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Lester stewed as he sat in his nephew’s pickup truck. He prepared himself for the tongue lashing he was about to receive concerning the rant and spectacle he had made in front of Eric and his team.
Curtiss whipped around the truck and slammed the door behind him. He said nothing as he started up the propane-fueled vehicle and shifted it into gear. Once out of earshot of the others, he tore into Lester.
“Damn, I can’t believe you just did that!” Curtiss continued to chastise him further, “Don’t you realize dumb remarks like those could blow the entire operation for us?!”
Lester turned his head towards the window to avoid eye contact with Curtiss. He slowly shook his head back and forth to infer otherwise, “They weren’t dumb remarks! They were the truth. And, if you had been listened to the legend, instead of blowing it off as hogwash, you’d realize that, too!”
Curtiss thought about engaging Lester further but instead held back. Suddenly, he chuckled, “Look, I know you’ve been watching over the family grave site all your life. I know you think the family legend is real, but believe me when I tell you it’s not. When are you gonna get it in your head that It’s nothing more than a big rock slab that someone chiseled out a hundred and forty-seven years ago? Some jokers chiseled it into the shape of a man, and that’s all it’s ever gonna be.”
Lester would have no part of Curtiss’ explanation, “I told you all the details of the legend in such a way that it would make you believe it happened...exactly the way I told it.”
Curtiss clutched his fist and stressed his following words. “Oh, believe me, Uncle, you did just that...and it was in a compelling way. But, I gotta be honest... no matter how many times you told it, I never believed any of it was true.”
Lester was taken aback by Curtiss’ admission. It was clear he was hurt that Curtiss never believed his tale. “You think I made it all up then?”
Curtiss realized no matter how he responded, Lester was going to be hurt. Curtiss said nothing.
His silence only contributed to fuel Lester’s suspicion, “So, you think I’m crazy, then? Don’t you?”
Curtiss decided it would be best to move on. “It’s no big deal whether I believe it or not. And, you wanna know why? Because nothing bad is going to happen, that’s why. Don’t you think if it were really bad, something would have already happened by now?”
Lester rubbed his forehead back and forth. He had calmed down, “Son, I didn’t mind so much when you started bringing out one person at a time because I knew the odds were against anything coming of it. But then you started bringing out couples...that’s when I got nervous. And now, tonight.... all these people?!”
Curtiss assured his uncle, “You’re right. You’re right. I’ve never brought out this many people before, but I was never offered this much money before now.”
Lester was adamant. He felt as though something inside his skin was crawling to get out. He started grabbing at his jacket as if he were trying to rip it off. “It’s wrong, I tell you! Wrong! I got a bad feeling about it.”
Curtiss reached out and held Lester’s body which had begun to rock in place. He gently patted Lester’s chest. “Trust me. You’ll see. Everything is going to be fine. You just take it easy. Calm down. You are calm now. Ok?”
Lester stopped rocking and slowly removed Curtiss’ hand from his chest. He guided it back to the steering wheel. In a calm voice, he said,
“I should have re-buried him years ago, but it’s too late for that now....” He looked beyond the trees to what was there waiting. “...too late for all of us.”
Curtiss was never one for giving in, much like the way he saw his uncle giving in to him, so he immediately admonished him. “Now, you stop that talk. If you really want to help, just stand in the background like you always do and look creepy.”
Curtiss saw Lester’s face had returned to normal. He knew he had snapped him out of it and that his words had brought him back.
“I’m telling you it’s gonna be ok. You’ll see. We’ll all be laughing and drinking at their expense on Sunday evening.” Curtiss pulled up to a clearing, and Ed followed with the bus.
The team members disembarked and were impressed by the sight that lay before them. The camp was comprised of state-of-the-art tents organized in two rows facing each other.
Eric stood before them, “All right, everybody. Ed’s unloading your gear. Check the tent flaps for your names and get settled in. Dinner will be served in about 30 minutes.”
The group walked around, scoped out the area, and identified their accommodations, except for Jack, who walked up to Curtiss and hesitantly asked, “Um, I was wondering. Where do you go? I mean, you know, where do you go?”
Curtiss chuckled, “You mean you gotta take a badass dump, and you don’t want to stink up the bus?”
Jack smiled. “Something like that.”
Curtiss pointed off to the right. “Little boys to the right,” Then he pointed to the left and shouted. “And, little girls to the left.” Curtiss laughed under his breath. “Take your choice.”
Jack cautiously wandered off. Lester walked over to Curtiss and asked, “Where’s he going?” Curtiss was still laughing.
“To the little boy's room, or maybe the girls? In his case, perhaps both.
This did not sit well with Lester. “You dug ‘em too close to the site. They might wander over to it without even realizing.”
Curtiss dismissed Lester’s concerns. “We’ve got things to get ready for dinner.” Lester kept looking in the direction Jack had gone. “Come on; we got work to do.”
A few moments later, they all heard a commotion. It was Jack, with pants down around his ankles. He was running back towards the camp as best one could under such conditions.
“What the Hell’s his problem?!” yelled Lester.
Cole burst out in laughter, “What’s wrong, Jackie Boy? Do you want Stacie to wipe your little ass?”
As Jack approached, they saw his lips were mouthing words, but not a word could be heard. Stacie ran to Jack and steadied his movements.
“What is it, Jack? What’s wrong?”
He tried to speak again until finally, words came forth. “I – I - I saw something. It was reaching out from the ground!”
“Reaching out from the ground?!” A startled Stacie asked.
Vincent ran over and glanced at Curtiss before asking, “What do you mean you saw something? What was it?”
Jack tried to speak, but nothing came forth as he thought about it. Just then, Eric came over. “Spit it out!” Demanded Eric.
“You...you won’t believe me!”
“Damn it, Jack! What did you see?”
“All right. It was an arm...an arm reaching out from the ground!”