"Garbage Day" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mccarthy Wil)

Garbage Day by Wil McCarthyGarbage Day
by Wil McCarthy
Be careful what you wish for. You may not anticipate the side effects ...



1. Camp Friendly



Conrad had never seen an angry mob before, much less been a part of one. Like an
ocean wave it seemed to offer two alternatives: ride along or be smashed under.
And the ride, truth be told, was fun; since the raid on the boathouse, and with
it the capture of canoe paddles, the counselors were actually afraid of them.
Of a bunch of fourteen-year-olds! Even "Rock" Dengle was on the retreat, falling
back along the side of the Arts and Crap cabin (and casting a worryingly broad
shadow on its clay-and-log wall in the slanting light of a fake and miniature
sun).
"What the hell you boys doing?" he demanded.
"Busting out," Bascal answered lightly. Cheers rewarded him at once, from Conrad
himself as much as anyone. "Prince Bascal! All hail Prince Bascal, the
Liberator!"
"This a summer camp," Rock pointed out. "Recreational. You here for fun, right?"
"Had enough," Bascal replied. Bascal Edward de Towaji Lutui, Crown Prince of the
Queendom of Sol.
The badder boys Ч Steve Grush, and that Ho kid whose last name was spelled "Ng"
but sounded more like "Eh" Ч were flanking Rock on the left, flicking cigarette
butts and hooting, and you'd better believe that got his attention.
"I gotta hurt someone?" he wanted to know. He looked capable of it Ч strong and
pissed off, but in control. Taking care of "troubled" boys was his job.
"We got to hurt you?" Ho Ng shot back, and gave him a whack on the skull with
the paddle. Tried to, anyway; Rock deflected it with a sweep of his arm. But
since that left Steve an opening to jab him in the nuts, it didn't do much good.
Rock doubled over with a froggy kind of sound, but stayed on his feet. Taking on
fourteen troubled boys was a bit beyond his faculties.
There was a definite satisfaction in seeing a big guy pacified like that, but
then it looked like Ho or Steve might hit him again, maybe harder this time, and
truthfully that made Conrad afraid, finally, of the consequences. And ashamed to
be a member of this particular mob, yes, because Rock Dengle was definitely not
a bad guy as jailers went. Kept the rules without treating you like a little
kid, which was more than he could say for most of the others.
But fortunately, Prince Bascal stepped forward, into what would have been the
line of fire. "Steady, men. Nobody wants to get hurt over this Ч we just need
the fax gate."
"Can't leave without your parent or guardian," Rock said, attempting to
straighten. "Regulations, no exception."
"Except today," Bascal said, and Conrad had to marvel at the casual, agreeable
tone of this kid's voice, trained from birth in the art of persuasion. It wasn't
going to convince Rock or anything Ч especially not after he'd been whacked in
the balls with an oar Ч but it did put a vaguely legitimate face on these