The Edgies never had a chance.
I thought for sure Flinch would win the tournament. I hadn’t counted on Trash’s telekinesis. He kept giving the ball a little nudge here and there. Just enough to keep it in play and make it hit the highest-scoring targets and bumpers.
In the end, Trash took first place, Flinch took second, and I took third. I figured my third place was just as good as a first, since I was the only player without any special advantage. We all got little plastic trophies, and some angry looks from the Edgies.
I didn’t think it would go any further than that. But they were waiting for us outside the arcade. Ten or twelve of them. “Get out of here,” the Edgie at the front of the pack said. He looked like he was at least sixteen. He was wearing a varsity jacket—the kind you get when you play sports, with a big E for “Edgeview High” in front that had a picture of a football in the middle of the letter. He was the biggest one in the crowd.
“We’re going,” I said. I started to cross the street.
“Yeah,” Flinch said. “No reason to stay. We got our trophies.”
The guy with the varsity jacket swore and said, “Don’t come back.”
The others followed me across the street and we headed toward the school.
As we reached the wooded hill that led to the pipe, Cheater said, “Uh-oh.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Is anyone here thinking about kicking the crap out of me?” he asked.
“Not me,” I said.
“Me either,” Lucky said.
“Maybe tomorrow,” Flinch told him. “But not at the moment.”
“I sure ain’t,” Torchie said.
I had a sudden bad feeling. “Do you only pick up stuff from people real close by?” I asked Cheater.
“As far as I know,” he said.
“What if a bunch of people had the same thought? You think it might carry farther?” As I said this, I looked behind us.
Half a block away, we were being stalked by a mob of Edgies.
“Should we make a run for it?” Cheater asked, glancing toward the woods.
That didn’t sound like a bad idea to me. The end of the pipe was masked by bushes. If we headed right into the woods, we could be out of sight before the Edgies caught up. On the other hand, I hated to run away. I waited to see what the others did.
“I don’t know about you guys,” Lucky said, “but I’m tired of everyone treating me like garbage.” He stopped walking and turned to face the Edgies. “Nobody’s pushing me around.”
“Yeah, no more,” Flinch said. He stopped walking, too.
“No more,” Cheater said.
Torchie nodded. He moved next to Cheater. So did I.
The varsity jacket guy stepped out from the mob as the rest of them stopped about ten feet from us. “I don’t want to see you around here again. Got it?”
Lucky moved toward him. “Then keep your eyes closed, jerk.” Varsity swore again and pushed Lucky with both hands.
Lucky staggered two steps away, then lunged forward and returned the shove. Varsity went back hard. He plowed into the Edgies behind him, and a couple of them went down. I would have been amazed at Lucky’s strength if I hadn’t been standing next to Trash. His grunt told me what had really happened—he’d given Varsity a little extra push.
A couple of the Edgies slipped toward the back of the mob. We were still outnumbered, but the odds were getting better.
“You asked for it,” Varsity said as he scrambled to his feet. He pulled off his jacket and threw it to the ground. It landed where I could read the name written across the back. Walden. I guess that was his last name.
“Kick his butt, Walden,” a kid in the mob said.
“Yeah, stomp on his face,” another kid shouted.
I still didn’t like the odds. If Lucky won, the rest of the kids might jump him. If he lost, they’d probably jump us. If we ran, they were close enough to catch us. It was time for a show of force.
As they told us in school: Act like a criminal and people will treat you like one. I stepped up next to Lucky and spat out the first lie that came to mind. “Hey, I’m already doing time for assault. What’s a few more years?” I figured, with our reputation, they might think I really was dangerous. I did my best to look mean.
“Gonna have your hands full,” Flinch said, stepping next to me. He leaned forward, putting his face close to Walden. “But I don’t think I have anything to worry about. You probably punch like a little old lady.” He turned his head away from Walden and grinned at us.
Walden threw a sucker punch, trying to hit Flinch when he wasn’t looking.
Needless to say, Flinch’s head was nowhere near Walden’s fist.