Freeks(19)

“Doug.”

“You want this to look real, then give me two dollars.” He opened and closed his hand, motioning for me to give him money.

“Ugh,” I groaned, and quickly dug into my bra, where I had exactly three dollars. Doug winked at me as I handed the cash over to him.

“Step right up, little lady, and win yourself a prize!” Doug shouted, putting on his full carnie routine. “Or would a strapping young man care to win a prize for the lady?”

“I can win a prize for myself,” I hissed with a thin smile plastered on my face. “I just wanted you to—”

“Mara?” Gabe asked.

I turned back to see him walking over to me, and I smiled at him. “Gabe. Hi.”

“How about you?” Doug leaned over the counter, still shouting so everyone around would hear him. “Would you like to win the pretty lady a teddy bear?”

“As I was just telling this nice game operator, I am perfectly capable of winning a prize myself,” I said.

Gabe eyed me up appreciatively and smirked. “I’m sure you are.”

“Then why don’t you win him a prize?” Doug turned to me. “I’m sure a young man like him would love one of our de-luxe teddy bears,” he said, pointing to the small, cheap bears that were hanging up all over the booth.

“Pardon?” I asked.

“You know what, I would.” Gabe walked up to the counter next to me and looked up at the blue teddy bear.

“What?” I asked, still not completely understanding what was happening here.

“I’d like a teddy bear.” Gabe grinned at me. “Nobody ever wins one for me. I always have to give them away, and I want one. It’d look great on my bed.”

“Everyone, watch as this strapping young woman wins the handsome young man a prize!” Doug shouted, speaking to the small crowd that was gathering around us. “She will prove her strength and her skill! Watch as she takes aim and proves her love—”

“Just give me the balls.” I cut Doug off and held my hand out. “I’ll do it.”

As he dropped the three lightweight rubber balls into my hand, Doug winked at me again. He moved as far to the side of the booth as he could get, which was good, because if he got in my way, I’d probably chuck a ball at him.

I threw my first ball, and it slammed right into the top bottle. That one was easy. Unlike the ones at the bottom, it was weighed about what a milk bottle actually weighed. The bottom two were filled with sand and were much heavier.

Doug had suggested actually gluing them down, but Gideon thought that was taking things too far. Still, it was almost impossible to get all three of the bottles down. At least for people who hadn’t spent hundreds of hours of their life playing this game.

With the second ball, I threw it hard, aiming for the bottom center between the two bottles, and they both went down. They actually fell so hard that one of them ricocheted off the back wall before flying into the counter.

The people who had gathered around to watch applauded, and Gabe let out an approving whistle.

“I got down all the bottles in less than three balls, so I believe I have my pick of the prizes,” I said, smiling up at Doug. “And I’ll take the teddy bear.”

“Here you go, little lady.” Doug pulled down a bear and handed it to me. “And we have another champion! Fellas, step right up, and see if you can beat a girl.”

“I’m moving on now, but thank you.” I stepped away from the booth and handed the bear to Gabe, who looked impressed. “Here you go.”

“That was quite a feat of strength,” Gabe said.

“Thank you.”

“You remember my sister, Selena, and her boyfriend, Logan Montgomery.” He motioned to them with the cotton candy, and Selena took that as an invitation to walk over to us. Logan followed behind her with his friend in the matching shades. “And this is Logan’s friend, Troy Gendry.”

The name Gendry flashed back to the badge of the unhelpful deputy in town. Troy barely looked at me when Gabe attempted to introduce him, and even though he and Logan were still a few feet away from me, I could smell the alcohol coming off them in waves.

“I’ve been trying to get Logan to win me something since we got here.” Selena pointed her thumb back at him, and over the top of the shades I could see Logan give an exaggerated eye roll.

“Babe, if you want a tacky bear, I’ll buy you a tacky bear,” Logan said, loud enough so that everyone around us could hear, and Selena scowled at him. “I don’t need to spend time and money winning you one.”

“You don’t have to keep the bear.” I pointed to the bear that Gabe had under his arm. “You know, if you don’t want to.”

“Are you kidding me?” Gabe sounded offended. “I’ll treasure this forever.”

I laughed. “I’m sure you will.”

He turned to his sister, handing her the rest of the cotton candy. “Hey, Selena, do you mind if I head out? I think I’m gonna go walk with Mara and check things out.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. It was nice seeing you again, Mara.” She smiled at me.

“Yeah, you too.” I gave her a small wave as I started walking away with Gabe.

We walked down the midway, neither of us saying anything at first. Gabe twirled the blue bear in his hands, and I tucked my hair behind my ear. I was acutely aware that all the booths around us were filled with people I knew, people who were watching us and could easily out me as a member of the sideshow.