Camp Kumoni Ch. 33 by Anistasia Allread WHERE WE LEFT OFF WITH THE LAVENDER LADIES: “How long do you think Phoenix be gone?” Erika inquired of Rachel, then let her gaze wander to Samantha, Victoria, Dani and Katie. “That depends upon how long winded Director Hobbs wants to be….. Why?” Erika’s palms began to sweat as she glanced over to her cabin mates. Samantha and Dani both smiled, Katie looked away and Victoria squinted through sore eyes at her. “We need to talk.” Her voice broke as she said it. NOW WE CONTINUE WITH THE STORY:

“We need to talk about what?” Rachel asked.

“Erika.” Victoria demanded her attention. Erika looked over to the Hispanic girl who was the reason for all of this tension, the cause of her nerves being frazzled. “It can wait until later.”

“No, you demanded that tell them.” Erika’s voice took on an edge. “I think now is as good a time as any, especially if we’re going to the mess hall to wait out the storm.”

“I’m just saying that you don’t have too.” Victoria seemed to be uneasy.

“Will someone let me know what is going on here?” Rachel commanded, looking back and forth between the two girls.

Samantha came up behind Erika and touched her arm showing support. Unfortunately, the gesture did nothing to relieve the hammering of her heart. It meant a little having Samantha on her side, but Samantha was part of the equation that got her to this point.

A presence on the other side of her caught her attention. Dani had moved in and was standing next to her, facing Rachel and glaring at Victoria. A lump rose in her throat. What was Dani doing? She didn’t have to be involved in this. Erika looked down at her small friend and was rewarded with a beautiful smile, full of confidence and reassurance. Erika could feel her cheeks grow hot, with embarrassment. Here was a petite, beautiful blonde young lady who she had lied to for over a week. When told the truth, this small person with a heart bigger than any giant Erika could imagine, was stepping up and showing a kind of support that Erika had never, ever, seen or experienced. Even in her friendship with Summer.

Erika saw Dani look over at Katie. The tall model blinked hard and stepped over and up behind Dani. Erika’s heart, still hammering hard in her chest, felt Samantha take her hand and give it a squeeze. Tears welled in her eyes. She ran the back of her free hand across them, not caring if she smeared her make-up. She had found friends. At least two of them with a third still on the fence, but willing to side with her.

“Will someone tell me what is going on?” Rachel insisted. “Why are you all acting like your picking sides? What is going on here.”

“I think we should all sit down.” Samantha suggested.

“Oh my God, Erika, are you pregnant?” Rachel looked ashen.

The four girls erupted into nervous laughter. Rachel just looked at them dumbfounded and confused. What did she say that could have been so funny? They were definitely acting strange, and something was going on between Samantha and Victoria, and possibly Erika. Rachel looked to Krystal who looked just as confused as she. Victoria was avoiding any and all eye contact with her.

The seven girls quickly found places to sit on the nearby beds. Dani sat on one side of Erika, holding her hand, while Samantha sat on the other holding her other hand.

“Rachel, I have a confession to make.” Erika began.

“We” Samantha added. “We have a confession to make.” Samantha gave Erika’s hand a squeeze.

“Rachel.” Erika began again. May as well rip the band-aid off. “I’m a guy.”

“Yeah, so?” Rachel shrugged. “I’m very much a guy myself, I think the term is ‘Tomboy’.”

“Rachel, shut up and listen to her please.” Dani blurted out. A loud rumble of thunder accentuated her outburst.

Rachel looked at the small person in shock, but closed her mouth. She then looked back to Erika.

“I’m not a ‘Tomboy’, Rachel. I’m a boy…… a guy……. a member of the opposite sex.” Erika went on. “At least physically, but I’m beginning to feel more and more like a girl.”

Rachel went white. Her eyes darted from Erika’s eyes to her chest then her groin then back to her eyes. “But…….. but……”

“These are breast forms.” Erika pointed to her chest. “That flap of skin you saw this morning was actually a ripped piece of the form that tore away from my skin. It wasn’t my skin.” Erika could feel all of the girls’ eyes ogling her chest.

“But I saw you in a swimsuit.” Rachel protested.

“The first couple of times I duct taped myself so that ‘it’ wouldn’t show.” Erika blushed. “Now, I’m wearing what is called a gaffe. It helps keep certain body parts tucked away.”

Rachel looked blankly across the room. When her eyes re-focused, they were on Samantha. “And you knew about this?”

“Actually, I sorta talked Eric into becoming Erika.” Samantha admitted.

Rachel was still in shock, her eyes darted to Dani. “And you knew about this too?” her voice was filling with contempt.

“I only found out this morning.” Dani admitted. “That is why we were so long in getting around the lake.”

Rachel’s eyes went back to Erika and Samantha. “Why?” She demanded. “Why would you?......” her eyes landed on Samantha.

“Because I owed it to Eric and my sister.” Samantha stuck out her chin. “Let me tell you what this wonderful friend of my sister’s, and mine, has gone through.”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” Erika stopped her. If it wasn’t for the situation, she found herself in, she’d be enjoying Samantha’s touch for something more than just comfort. “Rachel, for the last couple of years, I was known as Eric ‘the plague’ at school. Anything I touched or happened to be by fell apart, or was somehow destroyed. Needless to say I was picked on and harassed mercilessly.” Erika’s voice cracked. She cleared it with a cough. “I was an outcast….. worse, even the outcasts wouldn’t come near me…….. and then my parents decided to send me to camp for the summer….”

Samantha interjected. “When Eric told me how much he dreaded being stuck at camp, being tormented as he was at school, I told him that I’d go to camp with him, and it would be easier for him to go as a girl, so that I could help keep him out of trouble and we could spend time together. He knew my sister better than most people did. I hoped that he could shed some light on what happened to her and why……. We’ve just been too busy to sit down and talk.”

“So you had her…him” Rachel nodded her head towards Eric, “Dress as a girl? You couldn’t have this talk over the phone or at Caffeine R Us?”

“It wasn’t meant to hurt anyone.” Samantha insisted. “Or as a joke on anyone. We…. I just thought that this would be the best way of keeping her-him, from being tortured by the rest of the boys.”

“But you’ve been dressing and undressing with us, showering with us.” Krystal weighed in.

“I turned my back whenever possible when you all were dressing.” Erika avowed. “And I changed in the bathroom as much as feasible while you all were dressing so as not to intrude upon your privacy.”

“The showers all are in closed off stalls, so there’s no way she could have been spying on any of us.” Samantha jumped in.

“He.” Rachel stated.

“Not necessarily.” Dani inserted. “I think Erika may be more female than male in a lot of ways. Come on, in the last week, have any of you had an inkling that she was anything other than what she appeared? She has been a friend to us all, and she has gone out of her way to help and support each of us. Whether it was getting back at the boys for putting a snake in our cabin, or going out on a date with a guy she had no interest in” Dani paused to look at Samantha. “She encouraged us when we faced our fear of heights.” She looked at Katie, and readily encouraged and joined in with our morning exercises.” Her gaze met Krystal’s. “I for one would rather have her in this cabin than have someone who blackmails and forces one of us to do or say something that we may not wish to.” She glared at Victoria.

Rachel watched Dani as her points were made to each of the girls in the cabin, the last falling on Victoria. “You were blackmailing her?” Rachel questioned. “Everything is making sense now. The fighting between you and Samantha, and the indifference you’ve been showing Erika.”

“He’s been lying to us.” Victoria protested. “He is a guy, trying to pass himself off as a girl in our cabin, I just thought we all should know the truth…… Besides, it wasn’t blackmailing, I just told him and Samantha that if they didn’t come clean by this evening that I would.”

“So you gave them an ultimatum.” Rachel inquired. “That isn’t much better…. Although I do think we have the right to know that a…… uh…. That someone isn’t who they appear to be.”

“I think.” Krystal piped up. “what this all comes down to,” She looked pointedly at Erika. “Is who are you?”

Erika paused for a moment. Just Who was I?, or more important, who am I. Erika asked herself. The rain outside the cabin was coming down in fat drops, hard enough to be heard on the roof of the cabin and striking the dry ground outside. “I am the person who has come to love each and every one of you… as a friend. I’d like to think that you have come to feel the same way about me.”

She glanced around the room making eye contact with each and every one of them, including Victoria. “Whether I’m wearing pants and able to go around without a shirt, or wearing breast forms and a skirt, I am me…… I’d like to say that I’m the same person who walked through that cabin door almost two weeks ago, but I’m not. I have gone through a lot of soul searching over the past couple of weeks……… discovered a lot about myself…. And, with all of your help, I’m discovering new things about myself every day.”

Tears welled in her eyes and started to flow down her cheek. She wiped them with a free hand. “The truth is……” She looked through tear drenched eyes from Samantha to Dani, then to Rachel and the rest. “The truth is, I found that I like being a girl….. and I really…” Erika’s voice cracked with a sob; her bottom lip quivered with uncontrolled emotion. “…really hope that this doesn’t end our friendship or get me kicked out of the cabin.” She finished the last part and sobbed in her hands, while Samantha and Dani tried to soothe her. A flash of light lit up the area around the cabin. It was followed a few seconds later by a loud roar.

Katie grabbed a handful of tissue and knelt down before Erika. “Here you are sweety.” She enveloped Erika in a hug. “I’m sorry.” She whispered in Erika’s ear. “I do love you, Erika……. As a friend.” Katie pulled back and took one of the tissues back from Erika to blow her own nose.

Victoria stared at the floor boards, studying the patterns of the wood grain.

“So, are you…. like, gay?” Rachel asked.

“What?” Erika used the tissue to wipe her eyes. She looked up at Rachel, who sat with arms crossed over her chest.

“Are you gay?” Rachel repeated, pitching her voice to be heard above the downpour.

“No.” Erika sounded stuffed up. “I’m attracted to girls…… I just……. I just want to be one.”

“Why, in the world, would you want to be a girl?” Rachel in asked in disbelief.

“I don’t really know.” Erika admitted. “It just ……. feels right. It’s kind of hard to explain.” She wiped at her eyes again. “It just feels comfortable.” She stated looking Rachel in the eye.

“Wow! It’s really coming down out there.” Phoenix greeted the girls in the cabin. Her copper curly locks were matted to her head and a rain drop fell from her nose. “I spoke to the Director. She wants everyone to go down to the mess.”

Erika averted her make-up smeared face from the counselor.

“Do we have to?” Rachel bemoaned.

“I’m afraid so. She wants to keep everyone centrally located in case something happens.” Phoenix sighed. “Grab your jackets and let’s head down there.”

“Go in the bathroom and clean up, Erika.” Samantha whispered in her ear. “I’ll get your jacket.”

Erika ducked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

“We’re not done with this.” Rachel muttered to Samantha.

“You really need to look past your bias and give her a chance.” Samantha countered. “Please give her a chance.”

A flash of lightening and an echo of thunder drowned out all noise.

“Come on girls!” Phoenix raised her voice to be heard over the storm.

Erika grabbed a hand full of paper towels, wet them in the sink and began scrubbing at the dark smudges across her face. Her nose was red and her eyes were bloodshot and glassy from crying.

I never cried this much as Eric, why am I crying so much now? Am I really turning into a girl? She asked herself. Or do I just feel more comfortable showing my emotions as a girl?...... I’d get my ass kicked if I ever cried as Eric. Tears were a show of weakness, a sign of lacking character, of being a man.

His mind flashed back to that fateful day… “What? Are you going to cry?” One of the football starters taunted as he wrote ‘plague’ across Eric’s bare chest with a sharpie. “Look, dudes, this Plague is going to cry.” The tears in his eyes burned, as they flowed. The mucus building up in his nose was making it harder and harder to breathe. He needed the duct tape removed from his mouth, to fill his lungs with much needed oxygen, but they weren’t going to risk him calling for help. Snot bubbles formed around the opening of his nostrils, not only making harder to breathe, but adding to his humiliation. That day was the last time that he gave them the satisfaction of tears.

As Erika, shedding tears didn’t mean that you were a freak, they meant that you were sensitive, they were a way of showing others that you cared about something, that you had feelings, that you were human.

Erika shook her head to clear it from the torturous memories. She took in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds and slowly let it out trying to calm herself down.

Her part was done. The girls in the cabin all knew who she was. Knew that she had been lying to them for over a week. Knew that she was a boy in girls’ clothing. Now she had to stand back and let them decide if she was worthy to enough to stay in their cabin, or is she was going to have to pack her bags and head home in disgrace. She just hoped that they wouldn’t take too long in deciding.

A soft knock sounded on the door.

“Be there in just a moment.” Erika called and renewed her efforts at cleaning up.

“Take your time.” Samantha’s voice said softly through the door. “I told Phoenix that you were having your period and needed a few extra minutes. Just don’t be too long.”

A weight seemed to have been lifted from her chest. And she wasn’t thinking about her breast forms. Having faced her fears with the girls, knowing that a few of them liked her and even supported her helped her feel a bit more confident. Then there was Katie, who had been stand offish all day. That hug and whisper meant more to her than Katie would probably know. Erika smiled to herself at the remembrance of Katie’s warm, accepting embrace.

Erika peered out the door to see if anyone was there. Seeing that the coast was clear. She retrieved her make-up/toiletries bag from her drawer and went back to the mirror in the bathroom. She used a bit of foundation to cover up her blotchy skin from crying, re-applied her mascara and eye-shadow. She brushed long, blue painted, finger nails through her fringe and tightened her pig-tails. She added a touch of gloss to her lips and admired herself in the mirror.

“Hello Erika.” She smiled at her reflection. With that, bounced out of the bathroom to join the rest of the camp in the mess.