Storytime 8 (The Fort)

It was a hot summer morning when I walked out of the front door with a few comic books in hand. I was going to go to the fort me and a few friends built recently to sit and read with my dog Pepper by my side. Just a happy go lucky 11 year old.

The fort was a two-floor fort that we built in between four trees. Each tree was a corner. We nailed the walls to the trees. We then decided to make the ceiling a floor for the second level. We cut an opening into it and made a ladder to climb up. We also added walls and a ceiling to that section too. Then, we decided to make yet another level. (Since we had enough wood for it.) Then, like before, we put walls up and a ceiling. Each level had a window and the ground level had a door instead of a window. When it was done, we had a ground level, a first floor and a second floor, later adding an extended porch to the second floor level with two-by-fours acting as posts underneath. (It was highly unstable but we didn’t care, it just looked good.) We also made a small dog-like hole on the second floor so one could crawl out onto the porch like structure.

Anyhow, it was an awesome fort.

I didn’t get too far when Chad, Vincent, and Richard approached me. “Where you going?” Chad asked.

“I thought I would read some comics in the fort.” I told him.

“Good luck.” Richard wished. “Derek and a couple of his friends took it over. They’re there now, drinking and smoking pot.”

“Yeah,” Vincent chimed in, “and they won’t get out either.”

“Really?” I was intrigued by this new discovery. “What are 14 and 16 year olds doing picking on us 11 and 12 year olds for?”

“Because they can.” Chad mentioned. “They’re bigger than us. They can kick our asses.”

Suddenly, I got an idea. “Wait here.” I suggested. “I’ll be back.”

I was gone, back inside the house for a few minutes and when I returned, all three boys eyes lit up. “Are you serious?” Chad questioned, as I brought out with me, 4 BB-guns. I handed each of them one and some ammo.

“If we can’t out muscle them, then we’ll shoot their damn asses out of our fort.” I said smiling. Then I looked down at my dog. “Besides, if they hit me, they have to deal with Pepper.”

So, we went into the wooded area down the street and back to the fort, real quietly like. I had Chad circle around and climb a tree, telling him, “As soon as they pop their heads out of the front door or a window, shoot them.”

I had Vincent stay where we were and climb a tree. “Same goes for you.” I told him.

Now that I had the left side and right side covered, I had Richard climb a tree that faced the front of the fort. “Don’t hesitate.” I instructed. “The moment you see one of them, shoot them.”

Once everybody was in place, I placed my BB-gun about 20 feet away, leaning it against a tree then with Pepper close by, I walked to the front door of the fort where I could see smoke escaping and the three boys laughing. I looked inside. “What the hell?” I spoke.

“Get out of here, kid, this is our fort now.” One of them told me.

“Yeah,” Another cried out, “don’t make us kick your ass. Scram!”

Derek was quiet up to now. He was the oldest. (And biggest) He got to his feet. “You little punk.” And headed to me. I backed out about 10 feet while he stood in the doorway. “Get out of here.” He commanded.

“Fuck you, bitch.” I yelled, then turned around and ran towards the tree where my BB-gun was.

“What did you say to me, punk?” He started to give chase.

I yelled out while racing to my BB-gun. “Shoot! Shoot now!”

Suddenly, I heard Derek screaming in pain as my boys started shooting their BB-guns at him. Obviously, he was unprepared for such an attack. “Son of a bitch!”

He ran back inside the fort where I could hear him telling the others what was going on. By now, I had gotten my BB gun and was walking back towards the entrance, slowly. “Leave or we will give you some more of this.” I warned.

Derek poked his head out the door. “I am going to so kick your ass punk.” (He was mad) Pepper gave a growl. He stared at her. “Screw your dog, too.”

“Come kick it then, bitch.” I retaliated while bringing up my BB gun and shooting at him. And so, for the next thirty minutes, we had them under siege. Every time one of them would try and peek out a window or door, we shot them. Finally, they surrendered. They agreed to leave the fort. We watched them as they left. I heard one of them say, “We can’t do nothing to him now, his dog is with him. She will bite you if you try and hit him.”

Once they were gone, me and my boys gathered at the fort. We read the comics I had for about an hour until they all eventually decided to go do something else. I had them take the BB guns back to my house and leave them in the garage. I stayed behind with Pepper to keep reading and actually, fell asleep in the fort. When I woke up, Pepper was nowhere to be found. I gathered up my comics and started to leave. As soon as I stepped outside, there was Derek. “You aint so tough without your dog, your BB gun or your friends, are you?”

Okay, I was a little nervous. “Screw you, Derek.” I stood my ground. “This is me and my friends fort. We built it. If you wanted to hang out in it we don’t care. Just don’t go trying to bully us around.”

“I owe you one.” He simply said. “You shoot me with a BB gun and you know I am going to kick your ass.”

It was then that I smiled. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I advised.

“Screw you, Carroll, your dog aint here to protect you now.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked him. Still grinning. “She’s standing right behind you as we speak.”

His eyes got wide. “What? You’re lying.”

“Just don’t make any sudden movements dude or she will bite the shit out of you.” I cleverly told him. This made him more nervous. “If you don’t believe me,” I suggested, “then why not slowly turn your head to the right and see for yourself.”

“Dude,” He whispered, “if that dog is not behind when I look, you are so dead.”

“Just do it slowly.” I said. “If you move too fast, she will attack.”

He slowly turned his head. Once he had turned it about as far as he could, he said. “I don’t see her.”

I stepped up and closer to him, bringing my right foot up and kicking him in the nuts. “That’s because she’s not there, dumb-ass.”

He fell to the ground holding his testicals, screaming at the top of his lungs. “Son of a bitch!”

I took off like a bat out of hell, racing out of the woods and towards home. “Fuck you, Derek, you little bitch! Suck it!”

Derek finally found the strength to get to his feet and began to chase after me. “You’re dead, Carroll, dead! Do you hear me?”

He got about ten feet behind me when from out of the blue, guess who shows up? That’s right! Pepper!!!Yaaaaay! LOL And she tore into him like a monkey to a banana. He started screaming and running away, “Get your dog off of me, get your dog off of me!”

I stood there at the edge of my driveway smiling. “How do you like me now?”

God, I just loved that dog. Best dog I ever had. LOL