Later that same month, I had what I’d call a near encounter, because I am not sure if I really had an encounter or not. I was setting on the steps of the library with my mom and my brother while we waited for my sister and dad to come out. I had a thing for tongue twister books and was just sitting there enjoying it when a man and a six or seven year old boy walked up the steps beside me. The boy passed within a foot or so from me and though I did not see anything that would make a person think he had on a diaper, I smelled that unmistakable smell of baby powder. Maybe it was my imagination, or maybe I really did hear it, but something that sounded like crinkling when he stepped up each step caught my attention.
I broke one of my own rules just then because I turned around as they passed and looked to see if I could see the outline of a diaper under his pants. I was disappointed because he looked like any other normal boy. My mom saw me looking and I quickly said that I thought that boy looked familiar. Mom said something like, “You probably were thinking of someone else,” and dropped the subject, much to my relief. After that, I was a lot more careful and on guard.
I didn’t have any more encounters that school year although I did see Sam and Simon in the halls from time to time and it would always send my mind racing, but I have always been true to them and never ever let their secret get out.
Honestly, the last month or so of school, I didn’t think too much about diapers anymore because I had something more exciting to look forward too. I was going away to summer camp for three weeks and I was leaving just three days after school let out. So going to camp was all that I thought about and all that I ever talked about. I think I drove my family and friends crazy with it all but I was just so excited that I couldn’t keep it all inside of me.
Now, if you’ve never gone away to camp before, you won’t understand what it’s like getting ready to go. It’s kind of like trying to put a bunch of monkeys, high on sugar, into a box. It was just insane and I was so happy when school was finally over and the big day arrived.
We had to go downtown to the theater parking lot for me to catch the camp bus. I was really surprised how many kids that were there. I found out that not all of the kids were going to Camp Two Pines. There were actually three different camps represented there. The camp I went to was a regular summer camp, one of the others was for band camp and the third was what my brother called, ‘a nerd camp’.
The reason why I’m going to camp and my brother and sister aren’t is simple. My brother has his own paper route now and it would cost him more to pay someone to do the route for three weeks then he would actually make doing it himself, so he is staying to deliver papers, but he will be staying with the neighbors the whole time since mom and dad are going to Europe. My sister is going to go stay with our grandparents because she has a crush on a boy that lives near them and she made my parents think she just loves our grandparents so much that she wants to stay with them.
Hey, what do I care? I have three weeks away from my brother picking on me and giving me noogies and from my sister stinking up the bathroom with her hairspray and junk.
I said my ‘goodbyes’ before we left the house. I managed to convince my mom and dad not to embarrass me by getting all mushy in front of the other kids. They said goodbye and I could tell mom wanted to scoop me up, cry and hug me to death, but she restrained herself. Dad just shook my hand and said, “Have a nice time son.” Sounding like he was talking to another adult but also being a bit sarcastic. Oh, and being the smarty pants that I’ve always been, I answered back something like, “Oh yes dear father I shall and please take care of mum while I am gone.” That made them both laugh and I grabbed my things and ran for the bus. Truth be told, I was a bit choked up myself, but I wasn’t about to breakdown with so many kids watching.