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He slammed his blade into the ground, then dumped out another shovelful of dirt. It was a little surprising, he thought, that X-Ray was the leader of the group, since he obviously wasn’t the biggest or the toughest. In fact, except for Zero, X-Ray was the smallest. Armpit was the biggest. Zigzag may have been taller than Armpit, but that was only because of his neck. Yet Armpit, and all the others, seemed to be willing to do whatever X-Ray asked of them.
As Stanley dug up another shovelful of dirt, it occurred to him that Armpit wasn’t the biggest. He, the Caveman, was bigger.
He was glad they called him Caveman. It meant they accepted him as a member of the group. He would have been glad even if they’d called him Barf Bag.
It was really quite remarkable to him. At school, bullies like Derrick Dunne used to pick on him. Yet Derrick Dunne would be scared senseless by any of the boys here.
As he dug his hole, Stanley thought about what it would be like if Derrick Dunne had to fight Armpit or Squid. Derrick wouldn’t stand a chance.
He imagined what it would be like if he became good friends with all of them, and then for some reason they all went with him to his school, and then Derrick Dunne tried to steal his notebook …
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” asks Squid, as he slams his hands into Derrick Dunne’s smug face.
“Caveman’s our friend,” says Armpit, grabbing him by the shirt collar.
Stanley played the scene over and over again in his mind, each time watching another boy from Group D beat up Derrick Dunne. It helped him dig his hole and ease his own suffering. Whatever pain he felt was being felt ten times worse by Derrick.
12
Again, Stanley was the last one to finish digging. It was late afternoon when he dragged himself back to the compound. This time he would have accepted a ride on the truck if it was offered.
When he got to the tent, he found Mr. Pendanski and the other boys sitting in a circle on the ground.
“Welcome, Stanley,” said Mr. Pendanski.
“Hey, Caveman. You get your hole dug?” asked Magnet.
He managed to nod.
“You spit in it?” asked Squid.
He nodded again. “You’re right,” he said to X-Ray. “The second hole’s the hardest.”
X-Ray shook his head. “The third hole’s the hardest,” he said.
“Come join our circle,” said Mr. Pendanski.
Stanley plopped down between Squid and Magnet. He needed to rest up before taking a shower.
“We’ve been discussing what we want to do with our lives,” said Mr. Pendanski. “We’re not going to be at Camp Green Lake forever. We need to prepare for the day we leave here and join the rest of society.”
“Hey, that’s great, Mom!” said Magnet. “They’re going to finally let you out of here?”
The other boys laughed.
“Okay, José,” said Mr. Pendanski. “What do you want to do with your life?”
“I don’t know,” said Magnet.
“You need to think about that,” said Mr. Pendanski. “It’s important to have goals. Otherwise you’re going to end up right back in jail. What do you like to do?”
“I don’t know,” said Magnet.
“You must like something,” said Mr. Pendanski.
“I like animals,” said Magnet.
“Good,” said Mr. Pendanski. “Does anyone know of any jobs that involve animals?”
