Give Me a Sign(44)
Isaac crawls out of the tree and offers his hand to help me up. I brush off the dirt and notice several red welts on my legs. The bugs got me good.
Isaac notices. “New reason for your sign name.”
“H-a h-a,” I sign as he reaches down to brush some dirt off the backs of my calves. I . . . have not been shaving my legs while at camp, but he doesn’t seem bothered.
“There, all good,” he signs.
“Thank you.”
* * *
After dinner, we’re given time to get ready for the talent show and dance. Our younger girls don’t spend too much time dressing up, so we get to the barn early and hang out on the steps. But then some of them decide they want their hair braided, so Mackenzie and I get to work.
“Have you seen Gary at all today?” Mackenzie asks as I reach out to ask a camper for her hair tie to finish off her braid.
“No, I haven’t. Why?”
“I overheard him telling Ethan something about donations.”
“Huh, we’ll have to ask about that later tonight.”
Twenty minutes later, Bobby’s, Simone’s, and Natasha’s groups all arrive and head into the dance barn, and Bobby gets to work connecting his phone to play his carefully crafted playlist for the dance.
With the campers’ hair done, Mackenzie finishes up her own pigtails. “Want me to do yours, too?”
“Um,” I say. “Maybe a half-up, half-down situation?”
“Sure,” Mackenzie agrees. “That’ll be easy enough.”
Jaden’s and Isaac’s groups are the last to show up. The boys run inside, hoping to influence Bobby’s music selection.
Isaac stops on the way up the stairs, watching Mackenzie playing stylist on me. He takes a step back down. “It looks pretty.”
“Thanks.” I can’t hide my face because Mackenzie still has a tight hold on my head. Bobby starts playing some pre-show tunes, and the wooden planks vibrate beneath me.
Isaac takes a seat on the step below me and flashes a smile over his shoulder. “One, please.”
He leans back, sitting between my legs so I can grab some hair from the crown of his head. There’s enough that I’m able to twist it into a ridiculous little braid that sticks straight up. I pull a spare purple hairband off my wrist and secure it around this absurd updo.
I tap his shoulder. “All done.”
Isaac reaches up, then shakes his head from side to side. “Silly. All right, time to dance!”
Mackenzie and I laugh as Isaac hops up and heads inside. Once my own braid is complete, we gather our girls into the dance barn. All the campers take a seat, either on the floor or in the few chairs along the wall, for the evening to start with the talent show.
Our group’s performance goes surprisingly well. Blake sways along to the music during the verses, but signs the refrain without missing a beat. As we walk back to our seats, she keeps signing the refrain, and Honey joins in. Who would’ve thought?
Loud, joyful shouts accompany signed applause to fill the gaps between the routines that follow. There’s a comedy skit, a couple of dance numbers, and an ASL story, and by the end, the campers are all amped-up.
The show ends with the senior counselors dancing to a song—which they do every year. The lights are dimmed, signaling the final performance of the night. As the staff dance their way to the front, I’m happy to lean on the “junior” part of my role and stay seated with the kids. But Isaac stops in front of me, continuing his goofy dancing with his hand outstretched.
The girls from my cabin are laughing. “Go, Lilah,” Blake says, pushing me forward.
Fine. I take Isaac’s hand, and we fly onto the stage, jumping and dancing around as Ethan gestures for the campers to hit the dance floor. Simone hands out dollar store glow sticks for everyone to wear around their wrists as they dance or sign along. The moving lights are dazzling, but this is no rave. It’s fewer than forty people in a barn that could easily hold three hundred.
Isaac spins me around and twirls me back toward him. Simone holds out green and purple glow sticks for us.
He grabs my hand again, pulling me close and dipping me backward, my hair hanging down over my shoulders. It’s summer camp. I’m literally wearing gym shoes and a tank top, but somehow, I feel fancy. I’m sure Isaac and I will have to pull away at some point. But I don’t want to. I want to hold on to him tight and never let go . . .
Until my right hearing aid beeps and goes staticky, blurring out the music around me. With the right one gone, the left will soon follow. I stop moving and step back from Isaac, who also freezes, confused. I pull out my right hearing aid and hold it up before running off toward my backpack.
Sure enough, the left hearing aid also beeps. I shove around everything in my bag, unable to find a pack of batteries. Sometime last week I used the remaining ones, and I never got replacements from my suitcase. I don’t want to go all the way back to the cabins right now. I could ask if anyone has spare batteries, but everyone’s having a great time on the dance floor.
Then it hits me. I go without my hearing aids often lately, every day at the lake or the pool. Or last night around the campfire with Isaac, Natasha, and Jaden. I’m surrounded by Deaf people. If there’s ever a place I should feel comfortable going without my hearing aids, it’s here. Plus, Isaac is waiting for me on the dance floor.