Page 88 of Give Me a Sign
As much as I’d love for my family to be fluent in ASL, the possibility of that seems a long way away. It’s difficult to imagine sign language as part of my real world, rather than just existing at camp.
“S’mores!” Ethan joins our huddle at the campfire, finished with his paperwork early this evening.
“Not turning in early?” Mackenzie asks.
“Nah,” Ethan says and signs, grabbing a marshmallow and a seat by the fire. “How could I miss this celebration?”
“Do you think I should tell my brother he shouldn’t get the cochlear?” I ask Natasha.
While she ponders, Ethan chimes in. “For Max? Why not? My twin has one and loves it.”
“Really?” I didn’t know he had siblings, let alone a twin.
“Yeah, she got it when she was pretty young,” he says and signs one-handed. “I’ve got the two hearing aids, but she’s got one cochlear. Her other ear has full hearing.”
Ethan stands to make his s’more, so I wait for him to sit again. Natasha is curious as well.
“But doesn’t your family sign?” Natasha asks.
“Oh, no.” Ethan shakes his head as he takes a big bite. “Only me. I went to Deaf school all my life, but my sister wanted to be mainstreamed.”
“Interesting,” I say and sign. “My brother hasn’t picked up much ASL yet. I’m trying to teach him as I learn.”
“And I’ll help you,” Isaac offers once more. He slides closer to me on the bench.
“Hey, you’re wearing your hearing aids again,” Natasha says and signs, pointing to my ears.
“Yeah.” I turn slightly toward Isaac but look at the ground in front of his feet.
“You are,” Isaac echoes the observation. “I love the purple.”
I shake my head while Natasha rolls her eyes. “You’re only now noticing?” Natasha asks. “How is that possible?”
She’s about to chastise him further, but Jaden shows up and sits next to her. Bobby and Simone are heading our way, too. I snuggle next to Isaac and share another smile with Natasha across the circle. It’s an “entire staff around the fire” kind of night. I’ve missed these.
Chapter Twenty-eight
The sunhasn’t begun to set yet, but we’re preparing a Friday night campfire down by the lake, complete with ASL story time, most likely Jaden’s retelling of the Deaf King Kong joke. Gary is sitting on the golf cart going through some paperwork and waves me over.
“How’ve you been, Lilah?”
“It’s been a wild summer. But things are good.” Nervously, I stretch out my arms, watching as the cart’s headlights cast a long shadow behind me.
“Glad to hear it. So I’ve been crunching the numbers after our new fundraising success. Any idea what your plans are for next year?”
“Well, not yet.”
“Would you be interested in being a senior counselor?”
“Yes!” I blurt out. “I mean, if I’m allowed. I’m not sure I was exactly the most stellar junior counselor this camp has ever seen. And I’m still working on my ASL.”
“Are you kidding? You’ve done great. Helping put together this fundraising video, for one. That’s some brilliant leadership. We’re not going to let you go that easily. You’ve done great with the campers, especially helping those who also aren’t fluent in sign. I have complete confidence that with a few more summers working here, you’ll be fluent. It’d be impossible not to be. Heck, even Bobby and the lifeguards know a bunch of signs now. Meanwhile, I’ve managed to get by using the staff as interpreters.” He pauses to scratch his beard. “Now, don’t think I’ve forgotten about a certain curfew incident.”
“Never again,” I say, shaking my head solemnly. But I did it! I managed to secure the senior counselor job. Even though it was a long, sometimes difficult summer, I did it.
“The way I see it, you’ll be Ethan’s problem,” Gary says. “I won’t be here next summer.”
“Why not?”
