrill, much lighter then I intended it to be. "I’m not the one that dumped me. That left me out here with nothing but a piece of bread and some water to die, to rot in the wilderness!" Ok I might be exaggerating a bit but sometimes it’s better to do that so the person that is listening gets that I’m really upset and understands the seriousness of the situation.

"Leaving you? Dumping you? What are you talking about Kaos?" AJ didn’t follow me, which was no big surprise but neither did Kevin or Brian. Where Howie was I had no idea.

"I woke up and noticed that you had left with the car and that I was all alone. " I added quietly "And then I thought you had dumped me." Ok there went my cool posture that I was doing my best to muster since tears pooled in my eyes.

Brian was the first to grab the situation. "Oh you mean that you thought we left you?" His tone was shrill too, just like mine.

"Yes..Didn´t you?" I sounded defensive.

He shook his head but Kevin cut him short. "Didn’t you see the note we left you Nick?"

A note? Nope. I shook my head. "You didn’t leave me a note." I was mad.

"Yes we did." This time it was Howie coming back from wherever he went. "You were sound asleep when we left and since you were so beat the last day we thought that we would let you sleep instead. Therefore we left you a message."

"A message?" I sounded like a parrot.

"Yes a message." Kevin sounded like one too. Ok come on guys lets start a zoo. "I wrote on a piece of paper that I left here on the chair." He pointed to the tent chair.

"You didn’t see it?"

AJ broke the silence with a laugh. "Oh yeah Kaos saw it. Look at his forehead!" Rudely he pointed at me and at that moment I would have knocked him over if it wasn’t for the comment Brian felled.

" Frack why do you have ink on your face?"

"Ink? I don’t have ink on my fa.....I have ink on my face?" My face whitened when it dawned upon me. . Ink. A message. A paper. (My memory was coming back in short sequences.)On the ground, under the tent chair. So that was what it was. That paper that I had used to wipe my face with! Nervously I licked my lips. How would I say to them that I had been all worried for nothing and that I was the cause for all of this?

"Nick?" The guys were waiting for an answer.

"Eh..uh."

How was I going to explain all this without sounding like a fool? I could not and therefore I told the guys about it anyways. What did I have to loose? It turned out that I had much more to gain since they all hugged me and reassured me that they wouldn’t leave me here to rot. AJ however filled in that the thought had crossed his mind but then he got a slap from Kevin to shut up and for once he actually did.

Man it felt so good to be pampered like this and I was enjoying every second of it. We had talked so much about me that I had forgot to ask why they had left me in the first place.

"Why did you leave me? Where did you go?"

AJ, as most of the time, was the first to speak up. "Kevin forgot to buy toilet paper." He grinned widely. "And D had to use it! See we only dumped you since Howie had to dump." He joked on.

"Hey that rhymes I can make a song out of it "Nick got dumped 'cause D gotta dump." Brian went on, drumming on his knees and sounding with his mouth in a hip hop kind of way. We all laughed, Howie red like a lobster but he thought it was funny too. D was never hard to please.

So THAT was where they had gone! To get toilet paper! Ok that might be for a good cause, I have to admit that, but it didn’t account for them leaving me so rudely, did it? I felt stupid. Here I had been so concerned for my brother’s well being that I even thought about the option that an axe murderer or even worse a bear had grabbed them or even worse that they had left ME and it turned out to be nothing but a bunch of crap. Literally.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed even if I felt relieved too. Adding more guilt I asked "Why did you all have to leave? Couldn’t just one go? Or the rest stay or all but one go and that person stay? My tone was whiny but what did you expected after all I had been through.I could see on the others faces that I wasn’t making much sense in the way I talked but then have they ever thought that? And can I help that when I get excited or in this case worked up over something I tend to talk fast and shrill and the words just pop out of my mouth, sometimes without any real connection to each other or making very little sense. Howie once told me that I had a habit of making everything difficult in life. Like he’s the one to talk since he uses at least five hair products in the shower!´

Kevin burst into my thoughts again; he had a nasty habit to do such things. ”We had to get some other stuff too, besides you were not alone for long and if you had looked at that paper you would have known where we left and that we would be back soon." >p> Just like Kev to rub it in.

"Yeah Frack and guess what we found?" Brian smiled widely.

I shrugged. Too tired to play a game. "Pink toilet paper?" I’ll bet Howie was happy for that one.

"No." Brian laughed at my comment. "We found a pizza place!"

Well good for you. I stared blankly at him. So what did that have to do with anything? Did he seriously think that I would be in a better mood if he told me that they had eaten at a pizza place? Especially when he knew what my favourite food was?

Determined to get me smiling again Brian went on. "We brought you a present."

That got my attention. It always does since I love presents. Things were starting to get a little more interesting, still I played out like I could care less. It’s childish, I know but after what they had done to me I had to do something to get back at them and what can beat a guilt trip?

"So?"

"We got you this," he held out the white box he’d been hiding behind his back. "Voila! Here you go. Enjoy your meal." He laughed at my surprised expression. It was a pizza box and that could only mean one thing. The Guys bought me a pizza. I stare at them. Did they really think that something like this would have me forgetting what they did to me? They were right though and gratefully I accepted the offer.

"Thanks Guys." Moved to my tears, ok maybe that was a bit too much, but anyway I opened the box up only to smell the delicious sent of a large pizza with extra cheese, ham and mushrooms waft up at me. At that very second it was all forgotten. Here I had thought that they all left me because they were sick and tired of me and now they were coming back with a pizza. Talk about having caring brothers. I smiled back at them. "Thanks for everything."

"No prob dude!" AJ slapped me on my back so hard that it felt like the fillings in my teeth were coming out. What don’t we do for our little bro´?" He grinned back at me.

I nodded. It felt good to be cared for.

After munching on the pizza for a while Brian opened his mouth. He was the only one sitting next to me since the others had left to do other stuff. "Frack there is one thing I have to ask you." He talked in that tone that told me that there was something serious on his mind.

"Oh yeah?" I mumbled, still chewing on my pizza, grease dripping on my chin. "Go ahead shoot!"

"Were you really afraid that I had left you?"

I stopped eating. "Sort of." Sometimes it was better not to talk too much besides I was busy eating the pizza."

Why?" The question was short but the tone said it all. Brian was concerned over my well being.

I shrugged. So much like Brian to ask all these hard questions. How would I know how my mind works? "I don’t know." Ok I did but that was not something I would tell him.

"Yes you do." Brian knew me way too well. "What’s eatin' you Frack?"

"Nothing's eating me..I´m the one eating. A pizza!" I tried to be funny. Smiling. It was a lame joke, I know, and making a stupid grin I tried to get Brian to stop asking so many annoying questions. I’d never been one to talk emotions.

It didn’t work which I didn’t think either! "That’s not funny Nick." Brian looked serious. "You know what I mean. Did we do something that made you think that we would leave you?"

At once I didn’t feel so hungry anymore. Putting down my slice on the pizza box I mumbled, "Because you guys told me before that if I didn’t stop acting so childish and whining so much that they would leave me." I draw back my breath. "And then I thought this was it. You left me. Ditched me because you didn’t like me anymore. Like I had done one prank too many."

Guilt, guilt this was the best tool there was to get someone feeling bad.

A loud gasp could be heard. "You think that Nick!" He shook his head furiously. "NO! We would never do such a thing!" He looked seriously hurt. "Why would we ditch you? I mean you are our little brother and we love you. Don’t you know that by now?"

Yes I did, sort of, still I tested my bearings. "Even if I can be a pain in the butt sometimes? You know playing pranks on you and all?"

He laughed, hugging me in that way that only Brian can do. "Yes even then Nick." There were a pause while Brian was searching for something more to say. "Frack you don’t have to be afraid that we will leave you that will never happen."

The words sounded like music to my ears.

"I don’t?" Playing on guilt had always lead to a nice result.>p> "No. Oh Nicky. We would never leave you, you know that don’t you?" He looked at me, concern in his eyes.

Do I? I wasn’t so sure about that one but it felt so good, the hugs that Brian was giving to me. I’m quite a huggable guy and need one or two hugs a day to get through. I know it sounds stupid but that is just the way I am! He stroked my hair away from my forehead and it felt really comforting. I relaxed some more. "Promise?"

"Yes." He smiled reassuringly at me. "That’s a promise."

Suddenly everything felt much better. Satisfied that my brothers were back and that they loved me despite what a pain I could be I hugged back. Maybe this would not turn out to be such a bad trip after all.