That Was Awesome

That Was Awesome!

Another family camping trip in the middle of nowhere Michigan, I am twelve years old, my younger sister is nine. You can hardly call it camping. My parents bring everything, even a kitchen sink. When ever I speak of ill of those camping trips now as an adult my mother always says, “oh you and your sister loved to go camping!” that’s now how I remember it. One year my parents bought a used pop up trailer from a neighbor, a thing which single handedly ruined every weekend of every summer until I turned 16 and got my license, my get out of camping free card.

But here I am still twelve. I am still at the mercy of the beast that is the pop up trailer with its strangle hold on the weekends.

So my mother, father, sister and I are off on another camping trip. Jenny and Jerry are in tow behind our pop up trailer. Jerry is a friend of my father’s from the plant and Jenny is his nagging, bitching wife. Jerry smokes one cigarette after another. I can’t picture him without a Marlboro red dangling from his lips hidden behind the course hairs of his heavy handle bar mustache. He smokes even though his wife, Jenny, has terrible asthma. He smokes and she coughs, hacks really so hard that the muscles and veins in her neck and shoulders flex and strain under her skin. She always wears tank tops so you can always see it and always be disgusted. She coughs and he complains. With a cigarette nestled between his fat callused fingers he points out everything that everyone else is doing to get cancer. “Ya know, having a heated water bed with give you cancer” Jenny coughs in agreement. She coughs and bitches and coughs and talks about her precious Yorkshire terrier, Mocha. He is always at her feet or in her lap. He barks constantly and bites if you try to pet him. Although there is a strict rule in the campground, Mocha is never on a leash. Jenny assumes that he is safe hiding behind her long skinny knobby kneed legs that stretch out forever past her short short cutoff kaki shorts. Long gangly arms hang from her boney shoulders and her hair is cut very short. It is blown dry and poofed up with looks of mousse. Big wire rimmed glasses, lenses tinted with a hint of rose color, rest on her pointy nose.

Jerry also has big wire rimmed glasses. The same glasses everyone at Ford wears. They must issue a pair along with those heavy blue overhauls the first day on the job. His nose is large and pointy. It whistles with each breath in and wheezes with every breath out. He has a mid western gut and skinny legs caused by only driving, then standing at the plant all day, then sitting at home on the couch. The only walking is done from the house to the car and from the car to whatever destination, twenty minutes of driving around the parking lot until one finds the absolute closest spot to the building to avoid as much walking as possible.

My sister Laura is a bright happy child. I imagine the words “tra la la la la” played frequently in her head. She was always skipping, always playing, bright eyed and bushy tailed. She made friends everywhere she went and on this trip she made friends with a little blonde girl from the other side of the camp ground. This little blonde girl has a dog. A big dog named coco. Coco is not the color of coco but the color of a sandy beach. A dog with a happy face, the friendliest dog I have ever met. It was happy to see anyone. It never growled, only barked that friendly hello bark. Laura and the little blonde girl came over to our campsite. Coco walked proudly beside them on a leash with a big dog grin. I sat sideways in a folding chair, legs dangling over the arm of the chair, back pressed against the other. I was reading a book no doubt, something of the horror genre I’m sure. The site of this big dog drove mocha crazy. He started barking, a stuck up snotty bark. He jumped all around behind Jenny’s legs. Coco was unfazed, stood still happy wagging tail, grinned faced tongue hanging out playfully. Mocha shot past the safety of Jenny’s legs. He jumped into the face of the much larger dog biting at its snout. Coco pushed back but could not escape the terror of the little dog. Coco opened his mighty jaws and snapped down with one awesome blow. Teeth pierced the tiny dog’s body. Coco jerked his mammoth head violently shaking the tiny dog like a rag. Mocha let out a yelp cut short by death. The large dog released its grip and let the carcass fall to the dirt with a dull thud. A cloud of dust kicked up and quickly settled. It was over.

“Mocha! Jenny wailed. “Oh my god! Mocha!” Jenny ran to the little dog and scooped it up in her long boney arms and pressed its limp dead body into her flat saggy breast.

Laura and the blonde girl scrambled away in fear doe eyed. I faded into the shadows holding back laughter. My mother ran to comfort Jenny, arm around her back, guiding her to the picnic table where Jerry sat smoking a cigarette. “It’ll be alright” he said but did not budge from where he sat. Jenny sobbed loudly.

Later that day Jerry drove Jenny out into the woods to bury Mocha. My parents went along for support. Jenny stood over the grave and said a few words while Jerry had his arm around her should, as I am sure my parents held back their own laughter.

A Dark cloud hung over Jenny the rest of the trip. She cried and talked about Mocha and coughed and cried some more, all the while throwing my sister cold glances every chance she got, always somewhat holding the nine year old girl at fault even though it was SHE who did not put her dog on a leash.