The Regulator (Complete First Draft)

Chapter 26: Monica - Take Heed

“So you’re a bit of a mess, aren’t you?” Monica said, coldly. Andrew looked up at her, and wordlessly took a sip of beer. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Monica walked farther into the cabin, out of the entry hall, and took a seat on one of the boys beds. She looked at Andrew, who was a pitiful mess. Unshaved beard, dirty clothes, unbathed... this had really hit him hard. “Andrew, I get that you’re going through something hard right now, but that doesn’t mean you can become an unkempt mess.”

“Yeah? What are you here to do about it?” Andrew asked, rudely.

“Nothing right now. Just here to try and make you feel better.” Monica said, calmly.

“Well you can f*** off cause it ain’t workin.” Andrew said, taking another sip of beer as he finished. Monica breathed deeply.

“You used to be a nice kid, you know that? One of the best people at this camp, and I’m sure your friends at school loved you too. What happen to that kid?” Monica asked.

“He died in the barn.” Andrew said, without missing a beat. Monica was struck by that comment. It was so ready, so prepared. The two sat in silence for a moment.

“Do you remember the day Dominic had diarrhea?” Monica asked, a grin across her face. Andrew looked at her, at first annoyed, but then a slight smile appeared on his face.

“Oh god, don’t remind me.” He said, “Poor Dom... it was all over the walls and... oh god it was so awful.” He said, the smile getting a bit bigger.

“And you called me down on the radio and just said ‘Uhh, Monica... I think you have to get down to the lakeside bathrooms’. And I just wondered why and you said... what did you say?” Monica asked, giggling. The smile on Andrew’s face started to stretch.

“Armageddon.” He said. The two burst out laughing. Not a hard laugh, but a good laugh.

“Oh god, it was so awful!” Monica said.

“That... that it was.” Andrew said, reflecting on the disgustingly hilarious memory. The two’s laughter died down and they soon sat in silence again. “So, Monica, what’s the real reason you came down here?” Andrew asked. Monica was taken slightly a back, she thought she had done a petty good job about pretending there wasn’t another reason. But before she could say anything, the door swung wide open.

“Andrew, Andrew, Andrew!” Monica heard a young boy scream, just as two ran right past her and into Andrew, hugging him. Andrew accepted the embrace, but looked slightly annoyed.

“Jaxon, James, what are you guys doing? What’s wrong?” Andrew said. Monica was shocked by how active he sounded all of a sudden. His sullen, monotonous tone was gone.

“We were watching them build the halloween spiders and then Danny had an ak-47 and Anthony got mad and they fought and were yelling and Danny was gonna come here but Anthony was like “Andrew’s not gonna do anything for you” and then we ran here because he said...”
 Jaxon’s mouth was running a hundred miles a minute with no end. He turned his head and saw Monica, jumped out of Andrew’s arms, and wrapped his arms tightly around Monica. “Please, please, please don’t move us to another cabin. Andrew’s my favorite counselor, I don’t want to move.” Jaxon pleaded.

Andrew looked at James, who was still grabbing onto him tightly and was obviously more calm than Jaxon, “Anthony told you you guys were gonna get moved out of the cabin, huh?” He asked. James shook his head.

“He said he heard Monica and Brad talking about it, yeah.” James said, looking at Monica but holding onto Andrew as he did.

Andrew looked at Monica, “Funny you guys should run in here right now.” He said, “We were just discussing that, weren’t we?” Andrew said. Monica noticed his tone was completely different. There was something... intimidating about it. Something threatening.

“Well, yes. Andrew, if you don’t snap out of this soon and start taking better care of yourself and your group, me and Brad think it would be best if your kids were moved to another cabin with another counselor.” Monica said. Even as she said it, she could see in Andrew’s face that he didn’t give a shit about what she was saying. Andrew pushed James gently off of him and moved him onto the bed, then stood up. Monica remained sitting, a little unsure of what to do, or what he was about to do. Andrew walked towards her, stopping just a few inches from where she sat.

“You leave my group out of this.” Andrew said. It was not a threat. It was not a proposition. It was a demand. A cold, hard, simple demand. Andrew’s voice wasn’t threatening, and Monica had a feeling he wasn’t trying to threaten her. But she all of a sudden felt threatened by a young man she considered a friend. “They are not a part of this. They never will be a part of this. Whatever happens happens to me, not them. And I will not be leaving them.” He said, again, coldly.

“Andrew, it’s just a precaution, once you were better-”

“Goodbye, Monica.” Andrew said, declaratively. He stared at her while Jaxon and James looked on, speechless. Monica stood up, and with all the dignity she could muster, she walked out. As she stepped out onto the porch, she realized what a relief it was to be away from someone that she still considered a friend.