“Let’s play,” he said.
“Did you know that guy?”
“Friend of a friend.”
He sat down on a little stool and I sat down next to him, our thighs touching gently. I could have moved but decided not to. The game was the one where you shoot your squirt gun into a little hole to make your horse move down a fake track.
The lights came on and we started shooting our guns. For a second, I forgot that I was out with a man that wanted to kidnap me and blackmail my dad. I watched as my horse crossed the finish line inches ahead of his. I laughed and he pretended to be disappointed, although I suspected that my winning didn’t have much to do with my aim.
“So, where are you from?” I asked him as we began to play again.
“Trying to distract me so you can win again?”
“Nope. Just trying to get to know you.”
“Well, I’m from around here, actually.”
“A local, huh?”
“That’s me, local boy, born and bred.”
“I guess that explains why that kid knew you.”
“Well,” he said, laughing as I won again, “that’s more because I own this place.”
I stopped and stared at him. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “Seriously. Bought it just this year. So far, not the best investment I ever made, but definitely the most fun.”
My heart skipped a beat as I realized what sort of trouble I was in. Not only was I out with the man that wanted to kidnap me, but I was in a place he owned. Still, too late for me to back out, and so I had to move forward. I reached down into the pit of anger that had been sitting in my stomach since the first time they had tried to kidnap me and harnessed that.
You have to relax, I thought to myself. He doesn’t know that you know yet. Use that anger against him.
“Best of five?” he asked after I won a second time.
“No way. Where’s my prize?”
He laughed and then stood up and grabbed me a stuffed elephant. “Good?”
“Perfect.”
What a cliché. The only prize I really wanted was to see Joshua’s face stomped on over and over.
We stood and began walking again. “So, what do you want to play now?”
“How about that game where you try and knock over the bottles?”
“Good choice.”
He led the way, winding through the crowds. We found the booth, and again the kid running the game immediately left as soon as Joshua nodded to him.
“That’s a little creepy, you know,” I said.
“Maybe, but I prefer privacy.”
“This isn’t exactly private.” I gestured at the crowd surrounding us. The place was busy, full of noise and excitement. Families of all ages milled around, plus random packs of teenagers. It was a pretty average day, all told.
“Sure it is. Haven’t you ever felt alone in a crowd?”
“Now you’re getting deep.”
He laughed again. He had a charming and disarming way about him, but I wasn’t about to get suckered by his nice manners. I was angry and I was staying that way.
“Not at all. I’m just saying, we’re only two anonymous people here.” He paused and looked at me. “Then again, you are wearing that stunning outfit.”
I smiled. “Thank you,” I said, touching his arm. I had to play into it; otherwise, I wouldn’t get what I wanted.
He paused, looking at me, and then reached under the front wall of the booth. He came back up with three softballs.
“Give it a try?”
“Prepare to be impressed.”
“I already am.”
I took one ball, aimed, and threw as hard as I could. The ball glanced off the jugs, barely knocking one over. Joshua laughed as he reset it.
“That was awful,” he said.
“Watch this.”
I wound up and threw again, this time hitting a bottom jug but hardly budging it. Joshua laughed again. “I don’t even need to reset it.”
“I have it now.” I wound up and threw again, as hard as I could, but the ball barely glanced off the jugs, tipping over the top one.
“Almost,” Joshua said. “But you know, I bet you can’t do it even with fifty tries.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s rigged, of course.”
“Seriously? People always say that, but I thought that was illegal or something.”
“Illegal or not, it’s rigged. These milk jugs are really, really heavy, and your softball is mostly made of cork.”
“So it’s really light.”
“Exactly.” He picked up a ball and threw it as hard as he could, point blank, and only managed to knock over two of the three. He turned back to me, grinning. “See?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s terrible!”