Plans and Life
Peng closed his eyes and tried unsuccessfully to sleep. The raucous voices and jostling around him were annoying, but that wasn’t what kept him awake. No matter how hard he tried, he could not erase the images that kept appearing in his mind.
He tried replacing them with happy thoughts: Shi-Shi pulling on his tie before church. Jin giggling as she tried to ride Permelia. Matt and Hope embracing before the trip. He told himself they were not his family—none except Jin. But he knew it was a lie. These people had taken him in as a son, without question. They had fed him, clothed him, and sent him to church and to school. They had worried about him. They had shown him what true, happy families were like. They were his family. Probably the best family he would ever have. But they didn’t know who he was. They didn’t know what he had done. His leaving them would cause them pain, and he was sorry about that, but leaving them would not be the worst thing he had ever done in his short life. Not by far.
The SUV pulled to a stop.
“Everyone out,” Ron said. “Get into the trailer and get your gear. We’ve got some hiking to do.”
Peng opened his eyes and pulled himself out of the vehicle. The cool air shocked him into alertness, and he was almost overcome by the vastness of the sky. It seemed to go on forever. He could easily lose himself in these mountains. He had a sudden urge to start running—right now. To run and never stop running. But no. It was not time yet. Well, that was also a lie. It was past time. Jin was safe. He’d kept his promise to his mother. Jin had Hope and Matt, Zack, Mimi, Permelia, and dozens of others who would take care of her. She didn’t need Peng anymore. He was no longer responsible for her. He needed to leave before he messed things up. But he had also promised Hope he would come home safely and that he wouldn’t let Matt do anything stupid. One more promise to keep, he told himself, and then he would go.
He dragged his pack out of the trailer and lined up with the other boys. Ron walked up and down the row, examining them as if they were soldiers. Peng felt himself straightening a little under Ron’s gaze. When the man looked at him, he always felt he could be something better than he was. But Ron didn’t know his history either. Nobody did. Ron was just another person Peng was going to miss.
Ron stopped in front of Peng, nodded, and waited. At first Peng was unsure what was wanted of him. Then he understood. He was the new quorum president. Ron was deferring to his position. Peng was silent. This was not right. Ron was the real leader here. Everybody knew it. It was dumb to pretend that one of the boys was in charge, especially Peng. Dumb and dangerous. Peng knew what could happen when he was made responsible.
“President, could you call on someone to give us a prayer? And then I need a few minutes, if that’s okay.”
Peng knew from experience that Ron would wait until he said something. “Joey?” Peng looked at the younger boy, but he wasn’t sure what else to say. Luckily Joey seemed to understand, and he enthusiastically folded his arms.
After Joey blessed pretty much everyone and everything, Peng quickly nodded to Ron to indicate that he had control. It felt silly, but Ron wouldn’t speak unless Peng authorized it.
“Boys, you’ve done well. You’ve planned well, you’ve prepared well, and I believe you are fully ready for this trip.”
Despite himself, Peng felt a sense of pride as Ron commended them. He couldn’t help it. Praise from Ron did not come easily. They were ready for this. All of them. Even JR and Eric, who didn’t take anything seriously.
“I had a colonel once,” Ron continued. “He used to say, ‘There’s plans, and then there’s life.’ What he meant was that even when you do the best you can do at planning and preparing, sometimes life throws you a curve ball. He taught us to prepare, but he also taught us something more important—he taught us to adjust when the situation changes. I want to give you boys the same gift my colonel gave me. I want you to learn that same lesson. I want you to go put your packs back into the trailer.”
For what seemed like a long moment, the boys just stood there, looking at each other.
And then Eric blurted out, “Sweet. I knew it. We’re going to the condo.”
“Is that true?” JR asked Ron, his jaw dropping open.
“Yup,” Ron said, a slight smile working its way across his lips.
Eric and JR nearly knocked each other over trying to get their packs back to the trailer. They did knock Joey over on their way back out, but they didn’t seem to notice. Peng hoisted his comrade off the ground and helped him put his pack away as the others began dibbsing seats for the ride back to Park City.
But before they could get into the vehicle, Ron cleared his throat. “We are going to my condo,” he said, “but not quite yet.”
The boys stopped their excited shuffling for position and turned around.
“We have some miles to put in first,” Ron said. Peng looked at Matt to see if he was in on Ron’s change of plans, but Matt seemed as confused as everyone else.
“But you said we should put away our packs,” Eric said.
“I said to put away those packs. They are not appropriate for what we’re going to do. I have some others for you in the back of my SUV. Peng, if you and Joey could retrieve them, we can be on our way soon.”
Peng nodded to Joey, who reached in through the back window and pulled out five smallish-looking rucksacks.
“But those are the crappy packs we made at your house,” JR said.
“That’s right. These are the packs we made at my house. But they aren’t crappy. They’re actually quite functional. And in these homemade packs are the sleeping quilts, rain ponchos, tarps, and pop-can stoves you made. These are what we will be using on the trail. Gentlemen, we are no longer on a backpacking trip. We are going fast packing.”
Matt stepped over and picked up his rucksack, which appeared to be the sorriest of the lot. He looked inside and spoke quietly to Ron, but Peng could still hear him, even above JR’s and Eric’s whining. “I don’t think there’s enough food in there for a week.”
Ron grinned. “There isn’t. There’s barely enough for two days, if you stretch it.”
“I had Easy Cheese in my other pack,” Eric moaned. “I can’t survive in the woods without my Easy Cheese.”
JR snickered. “Easy Cheese. That fits.”
“What’d you mean?” Eric said.
“Your initials, E. C. They’re also the initials of Easy Cheese. I think we found you a new nickname.”
“But . . .”
“Okay, listen up,” Ron said. As usual, his voice carried enough command in it that everyone immediately paid attention. Peng was curious, but he didn’t much care what packs they used. He didn’t care if they hiked fifty miles or went to the condo. All that mattered was that Ron was in control. As long as that was the case, Peng was confident things would turn out okay.
“If you remember, we spent a great deal of time on Wednesday nights working on orienteering. Well, I’ve mapped out an orienteering course.” Ron held up a piece of paper. “These are your initial set of coordinates. They will lead you to your first campsite. Once you find this campsite, you will also find your second set of coordinates. These will lead you out of the mountains and to a vehicle that will transport you to my condo, where you can swim, play video games, and even eat a bathtub full of Easy Cheese if you want to. The course I’ve plotted uses trails but also some cross country. If you’re resourceful and smart and use your orienteering skills, you could be out of the mountains by tomorrow night. If not . . . well, then you’re going to need to learn how to use the fishing line and hooks to get your meals because you’re going to run out of food.”
“What about your pack?” JR said, pointing to a large Gregory Baltoro backpack that looked like it was stuffed to the gills.
“That’s right,” Ron said. “My pack looks a little different.”
“I’d say it looks a lot different,” Eric said, still grumbling.
“It is a lot nicer. And a lot heavier. This isn’t a fast-packing pack. It’s our backup plan. If something goes wrong, it has emergency supplies, including a satellite phone. Matt and I will be taking turns carrying it.”
“But won’t you slow us down?” Joey raised his hand before asking the question. “Trying to carry that heavy pack?”
“Good question, Joey. But, no, we won’t slow you down because we won’t be traveling with you. We will be following behind, and we will catch up to you at your camp. This is your experience. This is where you show what you’re made of. We are only here for backup. Peng is your leader on this trip, and you are all responsible as a troop for finding your way and reaching your destination.”
“This is a load of crap,” Eric said. “The only reason I agreed to come on this trip was because I was looking forward to the Easy Cheese.”
Ron smiled just slightly. “You’re right. It is a load of crap. The only question is are you going to throw a tantrum or look for the pony?”
Eric stared blankly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, I know.” Joey was raising his hand again. “My mom likes to tell that story a lot. There’s two birthday girls. The first one gets up in the morning, and her mom tells her that her present is in the front yard. She runs outside, excited, but all that’s there is a pile of horse manure. So she runs into her room crying. The second girl starts the same way, but when she sees the pile of manure, she jumps in and starts digging. Her mom asks her what she’s doing and she says, ‘There must be a pony in here somewhere.’ My mom always ends the story by saying that when life gives you . . . uh . . . crap, you should look for the pony.” Joey’s face turned bright red. “Sometimes she swears when she says that last part.”
All of the boys turned to look at Joey.
“Your mom swears?” JR asked. “I don’t believe it.”
Joey’s face turned even redder. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that.”
JR walked over and put his arm around Joey. “Joey, I think you’ve just changed my entire outlook on life. Picturing a swear word coming out of your mom’s mouth, I may never be tempted to swear again. You’ve ruined me.”
For some reason, whether it was the words or the arm around his shoulder, this made Joey beam.
Ron brought them back to the present. “President Knight, in your pack, you have a map, a compass, and the coordinates for your first RV point.” It took Peng a moment to realize Ron was talking to him and not Matt. He didn’t really like the title. But he pulled the items out of his pack and set them on the ground.
“Remember what you were taught. Locate your coordinates, orient the map, and then get going. Someone is coming to pick up my SUV. Our extraction point will be in a different location, and I will call someone when we get there. Coming back here is not an option. There will be no vehicle waiting. The bridges have officially been burned.”
Joey bent down, looked at the coordinates, and began tracing his finger on the map.
JR moved in and bumped him out of the way. “Step aside, son. It’s time for the real men to take over.”
He looked where Joey had been pointing and announced. “Our destination is Ryder Lake. Easy Cheese, give me that pen in your pocket. The one you’ve been using to write all over yourself.”
“Don’t call me that,” Eric said, but he handed over the pen anyway, then licked his thumb to wipe at the marks he had written on his arm. JR circled a small blue spot on the map. “That’s our rendezvous point.” He scanned the map some more and let the pen stop on a larger blue spot that designated another lake. “And here we are now. The Mirror Lake trailhead. So if we chart our course . . .” He took the compass and laid the edge from one circle to the other. “Then we can see the most direct route.”
“That’s not very far at all,” Eric said, sounding excited.
“Only a few miles,” JR confirmed. “But it looks like it’s over the top of a ridge. And it’s not on the main trail. So let’s get an idea of what we’re looking at.” JR oriented the map to match the north of the compass and pointed. “We need to go that way.” A pine-covered mountain stood in front of them, but it didn’t look too high or too steep. “We could follow the trail that goes around that mountain, or we can take the most direct route and go over the top.”
“That doesn’t look too bad,” Eric said. “I say we take the way that gets us to the condo the fastest.”
“Agreed,” JR said. “Easy Cheese, you are smarter than you look.”
“But, guys . . .” Joey was frantically raising his hand.
“Quiet, Joey. There are men at work here. If you watch closely, you might learn something.” JR folded up the map and put it in his pack.
“But . . .”
“You heard him,” Eric said. “Watch and learn from the men.”
Peng felt like he should say something. He knew why Joey was trying to speak up, but Peng didn’t want to step in. He didn’t want to be in control. He was perfectly content to let JR take the lead. JR might make mistakes, but at least they would be his mistakes. And Peng was convinced the consequences wouldn’t be as bad as if he made the decisions.
He glanced back at Ron, expecting to see the disappointment in his eyes. Instead he saw a look of intense curiosity—as if Peng were doing something calculated and smart. Peng quickly broke the gaze. He turned his attention to Matt and saw an expression he was familiar with.
Bewilderment. As if he were observing an alien emerging from a spacecraft. Peng was sure Matt didn’t know what to think of him, which was probably good. He was not an alien. Just a monster. A monster who had overstayed his welcome.
In that moment, he decided that after this trip, he would make his final escape and leave for good.