Ginger Kid by Steve Hofstetter

Author:Steve Hofstetter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2018-03-23T04:00:00+00:00

THE PRANK WAR

The prank war started naturally. I had three close friends at camp—Ari Landau, Eyal Dar, and Nate Boxer. Ari was younger than the rest of us and sensitive about it. We didn’t care, but there was obviously a part of him that felt less than because he didn’t have the life experience we had. Though most of our extra life experiences involved getting turned down by girls.

Every day, the four of us met at a picnic table after breakfast to hang and talk while making sure the kids didn’t do anything dangerous. Or dangerous enough to get us fired.

One day, Ari arrived clearly upset. Charlotte had said something that really bothered him, but he wouldn’t tell us what. Nate asked if she’d turned him down for a walk, and we all laughed. It’s amazing how much intent factors into how hurtful people can be. I had no problem with Nate teasing me about my rejection, because I knew he meant well. But if our bunk cool guy had made fun of me, I would have been livid.

And that’s what happened to Ari. He told us that Charlotte had called him a little boy. And not in an aren’t-you-cute way. She knew he was sensitive about his age and she said it anyway, intending to hurt him. He’d stormed out of the room silently.

Eyal suggested that we do something to get back at her. As the ball-buster of the group, Nate had no problem with that. And it was hard for me to turn down something that could get a laugh. It would be a great way to show Ari that he was a respected part of the group. And it would be more fun than just sitting at a picnic table.

The mistake people often make when planning a revenge prank is going overboard. I believe the hallmark of a good revenge prank is letting the punishment fit the crime. Charlotte had purposely said something hurtful, so the best way to get her back was to make her feel guilty about what she’d done.

The four of us came up with a plan. We concocted a story that Ari was actually three years older than the rest of us but suffered from a rare disease that made him look younger. I pulled Charlotte aside that night to explain to her how what she said had really hurt Ari.

I enjoyed the charade, probably more than I should have. I liked defending my friend. I also liked practicing improv.

Charlotte fell for our ploy and asked me all the questions we had predicted and prepared for. What’s the disease called (poliponesia), how long has he had it (his whole life), who else knows (just Nate and Eyal), and so on. We saw those questions coming. And then, there was one question we hadn’t thought of.

“If he’s older, wouldn’t he be in college now?”

“It comes with a learning disability,” I explained, leaning on my improv experience. “That’s why he was so upset when you called him a little boy.

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