A Girl Between (12 page)

I made a point to avert my eyes from Will and Rainy and
looked toward the band.  What??  It’s HER again!  Tonya and her group were
right by the band, stirring it up.  Everyone was looking over at them because
their loud antics were impossible to ignore.  Of course, that was their intent.
 Big shiny Tonya was smack in the middle, her bright red mouth opened in a cackle
of laughter. 

Out of the corner of her eye she looked my way and we locked
eyes for a second.  So this was her game.  She planned to catch my attention;
that’s why she parked her flashy loud self, right there.  As she sneered at me
she brought her blood red fingernails up to her mouth as if to hide her mocking
smile.  Her face reminded me of a shark after an attack with her cold fish eyes
and blood red teeth.  I put my head down on Ian’s shoulder and smiled back.

After we finished dancing, we decided to squeeze in a few
rides before it got too late.  The only ride without a long line was the Ferris
wheel, a favorite of mine.  We climbed on, buckled in and started going
around.   Something about going on rides makes me laugh really hard and if I’m
not careful, I’ll laugh and snort at the same time.  That’s not too attractive
so I tried hard to control myself.  

As we rotated around, nearing the apex of the wheel, the
entire Ferris wheel apparatus abruptly jerked and stopped moving.  By that time,
we were at the worst possible place to stop, the pinnacle of the wheel.  The
seat we were in swung wildly back and forth.  Ian grabbed and held my hand to
be a nice guy.  I have a bit of a problem with heights so I started feeling a
little woozy.  I didn’t tell Ian because I was afraid he would think I was a
loser (especially after the incident under the tree).  We were looking around
wondering what the heck was going on.  A man on the ground with a speaker horn
yelled to us that it was just mechanical difficulty and to be patient; things
would be working shortly. 

Ian turned to me and wise-cracked, “Hey, we’re alone up here
and we’re stuck.  This isn’t such a bad situation after all.”  Then, he leaned
in to kiss me.  At first I was startled, but it was a nice sweet kiss, not a
slimy barracuda kiss.  I snuggled in closer to him and put my head on his
shoulder.  Something was starting to feel a little weird though.  The seat we
were in was swinging harder even though the Ferris wheel was completely still.  Why
would our seat be swinging at all? I certainly wasn’t anything we were doing because
we were sitting still.  I noticed that the seat in front of us was also
swinging higher.

“Ian, what’s going on here?” I asked while clutching his arm.

“I don’t know, Tess.  This is really strange.  You can hold
onto me, but I also suggest that you hold onto the front rail here,” cautioned
Ian.  I could tell that he was trying to keep his voice calm for my sake but it
still sounded strained. 

Our seat was at the point where it was going all the way to
the horizontal position and back again, a 180 degree swing.  If it didn’t stop
it would soon flip over into a complete circle.  That’s impossible, isn’t it?  I
could hear people screaming all around me.  The seat in front of us was on the
verge of flipping around, too.  There was a little girl and her mother in that
seat.  I couldn’t even watch.

“Hang onto the bar with both of your arms, Tess, and don’t
let go under any circumstances,” yelled Ian.  Suddenly, our car flipped all the
way around and WE WERE HANGING COMPLETELY OUT OF OUR SEAT!!!  Both of us were
hanging directly from the bar.  The seat was still swinging but it stopped
going around, probably due to our weight on the bar, so the seat was stuck
upside down.

In the next seat, I saw a woman holding the bar with one arm
and her child with her other arm.  Oh, my, God!  She isn’t going to last and
there’s nothing we can do!  Then, I heard a horrifying scream from behind me
and the sound of a THUD on the ground.  In the background, I could hear yelling
and screaming from the fair grounds.

I anxiously turned to see how the woman in front of us was
doing.  She was whimpering, “Please, someone help us.  I can’t hold on for much
longer.  Please . . . please . . .please”.  It turned into a whisper.  Her
little girl was crying hysterically.  Then, the woman holding her daughter just
let go without saying a word.  I heard a WHUMP when she hit the ground.

My arms were burning.  I didn’t know how much longer I could
hang on myself.  Ian managed to pull himself up over the bar so that some of
the weight was on his chest, then he inched over to me.  “Tess, can you pull
yourself up at all?  If you can’t, then wrap your legs around my body.  I can
take a lot more weight than you.  It will help take some of the weight off your
arms.”

All of a sudden, I felt another jolt.  CRAP.  I’m losing my
grip.  The loudspeaker came on again, “Everyone, please stay calm.  We are
using a hand crank to mechanically wind the Ferris wheel down.  We are moving
as quickly as possible.”

“Ian, I’m having a hard time.  My arms are on fire,” I cried
urgently.

“Tess, can you shimmy up my legs with your legs to lift
yourself up a little on the bar.  I know you can do it,” Ian coaxed.

“I’ll try.  I don’t want to pull us both down though.”  I wrapped
my legs around his legs and I was able to crawl up an inch or so.  It helped
relieve the pressure on my arms a little.

Gradually, the Ferris wheel was circling down.  We were closer
to the ground, but still had some distance to go.  “They’re taking forever,” I
moaned.

The Ferris wheel moved down the length of two more seats.  I
was beginning to think that I was going to make it.  Suddenly, a quick stop and
a hard JOLT.  I was done for!  It was enough to shake me lose.  I hung by one
hand and then couldn’t hold on any longer.  Ian tried to grab me with one hand
but I was going too fast by then.  At least I knew to bend my knees and to try to
loosen my body.  I hit the ground hard.  I could feel a searing pain from my toes,
up my back and through my neck.  As I hit bottom, I collapsed.  Then I felt
nothing.

Gradually, I was becoming aware of my surroundings.  I was vaguely
conscious of the sounds of people screaming and feet running around me.  Wasn’t
someone going to
help me?  Why was I just lying there?

Owww!!  Someone BIG stepped on my foot.  What
the heck??  I better do something.  I opened my eyes and tried to move my
limbs.  They felt like blocks of cement.  Inch by inch, I was able to move my
legs.  Next, I pushed myself up and took in what was happening.  I SAW TOTAL
PANDEMONIUM!  People were frantically trying to push their way out of the park,
carrying children in their arms or on their shoulders.  The side entrance nearest
to me was completely jammed.  Fortunately, I had landed in some hay that was
stacked up against an animal tent.  I could hear the animals’ frantic bleating
inside.  I realized that I was lucky.  The hay must’ve cushioned my fall and I wasn’t
in the direct line of foot traffic, otherwise I may’ve been trampled.

I managed to slowly pull myself up.  I was
feeling very unsteady on my feet but able to start limping along.  I headed
against the traffic back into the fairgrounds because I had to find Annie and Eve.
 I also was thinking about Ian.  What could’ve happened to him?  By now, I
figured out that more was going on than a malfunctioning Ferris wheel.

The stench of burning rubber permeated the
air and above me were spirals of dark smoke.  Oh . . . . my . . . . God . . . .
What was THAT?  I had glanced over to my right and saw a giant mess of cables
and wires tangled with the chairs, chains and big pieces of metal.  I think it
used to be that circular swing ride.  What happened to it?  I started to limp
over there to get a better look when I realized what else was in the pile.  BODIES! 
They were scattered in the debris.  One girl was sitting up in a daze and
holding out her arm.  HER LEFT HAND WAS MISSING.  She was crying with blood all
over her.  Her face was all cut up.  Someone was standing over her, trying to
help so I continued to search for my cousins.  Could Annie or Eve be in there? 

All of this was so shocking and disorienting
for me.  It was difficult to recognize where I was because there was so much
chaos around me.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something large and
brown running OVER the people that were lying on the ground.  IT WAS A BULL!  There
were other bulls running all around!  They must’ve gotten out of the rodeo
tent.  Then, I walked by a tent that was on fire.  I think it was the food tent
where we had the hotdogs earlier.

I was feeling so weak.  My neck was hurting
me.  I managed to wobble over to a large tree and sat down under it.  I could
hear the sirens getting louder.  Thank God.  I think I’ll just rest here for a
minute.  Next thing I knew, someone was shaking me.  “Tess, Tess, can you hear
me?”  I opened my eyes and tried to turn my head to see who it was.  Ohhhh . .
. . shooting pain around the back of my neck.  Someone was bent way down
peering at me.  It was Will.

“Oh, Will, I have to find Annie and Eve.  I haven’t seen Ian
around either,” I gasped.  “We were both hanging from the Ferris wheel.  It was
horrible.”  Will gently took my arm while I tried to lift myself up. “Oh, God,
it hurts,” I groaned.

I leaned on Will while he calmly explained what was going
on.  “Tess, it’s not safe to stay here.  Rainy went to get Annie and Eve and
then she’s bringing my car around to the back entrance.  I’m afraid that I
haven’t seen Ian and I’ve been wondering around here for a while.  I came back in
to find you.  We’ve got to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“OK, help me get up,” I responded weakly.  Will put his
hands under my arms and started lifting.  I scrambled up as best as I could
while holding onto Will’s shoulders.  He put his other arm around my waist and
we limped toward the back entrance.  We had to contend with people bumping into
us from all directions.  I gritted my teeth to avoid sounding like a wounded
animal.

When we reached the back entrance, Will sat me on a bench.  “Don’t
move an inch from this spot.  I just want to see if I can find Rainy with my
car.  I’ll be right back.”  He put his face up to mine and added, “You won’t
move, right?”

“Nope,” I replied.  After Will ran off I heard a loud
creaking sound.  I looked toward the noise and saw a roller coaster that had
come off the tracks.  The last two cars were hanging straight down, about 30
feet up in the air.  The body of a man was dangling from a car by one of his
legs.  I got myself up and started dragging myself toward him to see what I
could do, but then I stopped.  There was something very still about him and then
I realized.  He was dead.

Will came back and helped me out to his car.  Rainy, Annie
and Eve were all there sitting in the backseat.  At least they were all sitting
upright.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  With everything going on at the
fairgrounds, I felt for sure that something had happened to them.  Annie was
the only one that had sustained some injury.  She was waiting in line for some
fried dough when a large piece of metal hit that food tent.  The metal went
right into the hot oil, splattering it everywhere.  Some of it splashed onto a
hot grill which started a fire.  Annie’s right hand and arm received some hot
splatters.

As if reading my thoughts, Annie remarked, “My burns are
nothing.  The people working in the tent got the hot oil splattered all over
their hands and faces.  It was horrible!  I did help to pull some of them out
when the tent burst into flames.  But, Tessie, we were concerned about you. 
Edger said he saw you stuck on the Ferris wheel when it started going crazy
with spinning seats and everything.”

I turned my head slightly.  “I’m OK, especially compared to
others that were there.  Some people fell straight from the top.  God, it was
really horrible.  I fell, but I wasn’t that high up at the time.  Really, it
could have been so much worse.  I think I just did something to my neck.  By
the way, have any of you guys seen Ian?  I was with him when I fell.  I don’t
know what happened to him.”  I was trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

Rainy answered in a quiet voice, “No Tess, we haven’t seen
Ian since all the trouble.”

Will jumped in, “It’s a good thing we got out of there when
we did.  Emergency personnel were telling people to leave the fairgrounds in an
orderly fashion to avoid any further casualties.  They needed to clear up the
entryways for the ambulances and fire trucks.  And by the way, I’m taking you
guys to the hospital in Covington.  The local one will be swamped with
emergency cases.  Rainy, you can go home if you like.  We’re going right by your
house.”

Rainy insisted, “There’s no way I’m going home now, Will.  I
want to see how Annie and Tess are.  I can go home with you and Eve later.”  I
had forgotten that Rainy was in the car.  You know things are serious when
Rainy is shocked into silence.

Thank God for Will, the boy scout.  He’s the best.  “Will,
thanks so much for finding me.  I was in a daze and there’s no way I would’ve
left without my cousins.  I’d probably still be in there if it wasn’t for you.  I
looked over at him.  He turned a quick smile on me.  I think he was a little
embarrassed.

We finally arrived at Westlake Memorial Hospital.  Eve
called my aunt, so her and my grandma eventually showed up.  I called Ian’s
house, but no one answered.  It seemed like we waited at the hospital forever
because a number of people with really serious injuries from the fair were
arriving all night long.  They were sent to Westlake Memorial after the other
hospital was filled to capacity.  Annie was eventually treated with a
prescription balm for her burns.  I had an MRI which showed I had sprained
muscles in my neck.  The medics put it in a brace, gave me some painkillers and
sent us home.

After getting to bed, I lay there trying to sleep, but my
mind was spun up on adrenalin.  For one thing, I was thinking about Ian.  I couldn’t
believe that I haven’t seen him from the time I fell from the Ferris wheel.  I’ll
have to find out tomorrow.  I’d also like to know what caused all that chaos.  You’d
almost think that it was hit by an earthquake, but that wasn’t it because you’d
have felt the ground shaking.  Was there some kind of power surge that affected
the electric supply?  That didn’t quite make sense either.  All I know is,
something really bizarre caused this disaster, and I wanted to find out what it
was.