Why We Think The Way We Do

A chill blew across Judas' exposed shoulder as he shuddered and groaned. He rose from his stiff air mattress to the loud clanging of a cowbell. Judas then remembered where he was. He wished badly to be in his warm bed accompanied by his lovable husky, but no, he was on the lower bunk of one of the 5 bunk beds in the rickety, poorly-heated, poorly-lit cabin of the Riverbank Bible Camp. He had no desire to come to that hellhole on his own recognizance; it was his parents’ idea. If only they hadn’t figured out that Judas has decimated the bible he was given at his church, then he wouldn’t be in this mess. Judas sighed and climbed out of his bed, stumbling out of his tiny cabin along with the rush of other boys in his cabin.

“And Lord, we pray that your light would shine into the hearts of these young people in order to be servants to your will.”

The camp counselor was in a large circle amongst the other camp goers. The adolescents and teens were all joined hand in hand with each other, except for Judas, who was simply standing there with his head up and eyes glaring, unlike all the others. As the counselor continued, he eyed Judas curiously. Instead of darting his head down and quickly grabbing a hand on either flank like all the others, Judas glared back at him with an icy stare fitting of his sharp blue eyes. 

“In your name we pray, amen.” the counselor concluded, with a rumble of “amens” emanating from the circle. The counselor drew a cross expression.

“Issac--” the counselor started in a warning tone, but was quickly cut off by Judas.

“It’s Judas.” he snapped.

“I’m not going to call you that.” the counselor huffed. 

“Okay, dick.” Judas rebutted.

“It’s Mr. Jacobs.” the counselor corrected among a din of giggles from the camp-goers.

“I’m not calling you that.” Judas replied in a mocking tone.

“Issac, do you need to go back to your cabin for a while?” Jacobs asked in a patronizing tone.

“Nah,” Judas scoffed, “I need a goddamn cigarette.”

The camp-goers ooh-ed at the exchange as Jacobs’ face grew red.

“And I need you to show me some goddamn respect.” Judas barked, breaking the circle and walking towards Jacobs, who backed up slightly.

“Back up, Issac. We don’t fight people here.”

“It’s Judas, for fuck’s sake!” another “ooh” emerged from the crowd as the camp-goers gathered around the two. “Say it right!”

“That’s enough, Issac!” Jacobs bellowed. Jacob took a deep breath through his gritting teeth and lunged forward, tackling Jacobs with a grunt as the camp-goers exploded in jeers and yells. The two wrestled and yelled, Judas throwing punches left and right as Jacobs desperately tried to get away from the fuming boy. The camp-goers were chanting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” as Jacobs pulled Judas to his feet, who was swinging and yelling wildly, and as Jacobs struggled to drag the boy to a nearby shed perched outside the cabins. The crowd followed as Jacobs opened the shed and threw Judas inside. Judas landed on a pile of sports equipment as the door was shut. Judas felt blood running down his face as he staggered to his feet. He lunged for the door, but there was no handle, just a lock which was already firmly sealed by Jacobs on the outside.

“Hey!” Judas pounded on the door, rattling the shed as the crowd noises receded. “Let me out of here! You dirty fucking rat! Let me out! I’ll break this goddamn shed open! Let me out, you limp-dicked bitch! Let me out! Let me the fuck out!”

Judas continued to pound and scream until he ran out of energy, after which he collapsed back onto the sports equipment, panting hard. After his breathing returned to normal, Judas fell into a fitful sleep.

Judas awoke to a sharp knock on the door. A clatter sounded inside the shed as Judas stumbled to his feet.

“Iss- er, Judas, your parents are here.” Jacobs’ voice sounded from outside the door. Judas groaned as he clutched his pulled back.

“Well then, let me out!” Judas snapped. With a clattering noise and a creak, the door to the shed opened. Jacobs’ stood apprehensively behind Judas’ parents, who were scowling at their son with disappointment. Judas sighed as he exited the shed.

“Was it really necessary to lock him in there?” Judas’ mother mumbled to Jacobs as Judas’ father grabbed his son roughly by the arm. “It’s so cold out.”

“We couldn’t control your son’s outburst, ma’am.” Jacobs replied flatly. “We had to detain him so he didn’t harm the other children.”

“It’s you I wanted, old man!” Judas jeered, earning a sharp tug on the arm from his father as they walked towards the camp’s exit.

“We appreciated having your son here at Riverbank.” Jacobs mumbled as the family exited.