Funland (38 page)
Finally!
By the time he reached the pay phone near the main entrance, he figured Cowboy had probably finished in the john.
Won’t know where to find me, though. Might not even bother to look.
Trembling, he swung the directory toward him on its chain. He flicked through the pages. Ashland. Only three Ashlands. Two were Ronald Ashland, D.C. He remembered that Shiner had said Tanya’s father was a chiropractor. One entry was for the father’s office on Grove, but the other showed a street address on Avion.
Muttering the phone number that went with the Avion listing, Jeremy picked up the handset, dropped a quarter into the slot, and dialed.
The ringing sounded faint, muffled by the noises of the crowd and rides and calliope music. He pressed the phone hard against his right ear and jammed a finger into his other.
That helped.
He heard the ringing more clearly.
God, he thought, I’m actually calling Tanya. The beat of his heart quickened, and he could feel it awakening his headache. The plastic handset felt wet and slippery.
Maybe she’s not home.
He almost hoped she wasn’t.
What am I doing?
Lovers in blood. Loyalty. You’ve gotta prove yourself. You want her, don’t you?
Yes!
“Hello?” A female voice.
“Hi. Tanya?”
“Just a moment, I’ll call her to the phone.”
Must’ve been her mother. Went to get her. She’s home!
Jeremy looked around and scanned the crowd. So far, no Cowboy.
Come on, Tanya. Come on!
“She’ll be right along,” said the mother’s voice.
“I’ve got it, Mom.” Tanya’s voice. Jeremy heard the other phone click down.
“Hi,” he said. His heart pounded. His head pulsed with pain. “It’s Jeremy. Duke.”
“How are you doing? Have you heard we’ll be meeting tonight?”
“Yeah. Cowboy told me.”
“You’ll be there, won’t you?”
“Sure! The thing is, I’ve gotta tell you something. It’s about Nate.”
“Rotten bastard.”
“Yeah, he sure is. But the thing is, I saw him this morning. He was at a motel. With a girl.”
Tanya said nothing.
“I’m sorry,” Jeremy said after a few moments of listening to the silence. “I just thought I oughta tell you.”
Tanya mumbled something.
“What? I didn’t hear that.”
“Who was she?”
“I don’t know her name. She’s that girl who’s been playing banjo on the boardwalk. Maybe you’ve seen her. She’s sort of skinny. Real short blond hair like a guy’s. She’s eighteen or twenty, I guess. She plays for money. People toss it into her banjo case. She’s here right now, over by the Hurricane.”
“I’ve seen her around.”
“Well, Nate was in a motel room with her. I don’t know if they spent the night, but he came out at around ten this morning. I just happened to be walking by when I saw him. He didn’t see me, though. So anyway, I waited around in a restaurant for about an hour and kept my eye on the room to find out who he’d been with. I mean, after last night, I didn’t think it was you, you know? And it was that girl who plays the banjo. She finally came out and I followed her over here to Funland. So anyway, maybe she’s why he…you know, acted weird and split last night.”
“Had her stashed in a motel.”
“Yeah.”
“The dirty prick.”
“He sure is,” Jeremy said. “Man, he must be crazy, dumping you for a goddamn troll. She’s not even close to being as pretty as you. Nobody is.”
“Thanks. You’re a good guy.”
His heart seemed to swell. In spite of his raging headache, he felt a glow of pride and hope. “I just thought you oughta know about it. I mean, after last night…we’re lovers in blood.”
“That’s right. And you did the right thing, telling me about this. I owe you.” She went silent again.
She owes me.
Does this mean I proved myself? Yeah. Probably. God!
“Is Cowboy with you?” she asked.
“Not right now. I got away from him to call you.”
“Does he know about any of this?”
“No. I kept it quiet. I didn’t tell anyone. I figured nobody oughta know except you. I mean, it’s sort of a personal thing, and…”
“That’s good. Don’t tell anyone. This is our secret, just you and me. You said she’s still there on the boardwalk?”
“Yeah. Singing a bunch of stupid songs.”
“Okay. Will you do me a favor?”
“Sure. Anything.”
“Keep an eye on her. Follow her if you can. I want to know where we can get our hands on her tonight.”
“I don’t have a car.”
“That’s okay. Just do the best you can. And give me a call when you find out something.”
“I will.”
“Good. Good man. We’ll get together later. Just you and me.”
It was a very long afternoon. Robin tried to lose herself in the music, and often went for several minutes without thinking of Nate. The tunes with lyrics were the best for that; she had to focus on the words. But between numbers and when she played those that didn’t require singing, her mind lingered on him.
She felt comfortable and full and glowing. And excited and a little nervous when she wondered what would happen next.
There’s no reason to worry, she told herself again and again. The Big Thing was already taken care of. It wouldn’t be hanging over their heads, making them nervous and awkward. They’d be free to enjoy themselves…
If five o’clock ever arrives.
Sometimes she ached to be with him. When the ache got very bad, she took breaks and went into the arcade, and just the sight of Nate was enough to soothe the longing. They talked and she followed him around, enjoying his friendly manner with the customers. Most of the kids treated him like an old pal. He passed out coins, showed newcomers the basics of some of the games, and insisted that Robin play Space Invaders and Jet Assault and Super Mario Brothers. But she never stayed long, for she didn’t want him to think she was taking advantage of the situation.
The best time had been their lunch break. They picked up pizza slices and Pepsis at one of the stands, and ate in the back room. “My home away from home,” he’d called it, and Robin had commented that it looked more like a sporting-goods store. A desk cluttered with paperwork stood in the center of the small room, but in the corners were volleyballs, running shoes, and a Frisbee. Several swimsuits, towels, a face mask and snorkel, a sweatshirt, and a wet suit hung from hooks. Propped against one wall was a surfboard.
“Will you teach me to surf sometime?” she’d asked.
For just a moment his eyes looked bleak. Robin wondered if he’d had a bad experience surfing. Maybe a friend had drowned or something. But the look passed quickly. He nodded while he chewed his pizza. “Sure thing. I’ll turn you into a California girl.”
“Like, rad, man.”
And when they finished eating, he leaned back against the door to prevent anyone from barging in. Robin leaned against him. They held each other and kissed for a long time.
She wished she were in his arms right now.
It must be almost five, she thought as she played her Beach Boys medley. The last time she’d asked someone the time, it had been four-thirty-five. That
seemed
like an hour ago.
Time may fly when you’re having a good time, but it creeps when you’re waiting.
She segued from “Surfin’ USA” into “California Girls.” And smiled at the reaction. Whenever she went into that one, her audience went wild, cheering and clapping. It had been that way since her arrival at Funland. She picked and strummed, thumb plucking the drone string, and saw Nate behind a couple of teenage girls who were mouthing the words, waving their arms, and gyrating.
She finished to cheers and applause. People wandered in from the crowd in front of her, from the Ferris-wheel line behind her, tossing money into her banjo case at her feet, several stopping for a moment to offer compliments. She thanked them all, then announced, “That’s it for now, folks.” She heard some moans and protests. Then came more applause, and more people stepped forward with kind words and money.
“You were a hit,” Nate said.
“Went pretty well,” she admitted, crouching down to gather the money. “Didn’t think five o’clock would ever get here, though.”
“Yeah. Same here.”
She passed coins and bills to Nate, then latched her banjo inside the case. They walked to the arcade. In the back room, they counted the money. It came to $48.50. “Not a bad haul,” Nate said. They split it sixty-forty. He gave Robin her portion, then handed her a check.
“What’s this?”
“A week’s advance on your wages.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“If you don’t want it…”
“Well, I didn’t say that, exactly.”
He laughed and kissed her. “Ready to go?”
“I’ve been ready for a while. Like maybe just aeons.”
Nate held her backpack while she slipped her arms into the straps. He carried her banjo case, and they walked through the noisy arcade.
Jeremy whirled around, grabbed the railing, and stared out at the beach the instant they stepped out of the arcade. He waited a few seconds, then looked around. He couldn’t spot them at first, and felt a quick flicker of panic. Then a group of bikers strutted out of the way. He saw Nate and the girl walking along the far side of the crowded boardwalk. Their backs were toward him.
He followed, picking up his pace and closing the gap, afraid he might lose them.
If he lost them after all this…
He couldn’t believe how long he’d been forced to wait. Hours and hours. After the call to Tanya, he’d returned to the girl’s audience. Cowboy should’ve been there, but wasn’t. Maybe he’d gone off looking for Jeremy. But time passed, and he didn’t return. Jeremy felt a little miffed at him. What kind of friend goes off and deserts you? He was relieved, though. Keeping an eye on the girl would’ve been difficult if Cowboy had kept hanging around.
Once he realized that Cowboy wasn’t likely to come back, he got away from the girl’s audience. As long as he could hear her, he was doing his job. He spent some time sitting on a bench and watching the people go by. He visited nearby game booths and watched people try to win prizes: tossing basketballs at hoops that looked too small for the balls; hammering little contraptions to send rubber frogs flopping head over heels toward a pool where you won if they happened to land on one of the circling lily pads; shooting squirtguns into the open mouths of plastic clown faces in hopes of being the first to fill and explode the balloons on their hats.
Occasionally he wandered over to the food stands. He bought drinks and swallowed aspirin. He ate nacho chips smothered with melted cheese. Later, an ice-cream sandwich. Later still, a corndog on a stick.
About once an hour the girl took a break. Each time, she packed up her banjo and headed straight for the arcade. She hung around with Nate, sometimes played games, then returned to the boardwalk, but not to the same place. She seemed to have three different locations: in front of the arcade, near the line for the Hurricane, and at the Ferris wheel.
She was playing for the Ferris-wheel crowd when Nate showed up. Jeremy watched her from a distance, and thought: This is it. Somehow, he knew that this was not just another break. Maybe because Nate had come to her. Maybe it was the fact that she handed the money to him. Or it might’ve been a subtle change in the girl—an eagerness about the way she gathered up the money and packed her banjo and walked away with him.
He followed them to the arcade. Entering, he saw them disappear into a back room. Then he took his position at the far side of the boardwalk, near the railing, and waited.
They came out less than ten minutes later, Nate carrying the banjo case, the girl wearing her backpack.
This
is
it, he thought.
Just don’t lose them now, he told himself, hurrying to narrow their lead.
He followed them past the main ticket booth. From the top of the stairs he watched them step off the sidewalk, cross the road, and angle across the parking lot. He watched them climb into Nate’s red sports car. The car drove slowly out of the lot and headed east.
Jeremy rushed to the pay phone. He dialed Tanya’s number. The phone at her end rang only once. “Hello?”
“Tanya, it’s me. Jeremy.”
“I’ve been waiting. What’s going on?”
“They just left. In Nate’s car. A red sports car?”
“The bitch was with him?”
“Yeah. I don’t know where they’re going, but—”
“I think I know. I’ll make sure, though. You did really good, Duke. Really good. Are you going to be home later?”
“Yeah, sure, I think so.”
“I’ll call you around nine. We’ll get together tonight. Just you and me. Before the trolling.”
“Okay. Great!”
Tanya hung up.
Jeremy hung up. He stared at the phone. His mouth felt as dry as paper; his heart drummed and he panted for breath.
I did it, he thought. Oh, man, oh, man!
Just you and me.
Even before they started up the narrow road into the hills, the houses looked big and expensive. Robin knew that higher up—where Nate was taking her—the homes must be fabulous. She didn’t find the notion comforting.
Her family hadn’t been poor. With both her parents working, they’d gotten by just fine. Then there had been the life-insurance money. But they’d never been rich. Not even close to rich.
“Something the matter?” Nate asked.
“I’m feeling…a little bit out of my league.”
“I don’t get it.”
“You live up here in a huge house. You drive a car that must’ve cost more than my Dad made in a whole year.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
Robin shrugged. “I don’t know. Shouldn’t you be going with a debutante or something?”
He laughed. “Well, you’ll do until a deb comes along.”
“What happens if your parents find out about you and me?”
“What do you mean, if?”
“What do
you
mean?”
“They’ll find out Wednesday,” he said. “No if. I’ll introduce you.”
“Great. They should be delighted to find out you’ve taken up with a street musician.”