The Voice of the Night

not to blush.

Colin usually disliked cheap thrill palaces like the Pit and avoided them. The few times he’d ever ventured into one, he’d found the din unbearable. The sounds of computer scorekeepers and robot adversaries — beep — beep — beep, pong-pong-pong, bomp-bompada — bomp, whoop — whoop — whooooooooop-mixed with laughter and girls’ happy screams and half-shouted conversations. Assaulted by continuous, thunderous noise, he became claustrophobic. He always felt like an alien, a being from a distant world, trapped on a primitive planet, caught in a mob of hostile, screeching, gibbering, barbaric, loathsome natives.

But he didn’t feel that way tonight. He was enjoying every minute and he knew why. Because of Roy, he was no longer a frightened visitor from space; he was now one of the natives.

With his thick yellow hair, blue eyes, muscles, and quiet self-confidence, Roy drew the girls. Three of them- Kathy, Laurie, and Janet-gathered around to watch the game. They were all better than average-looking: taut, tan, vital teen-age girls in halter tops and shorts, with shiny hair and California complexions and budding breasts and slender legs.

Roy clearly favored Laurie, while Kathy and Janet showed more than passing interest in Colin. He didn’t think they were attracted to him for himself. In fact, he was certain they were not. He had no illusions. Before girls like them swooned over boys like him, the sun would rise in the west, tiny babies would grow beards, and an honest man would be elected President. They were flirting with him because he was Roy’s friend, or because they were jealous of Laurie and wanted to make Roy jealous of them. Whatever their reasons, they were concentrating on Colin, asking questions, drawing him out, laughing at his jokes, cheering when he won a game. Until now, girls had never wasted time with him. He really didn’t care what their motives were; he just reveled in all the attention and prayed it would never end. He knew he was blushing brightly, but the arcade’s odd orange lighting provided him with cover.

Forty minutes after entering the Pit, they left to a chorus of good-byes: “So long, Roy; take it easy, Roy; see ya around, Roy.” Roy seemed to want to be rid of all of them, including Kathy, Laurie, and Janet. Colin went reluctantly.

Outside, the evening air was mild. A light breeze carried the faint scent of the sea.

Complete darkness had not yet descended. Santa Leona lay in a smoky yellow twilight similar to that which Roy had created earlier in the day for the miniature world in the Borden garage.

Their bicycles were chained to a rack in the parking lot behind the Pit.

As he bent and unlocked his bike, Roy said, “You like the Pit?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you would.”

“You spend much time there?” Colin asked.

“Nah. Not much.”

“I thought you were a regular.”

Roy stood and pulled his bike from between the pipes. “I hardly ever go.”

“Everybody knew you.”

“I know the kids who are regulars. But not me. I’m not a fan of games. At least not games as easy as the ones in the Pit.”

Colin finished unchaining his bicycle. “If you don’t like it, why’d we come?”

“I knew you’d enjoy it,” Roy said.

Colin frowned. “But I don’t want to do things that bore you.”

“I wasn’t bored,” Roy said. “I didn’t mind playing a game or three. And I sure didn’t mind having a chance to look at Laurie. She has a terrific little body, doesn’t she?”

“I guess so.”

“You guess!”

“Well, sure … she has a nice body.”

“I’d like to settle down between her pretty legs for a few months.”

“You seemed anxious to get away from her.”

“After about fifteen minutes I get sick of talking to her,” Roy said.

“Then how could you stand her for a few months?”

“We wouldn’t talk,” Roy said, grinning wickedly.

“Oh.”

“Kathy, Janet, Laurie … all those girls are just teasers.”

“What do you mean?”

“They never put out.”

“Put out what?”

“Ass, for Christ’s sake! They never put out any ass, not ever, not for anyone.”

“Oh.”

“Laurie shakes it at me, but if I actually put a hand on her tits, she’d scream so loud the roof would fall in.”

Colin was blushing and sweating. “Well, after all, she’s only fourteen, isn’t she?”

“Plenty old enough.”

Colin wasn’t pleased with the direction the conversation had taken. He tried to get back on course. “Anyway, what I wanted to say was, from now on let’s not do anything that bores you.”

Roy put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “Listen, Colin, am I your friend or not?”

“Sure you are.”

“A good friend should be willing to keep you company even when you’re doing things that you enjoy but maybe he doesn’t care so much about. I mean, I can’t expect to always do exactly what I like, and I can’t expect that you and I will always want to do the same things.”

“We like the same things,” Colin said. “We have the same interests.” He was afraid Roy would suddenly realize how different they were and would walk away, never to be seen again.

“You love horror films,” Roy said. “I don’t have any interest in that stuff.”

“Well, aside from that one thing-”

“We’ve got other differences. But the point is, if you’re my buddy, you’ll do things with me that I want to do but that you don’t like at all. So it works both ways.”

“No, it doesn‘t,” Colin said, “because I happen to like doing everything you suggest.”

“So far,” Roy said. “But there’ll come a time when you won’t want to do something that’s important to me, but you will do it because we’re friends.”

“I can’t imagine what,” Colin said.

“Just wait,” Roy said. “You’ll see. Sooner or later, good buddy, the time will come.”

The scarlet light of the Pit’s neon sign was refracted in Roy’s eyes, giving them a strange and somewhat frightening aspect. Colin thought they resembled a movie vampire’s eyes: glassy, red, violent, two windows on a soul that had been corrupted by the repeated satisfaction of unnatural desires. (But then again, Colin thought the same thing every time he saw Mr. Arkin’s eyes, and Mr. Arkin was just the man who owned the comer grocery store; the closest thing Mr. Arkin had to an unnatural desire was a taste for liquor, and his red eyes were nothing more than the most obvious sign of a nearly continuous hangover.)

“Just the same,” Colin said to Roy, “I hate the idea that I’m boring you with-”

“I wasn’t bored! Will you relax? I don’t mind going to the Pit if that’s what you want. just remember what I said about those girls. They’ll hang on you a little bit. Now and then they’ll ‘accidentally’ rub their tight little asses against you or maybe ’accidentally’ brush their boobs against your arm. But you’ll never have any real fun with them. Their idea of a big, big night is to sneak out to the parking lot, hide in the shadows, and steal kisses.”

That was also Colin’s idea of a big, big night. In fact, it was his idea of heaven on earth, but he didn’t tell Roy.

They walked their bicycles across the lot to the alley.

Before Roy could climb on his bike and pedal away, Colin got up the nerve to say: “Why me?”

“Huh?”

“Why do you want to be friends with me?”

“Why shouldn’t I be friends with you?”