G-157

by K. M. Malloy

  “I’m serious,” she said, jabbing her index finger in his face, the I mean it or else finger that only mothers can point with any kind of conviction. She began adjusting his chinstrap, jerking it this way and that to tighten it, his head lolling from side to side from the force. “I don’t want you getting hurt like Aire did.”

  “Mom, you’re choking me,” he said as he loosened the strap.

  “Better to choke a little than crack your head like an egg. Good luck.” She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. Aire’s chest panged with remembrance of Troy’s words from last night. We only kiss little kids on the forehead.

  “Remember, when you go into a turn, look behind you under your elbow so you can avoid getting run into,” their father called as Mitch pushed his bike towards the starting line. He gave a thumbs up without looking back.

  The spirit of race day took hold of Aire in the grand stands when she and Melissa met up with the boys. She hollered and cheered with the rest of the crowd as soon as the starting gates dropped and Mitch zoomed down the straightaway. She felt her mother’s anxiety when he reached the first turn. One boy caught his foot peg on the hay bale that marked the track boundry and toppled to the ground, causing a pileup as those who could not get out of the way in time slammed into fallen bikes and went crashing on top of each other. Aire chewed her thumb as she watched Mitch narrowly dodge the dog pile and disappear down the track into the woods. He was one of the youngest to ever place in the Pee Wees, and while impressive, it also left him at a disadvantage. Being younger than everyone also meant being smaller than everyone, and that meant it was easier to push and shove the boy off course. Aire knew that from experience, and memories of her own crash from last spring kept flooding into her thoughts. It wasn’t until the boy came flying out of the woods that Aire could take her fingernails out from between her teeth.

  She leapt up and roared when she saw Mitch speeding full throttle just behind the first place rider, inching his way closer to the lead as he gained speed on him. For a moment she thought he was going to take first, but an older boy on a yellow bike overcame him just before they crossed the finish line. Mitch’s fist shot in the air when they reached the checkered flag, his fan club in the stands jumping up and down and hugging each other at his third place victory.

  The spark in the air fueled Aire’s excitement, and for the rest of the day she was rushing about in a state of hurried frenzy. She cheered and whooped as she watched Mitch progress through the races, meeting him for pep talks at the tent and any advice Troy and Gary had to offer when they weren’t watching their little brothers’s races in the Pip Squeak divisions. By time the championship race was about to start, Aire felt that she was about to collapse from exhaustion. But as Mitch bolted down the track in the final round, her energy began to renew itself, and Aire was a ball of fire when he came into the home stretch. Her throat was raw and she didn’t know if sound was even coming out of it as she cheered her little brother on to a second place finish. She held her breath as the point totals were calculated, and her heart surged with pride when they announced that Mitch had placed third overall, beating his rival Sammy Roberts by two points.

  All week Aire had planned on spending the first night of the races roaming the park with her friends. Game booths and carnival rides were a feature of race weekend, and Aire had imagined herself strolling hand in hand with Troy through the bizarre. She’d even let herself picture Troy winning her a teddy bear in the milk bottle game.

  Mitch, however, had changed all those plans. Her pride in her brother had Aire glued to his side all night. She bought him cotton candy and pony rides with the equality credits she’d been saving to buy herself a new bike, and bragged on and on about him to anyone who would listen. He smiled at her that night in a way she hadn’t seen since he was a toddler, and it was the first night that she could ever remember losing track of time hanging out with her little brother.

  Chapter Twelve

  John’s Town

  In the beginning…

  Sarah and Brenda were sleeping amid a jumble of carnival tents when the sun arose. Each slept in dreamless rest, their young minds exhausted from rising in the early hours of the morning.

  The truck began to move.

  Brenda let out a yelp at the sudden motion, her eyes like shinning BBs with fright. Sarah let out a hiss to shush her.

  “Quiet or they’ll catch us before we even leave.”

  The girl nodded, and both began to smile.

  “We’re really going to become unicorn trainers,” Brenda whispered.

  They looked at each other, and began to giggle. The giggles began to grow, tickling at their insides until they became great gwalluping laughter, and they had to cover their mouths with their hands to keep it in.

  “We have to,” Sarah snorted between laughs. “We have to be quiet so they won’t hear.”

  “Okay.”

  They quieted and remained still as the trucks slowly rumbled out of John’s Town. Sarah began to nod off while Brenda could not sit still. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, and lay on her stomach just to sit back up again. She finally found a good sitting position and stared out a slit in the side of the truck, watching as the trees waved goodbye to them. A smile spread across her face. We’re finally getting out of John’s Town.

  The truck began to slow, and came to a halt along the dirt road. She could hear men’s voices. They were low and inaudible, as though they were whispering to each other. The sound of a slamming truck door pierced the new silence.

  Brenda climbed over the crumpled tent and shook her friend.

  “Sarah. Sarah, wake up.”

  Sarah rubbed her eyes and sat up, her knotted hair cloaking her sleepy face. “Are we there?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Why are we stopped?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Sarah shoved the hair away from her face, a grin spreading across her full lips. “We must be there if we stopped.”

  “I don’t think so,” Brenda said, shaking her head. “We haven’t been driving long, and I don’t see any houses or buildings.”

  “Of course we have to be at the next town. There’s no other reason we would be stopped otherwise.” Sarah stood up and began to climb over the tent towards the door. “Come on, let’s go look.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Sarah scrunched up her nose. “Don’t be such a baby. Come on.”

  The girl lifted the latch and slid open the heavy door.

  “Sarah, wait!”

  “Come on.”

  The girl slipped through the door.

  Brenda sat alone. She felt cold, and a shiver ran down her spine. There was something wrong. She didn’t know what it was, or why she felt sick to her stomach with fright, but something was wrong. She sat hidden in the tent for a moment more before crawling out of the truck.

  She squinted her eyes in the early morning light and looked around at the woods surrounding them. They had been on the last truck in the carnival train, and she turned to look at those ahead. In the distance she saw Sarah jumping up to peek her head in the openings of the trucks as she scanned what was inside each vehicle.

  “Sarah, come back,” Brenda hissed, motioning for her friend to come towards her. Sarah shook her head, and continued to search the trucks. She had peeped inside three before climbing upon a wheel well.

  “It’s in here,” she called, laughing as she stuck her head inside one of the windows.

  “Sarah, get down. Let’s go back.”

  “I just found the-“

  The smile dropped from Sarah’s face as she looked through the window of the truck holding the unicorn. She froze for a moment, her face slack, before scrambling down from the truck. Her motions were frantic, and she lost her footing in her descent, landing hard in the dirt. Brenda’s heart felt like it had leapt in her throat in attempts to escape.

  “What is it?”

  Sarah began to run to
wards her. “It’s not real!”

  Goosebumps pimpled her skin. “What?”

  “The unicorn isn’t real! It’s not real!”

  Sarah came barreling at her, her skinny limbs pumping hard, brown hair whipping around her face. She caught Brenda’s elbow and pulled her into a run. “It’s not real, Brenda! Run!”

  Her limbs felt numb as she ran down the road, her head feeling fuzzy and sick. It’s not real. It felt like she were dreaming as she ran, her legs feeling heavy and slow. A man’s voice in the distance penetrated her stupor, making the world become very, very real.

  “There they are!” the man’s voice shouted. She turned her head and saw four men dressed in black standing next to the trucks behind her.

  Her legs shot into motion, and Brenda bolted ahead of her friend. “Faster, Sarah! Run faster!”

  A loud, thunderous boom answered her. Her hands flew to her ringing ears. Sarah wasn’t by her side anymore.

  She took a quick glance behind her, and saw Sarah’s body laying motionless on the road.

  Another boom screamed in her ears and a cloud of dirt erupted in front of her. She sprinted faster. An aching knot formed in her shoulder and her legs burned. Another rippling crack of thunder sent up a cloud of dust, this one right next to her foot. Brenda screamed, and darted into the woods.

  ***

  The men near the trucks shook their heads.

  “Damn it, Charlie,” one in the middle said, shaking his head. “What did you go and miss for? Now we gotta go chase her down.”

  Charlie, a great, towering man nearest to the truck, shook his head. “Shut up, Rick. You didn’t get her either.”

  “So?”

  “So? Go get her.”

  “No way.”

  Charlie shook his head again. “Well, I’m not chasing after her. Get that new guy Jenkins to get her. We’ll throw this other one in the back and head in.”

  “Alright.”

  Rick jogged up the convoy of trucks and pounded on the window of the fifth one in line. The young man inside opened the door. “Yeah?”

  “Jenkins, we got a job for you.”

  “It’s not those girls we heard about on the radio, is it?”

  “Yep,” Rick nodded. “Grab a bike and go get her.”

  “Alright,” Jenkins nodded, and got out of the truck.

  The bike engine rumbled, and sent a rooster tail of dirt and rocks out behind him as he set out for the girl. A voice in his ear was distorted and difficult to hear over the engine.

  “She cut through the woods,” the voice in his ear shouted. “Headed for the park.”

  Jenkins sped down the road, his heart pumping, wind stinging at his face. John’s Town came in to view between the thinning trees. He slowed as he turned onto Main, the bike puttering as he rolled towards the park.

  The parked was teeming with people. Jenkins frowned at the sight of them as he listened to the voice in his ears telling him exactly where the girl was headed. His eyes scanned the area, looking for a hiding place to wait for the girl. Two boys did a double take when they saw him, and hurried over to inspect the motorcycle.

  “Wow that is so cool!” the red haired boy said.

  “Yeah that’s way cool! I wish I had one,” said the other.

  “Yeah, then we could race them!”

  Jenkins looked down at the boys, the cog wheels in his mind beginning to turn. “Would you now?”

  “Spit yeah,” the redhead said. “Dude I would spend all day on one of those things.”

  Jenkins nodded, and turned the bike towards the woods.

  The girl was coming. She’d be in the clearing in three minutes. He had to act fast.

  The bike jerked and tried to topple sideways as he plowed through the woods. He cut the engine and ditched it in a bush, running for a fallen log. The girl sprinted across the tree line and into the park before he could reach it.

  “Fuck!”

  He sprinted for the log, gun raised, eyes following the running girl. He took a breath, and pulled the trigger. Brenda fell to the ground.

  Then the screams began. “Fuck.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Saturday March 20, 2010

  Population: 404

  Golden red sunlight sliced into the windows of 328 Roanoke Street. The first chirpings of the birds’s morning song began to drift through her room, and Aire smiled when she heard her mother trump half asleep down the stairs to make coffee. She’d been awake for almost two hours now and was glad someone else was finally up so she could wander around the house without worry that she would disturb anyone. Her mother gave her a suspicious look as she bounded down the stairs into the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” she said as she reached for the orange juice.

  “You’re up early,” her mother said, staring at Aire through cocked eyebrows.

  “Yep,” she said, and disappeared back up the stairs to the shower.

  Aire spent almost an hour in the bathroom until she looked perfect. Melissa’s hat idea had been a good one, and she was surprised at how good she looked sporting Troy’s jersey and long pigtails under a ball cap. She usually looked like she was twelve in pigtails, but not today. Today she looked…beautiful. She smiled at the thought and leaned in closer to exam herself in the mirror.

  Her curves had come in two years ago, but she’d still felt awkward and clunky then. Today she saw the woman within coming through in the mirror, her curves more proportional and defined, her face thinner, her cheek bones higher under dark blue eyes painted with a touch of wisdom. She smiled wide at the sight of herself as she took one last look in the mirror before turning off the light.

  Her face fell when she returned to her room and saw she still had nearly an hour left until Troy and the others would be there to pick her up. She sighed and picked up her guitar, sitting down in front of the bay window as she began to pluck at the neglected strings. It took her a dozen attempts until she could finally remember the notes to a song she’d written several weeks ago. For a moment she was lost in the music as she closed her eyes and ran her fingers over the strings, listening to the slow melody. This is a good song, she thought. Why don’t they make a machine that lets you listen to people’s songs from around the world? I’ll ask Troy what he thinks about the idea.

  She opened her eyes, the moment of serenity gone. She watched the street below for a few minutes before going back to playing again.

  It was perhaps the twenty-seventh time she looked out her window when she finally saw her group rounding the corner.

  Her mother didn’t have time to say goodbye as she whizzed by the kitchen and through the front door. Troy laughed at her giddiness as she raced down the stairs to hug him, an exaggerated smile on her face.

  “A little excited?” he asked.

  “Just a little,” she said with a laugh. It had become so easy to show her affection now that it felt like second nature. She was suddenly amazed at how shy she had been with him just two short weeks ago.

  “Good, me too.”

  “Dude, I don’t see why you’re so excited. You should be pretty nervous,” Gary said, smacking Troy on the shoulder as they made their way up the street. “I’m going to take you out today.”

  “No offense, but I’m smarter than you. I think I’m going to win by outwitting you.”

  “I don’t know,” Melissa said, wrapping both arms around one of Gary’s biceps. “He is a lot bigger than you Troy. I think he has the advantage.”

  “No way,” Aire said. “It’s all about strategy and reaction time, not just brute strength.”

  Playful jesting carried on throughout the morning as the boys shared tools and swapped parts. They gave a friendly handshake as the announcer called their heat race to the starting line. Troy turned to Aire and smiled.

  “Good luck,” she said as she gave him a hug before leaving for the grandstands.

  “You are my good luck,” he whispered back.

  “Just don’t get hurt,” she said, pu
lling her face away from his chest. He put his helmet on and nodded. She gave him one more quick squeeze before linking arms with Melissa and trotting into the bleachers.

  The Senior Pro track was much longer than that of the Pee Wee and Pip Squeak tracks, and filled with more obstacles and higher jumps. Aire scanned what she could see of the course, and frowned when she saw the final jump before the finish line.

  “That jump is way too close to the turn.”

  Melissa squinted, holding a hand over her brow to shield the sun from her eyes. “Yeah, it does look a bit close, but I’m sure it’s fine. The track designers know what they’re doing”

  “It’s way too close. We should-“

  “Look there’s the boys,” Melissa shouted, and pointed at Troy and Gary as they took their places at the starting gate.

  Aire waved to them and gave another fretful look at the last jump. She was torn as she stared out at the track. The jump was too close to the turn, but they wouldn’t be able to fix the whole thing in a day anyway, so why ruin the fun?

  It will be fine, she told herself.

  It’s too close to the turn, a little voice within her whispered.

  Hush it up, she whispered back.

  She felt a soft hand grab her own, interrupting her internal debate.

  “This is it,” Melissa shouted over the roaring crowd. “Friends no matter what?”

  “Friends no matter what,” she smiled back. “Good luck.”

  “You too.”

  Aire took a deep breath and crossed her fingers, willing herself to brush her worries aside. It will be fine, she told herself. You’re just nervous, that’s all. It’s fine.

  It’s too close to the-

  The sound level boomed again as the racers took off. Gary was entangled by the inevitable first turn pile up, but Troy took the hole-shot and easily swooped past the accident. Ripping his bike from the tangled pile of limbs, metal and plastic, Gary jumped on the kick start and smashed down on the throttle. He gained momentum in the straight away and reached the pack leaders, tying with Troy for first as they rounded the pond and disappeared into the woods. Melissa and Aire squeezed each other’s hand and chewed their nails as they listened to the commentary of the boys’s battle for first.