◉ 046 | I Was a Bad Boy

It’s 3 am.

I’ve just finished

my night watch.

The night is

very dark.

No moonlight.

Just stars.

I crawl back

into my sleeping bag.

It’s cold.

And wet.

But I know

how to keep myself

warm.

I am inside

a decent sleeping bag.

Under me,

a sack

filled with dried hay.

Under that,

thick canvas

stretched tight

across a wooden frame.

And in between —

a secret layer.

The layer

that keeps me warm.

I fall asleep.

A senior

boy scout

yells through

a megaphone

to wake us up.

7:00 am

on my watch.

At 7:15

we splash our faces

in a brutally cold creek

even though

it’s midsummer.

At 7:30

we run a full circle

around

the entire camp.

I warm up.

I take my jacket

off.

We do push-ups

as well.

I get hot.

I take my sweatshirt

off.

I put my uniform on.

At 7:45

we have

tent inspection.

Two senior scouts,

Mile and Ostoja,

go from one tent

to another.

We are the last.

Boro and I.

Mile enters the tent,

looking for clues

to mark us down.

He looks under

my sleeping bag.

Then lifts

the hay-filled sack.

And there it is.

The secret layer,

secret no more.

A dozen

Kaj Special.

Full-colour

special editions

of the mothership

Vrući Kaj.

The king

of porn magazines.

Brought from home.

Passed around

the camp.

Loved by the boys.

Neatly forming

the bottom layer.

Mile puts

the sack down

as quickly

as possible.

He exits the tent

and says:

“Ostoja,

this tent

is 10 out of 10.”