Pipestone Bible Camp Ch. 03 - Growing Pains

I thought frantically what could have been wrong with the pies -- or maybe I had forgotten to put the final cocoa sprinkle across the top of the tiramisu? Wiping my hands off on a towel, I followed Jake to the dining room and saw something that made me nervous. Tim was smiling broadly and all the guys were assembled at the end of the dining room table in rows... like a choir. Tim came over and put an arm around my shoulders as Jack ran to take his place in the back row. They were all looking at me and a little excited. I wanted to go run and hide in the kitchen again or at least duck under the table, but I soon found out that Tim probably expected this and his arm kept me in place.

"Melanie, the gentlemen of Sigma Phi wanted to express their... gratitude... for your culinary efforts this year with Rutter's 'Banquet Fugue,'" he said, as one of the guys blew a pitch out of a little pipe thing. Then, in different groups they began to sing rounds of different parts overlapping each other.

"Guzzle guzzle guzzle, munch munch gobble gobble chomp, pass the salt and the pepper and the mustard and vinegar and the bread. Munch munch, chomp chomp, gobble gobble, guzzle guzzle..."

I was dying of embarrassment at first, but slowly I forgot it because they were really good singers! Then, Jake jumped forward, thrusting his finger in the air, singing "There's a fly in my soup! There's a fly in my soup!" while the other guys sang "slurp slurp slurp slurp," and then Jake clutched his stomach "Fetch me the doctor, I'm feeling rather strange..." Then they all went quiet and started singing the whole "guzzle guzzle, munch munch, gobble gobble, chomp, guzzle guzzle guzzle guzzle" thing again. It got bigger and bigger until the very end where Rory gave and enormous belch to cap off the song. Tim, still holding me in place, was shaking his head in mild disgust.

"They insisted on doing the belch part..." he said leaning over and whispering in my ear. I laughed. I could just see Rory protesting that the belch was absolutely necessary.

Suddenly a door slammed, and I turned quickly to see Paul looking back at the door to the kitchen, then looking back at me in furious disapproval. Tim's arm released my shoulders and he cleared his throat, stepping away from me.

"What is it?" I asked, walking to Paul, suddenly nauseous with fear.

"God... you're all the same, aren't you? If he gets fucked up and lands in the ER again, this time it's on you, bitch," Paul growled under his breath before leaving the kitchen and slamming the door behind him.

Pipestone, Ch 3 - Growing Pains