looked at his knees.
“Oh man, you guys should kill me now,” said Ben. “I’m not going to make it.”
Jack grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the crowd. “C’mon, you weakling,” Jack said.
In the midway the sounds of the games and booths were deafening. The boys were jostled by the shifting crowds and blinded by the flashing lights. Stephen led the way to an attraction that housed a game of skill. He set down a dollar and attempted to move a small metal ring down a slowly-spinning contorted metal rod. He missed his mark and his loop touched the rod. A buzzer sounded and his game came to an end.
“Tough luck kid. Next time,” the operator counseled.
“I want to try again,” said Stephen.
“Sure thing,” said the man, and took his dollar.
Stephen was a quick study. He moved the loop confidently down the length of the twisted, spinning rod and didn’t hesitate when he got to the point of his previous error. He made it through the hardest turn and was making the home stretch.
“Hey!” Stephen shouted as the buzzer went off and the game stopped. “I didn’t touch anything! You guys saw.”
“Game doesn’t lie, kid. Next time,” said the attendant.
“Bullshit — that’s bullshit!”
“Hey — watch your mouth, rich-bitch,” said the man. “Take a hike.”
“C’mon, Stephen,” said Ben as he grabbed his friend’s shirt.
“What? He cheated me,” retorted Stephen.
“Whatever. You don’t want those prizes anyway,” said Ben.
Jack started to move away and then returned to grab Stephen’s other arm. Leading him on either side, Jack and Ben escorted Stephen away.
“This whole thing is a fake!” said Stephen. “I’m going to get these guys!”
Moving away from the games, the boys found themselves back near the rides. They compared ticket prices and line lengths and decided to go in the haunted house. The ride was about the size of a double-wide trailer, and had tracks that small cars travelled.
The line moved quickly. At the head of the line, they handed over their tickets to a disinterested attendant. Once on the ride, Stephen hatched his plan.
“You guys know that big box that was next to the expo building?” Stephen asked.
“Yeah, where I put my soda down and that guy yelled at me?” asked Jack.
“Yeah, that’s it,” continued Stephen. “I think that’s the junction box for the power for this side of the fair. Probably the whole midway is run off that.”
“How would you know?” asked Jack.
Ben surprised Jack by answering for Stephen: “His dad is an electrical engineer. He’s always inspecting that kind of stuff.”
“That’s right,” said Stephen. “And I bet if we throw the breaker we kill the power. Then, while the power’s out I can go get my prize from that guy’s table. He’ll be too worried about getting the power back on to even notice me.”
“That’s like the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Ben. “Why would that ever work?”
“I bet it will,” said Stephen. “Besides, if the power goes off and the guy’s not distracted, then I just won’t do it.”
Ben wasn’t buying it — “Or, everything looks cool, but everyone in the whole fair sees you trying to steal something because they have nothing better to do. I mean, if the power’s off, everyone is going to be on guard and you’re not going to have any chance. You’re better just watching the guy until he’s not paying attention.”
“That’s a pretty solid point,” agreed Jack. “Or you could just say ‘Hey, I got ripped off for
The ride ended and the boys realized they hadn’t seen any of it. They were too busy arguing about revenge.
“I’ve to to take a piss,” said Stephen when they were out of the ride. He went off towards the expo building.
Jack and Ben were alone, and Jack turned to Ben — “You don’t think he’s serious, do you?”
Ben answered quickly — “I don’t know, he’s pretty stubborn. He might just do it.”
Wandering towards the midway the boys were caught completely off-guard when the lights and sounds suddenly shut down. A swelling group-scream rolled through the crowd and was accompanied by both cheers and boos from the startled mob. Most stood still, but a small contingency started a rough move towards the exit.
Stephen jogged up through the sea of people.
“Come on, let’s go see if he’s distracted now,” Stephen said, smiling.
Pushing their way towards the midway, the boys were moving upstream against a growing exodus. Their fellow fair-goers were getting rowdy and vocal about the darkness. Stephen turned abruptly and pushed Ben and Jack towards a gap between two displays. Trailers on either side, they had to step carefully over cables and tie- downs that filled the makeshift alley. When they popped out behind the trailers, the boys found themselves in an area of solitude amongst the chaos.
“Where are we?” asked Jack. “Have we gotten back to the Plinko yet?”
Stephen answered: “I don’t think so. We can go this way.” He pointed to a small space between tents and trailers. Ben and Jack strained to see what he was pointing at — it was incredibly dark behind these structures. Out in the midway their way had been partially lit by all the people holding up their cell phones and keychain flashlights.
Carefully picking their way, they were getting nowhere. A flashlight clicked on behind them and threw their shadows ahead of them.
“What are you boys doing there?” demanded a throaty voice from behind Jack.
“Run!” yelled Stephen and he attempted to dart off to his right. Ben and Jack plunged behind him when Ben suddenly stopped.
“We passed him,” hissed Ben. Jack looked back to see that Stephen had tripped and was tangled in the ropes of a tent. Soon they could see every detail as the man with the flashlight caught up with Stephen and hauled him to his feet.
“C’mon kids, game’s over,” said the man. “Warren?” he called over his shoulder. “Get over here.”
The man had a firm hold of Stephen’s shirt and pulled Stephen to a small courtyard between a food wagon and the Bingo tent.
A voice sounded from inside the Bingo tent. “What you need?”
Stephen’s captor replied — “I caught a kid sneaking around,” he directed his next comment at Jack and Ben. “You two come over here and things might go easier on your friend here.”
“Okay,” said Jack and he started walking towards the man holding Stephen.
Mouth open, Ben watched his friend close the distance to sure doom. Ben thought that if he could get away, he could go find help. He was becoming certain that the man holding Stephen and soon-to-be-holding Jack should not be considered trustworthy. The man was tall and skinny and his bare arms looked like they could hold back an elephant if need be. Ben was sure of one thing — he didn’t want to submit to this man in any way.
Ben was just getting his nerve to run when Jack came to within arm’s length of the man. As the man’s sinewy arm looped down to scoop him up, Jack ducked and lunged forward. The man had no way to block Jack, with a handful of Stephen taking away one of his hands. Unencumbered, Jack drove a hard uppercut to the skinny man’s crotch.
“Go!” Jack yelled at Stephen as the man dropped his shirt. Stephen ran to the right as Jack tried to escape left. The man, now doubled over, managed to trip Jack up, but with flailing legs Jack stayed upright and kept moving. Ben was the last to bolt, watching the whole scene as if it were happening on television.
The boys went their separate ways, but instinctively made their way back to where Jack’s dad had parked. Arriving simultaneously, Jack and Ben high-fived to celebrate their safety.
“Oh man, where’s Stephen?” asked Jack.
“Right here,” Stephen called from around the other side of the car. The joy Stephen felt was transparent in his step — he fairly glided around the car.
