The Game

  Chapter 18

  “Well, it’s been less than a week since December 21, 2012 came and went inside the Game. Despite popular theory, Earth did not end in a catastrophe predicted thousands of years earlier by the ancient Mayan civilization of Earth. Almost every eligible player has gone into the Game to join in the 30th anniversary celebrations, many hoping to gain bonus credits or perhaps be involved in story lines that gain the attention and following of fans. Earth journalists are reporting alarming swells in the population which adds a dynamic to the Game not seen in some time. And let’s not forget the real story all of Tygon is tuning in for —how will Zack’s avatar, Trew Radfield, perform during his life? Our best attempts to uncover strategy and planning from Zack’s camp have turned up nothing. I guess that’s to be expected since his Patron could fire us all at the drop of a hat. Most fans will begin to tune in now that Trew has begun to self-narrate. Not to be out done, Alexandra’s young avatar, Danielle Benton is also self narrating at the age of eight. She has her core following and I must admit that so far she’s much more entertaining than Trew. Of course, it’s very early in their plays. We can expect many weeks of fun and entertainment before they die of old age. Unless they don’t make it that far…”

  Video Feed from “30th anniversary Game update”

  Trew Radfield, age 9

  Mom’s yelling something at me from downstairs. It’s the third or tenth time she’s yelled. That many tries must mean she wants me to answer her, so I turn down the music and open the door a bit. “Pardon?” I yell down.

  She comes to the foot of the stairs looking up at me. Uh-oh. I should have answered sooner.

  “I said you need to get ready for class, Trew. You know what day it is. Quit ignoring me, young man — there’s no way to get out of this. Life is not just some big game, although you seem to think so.”

  I grin down at her and start to walk down the stairs. I’m ready to go, I was just playing with her. “What if it is just a game, Mom?” I kiss her on the cheek as I pass by. She’s such a great Mom, I love her so much!

  “If it was, then you’d need another life because I’m tempted to end this one for you!” Mom tries to look upset, but I can always make her smile. I have that effect on people.

  “Will Dad be there?” I ask.

  “He sure will. He’s sitting in the driveway now, waiting for us.” She opens the door and out we go.

  It’s bright and hot out, a beautiful summer day for grown-up strangers to discuss. It’s too hot for me, though, in my karate gi. I hope they have the air conditioning on, but I know that on test day they never do.

  Dad unrolls the car window, a big smile on his face, and sticks his hand outside. I slap his palm with mine as I walk by, smiling back. I try to open the back door, but it’s locked. Staring at me through the window is the brat, my seven-year-old sister, Tara. She knows I love sitting behind Dad, which is why she takes the spot every time she can.

  “Move over.” I quietly mouth the words and with my eyes I promise to hurt her if she doesn’t. Tara looks at me and cups her hands to her ear. “What?” she yells. “I can’t hear you, Trew.” I know she wants me to lose my temper. Then Mom or Dad will yell at me, which will make Tara very happy. She lives to make my life miserable.

  I check to make sure Dad’s window is rolled up again, which it is because he doesn’t want to let the cold air out. Then I put my hand over my mouth and whisper quietly, “Make her move over, please. Today’s a special day and I should sit there.”

  I hear the door unlock and Tara moves over. She doesn’t look happy. I can hear Dad finishing his sentence as I get in. “It’s a special day for Trew, Princess. He should sit on his favourite side.” It’s so cool when I say something out loud and it happens. I know it’s just a coincidence, but I feel almost like I have super powers sometimes. How cool would that be? To be able to say something is going to happen and it does?

  Mom leans over to give Dad a kiss, then we all strap in and Dad backs the car out of the driveway. It’s so nice and cold in here. The heat of the dojo is going to be horrible! I decide to test my powers again. “It’s so hot outside, I hope the dojo has the air conditioning on, even though they usually don’t for testing.”

  Dad groans. “Oh, god, I forgot about that! I hope so too, Bud.” Mom puts her hand on Dad’s neck to make him feel better. She always seems to know what to do to make him feel better. That’s not too tough, though; my Dad’s a pretty positive guy most of the time.

  “No matter what the temperature is like, I know you’re going to do awesome, Trew.” Sometimes I think Dad and Mom are more excited about my life than I am.

  I listen to Mom and Dad talk about grown up stuff. How her day was, how his day was. Tara looks out the window for a while, likely figuring out how to bother me more, but I’m just glad to be left alone. I’m excited about the testing today. I’m going for my blue belt, and it’s getting pretty fun at this level of karate. There’s so much more than just throwing punches and kicking. Sensei offered to give me free private lessons, and my parents let me. Sensei teaches me that the mind is a powerful weapon and, with much practice, we can bend the elements and energies to our will. She’s just started to teach me to meditate. I don’t really understand it, but it sounds cool to tell my friends I’m learning meditation. So far it’s just sitting there thinking about breathing, but it must get more exciting soon. I don’t think I’ll do it today, but I might close my eyes and pretend so Sensei thinks I’m doing it.

  We find parking and walk down the block to the dojo. It’s an old, square building with a real high ceiling and just one big room. Along the sides are benches for the parents to sit and in the middle is a big open area with the kind of thick blue mats that you see in a karate dojo. The first thing I notice when we walk in is the crowd. The seats are almost full with parents and grandparents coming to watch their kids do their testing today. My parents are always saying how many kids there are now. It happened the year I was born and kept going for the next seven years. Tons of us! Sensei and her helpers are standing near the entrance directing the crowd.

  I’m so excited I don’t notice until my Dad slaps me on the back and says, “Great luck, pal! They’ve got the air conditioning on!”

  I smile, thinking I should say ‘You’re welcome’ for using my secret power. But I just laugh because I know it’s just good luck.

  Sensei comes over and shakes hands with Mom and Dad before patting me on the shoulder. “Ready for your test, Trew?” she asks.

  “I am, Sensei,” I say seriously.

  She smiles. “I know you are. Just remember what you’ve learned and practiced and it will go smoothly. Also remember that the less you think, the better you will do. Trust deep down in yourself.”

  “The air conditioning will help us parents sit still and pay attention better,” my Dad says cheerfully.

  “It’s so hot out,” Sensei says. “Even though we usually turn it off for testing, it just felt like the right thing to do today by turning it on. Maybe Trew can take the credit for it?”

  I look at her with wide eyes. “What?” I ask. Can she read my mind?

  “Well, I thought it would be a nice little extra birthday present to put the air on,” Sensei says.

  “Oh, right.” I say. “Thank you, Sensei.”

  “Go take your seat with the others. We have special guests from an American dojo. If you meet any of them, please make them feel welcome, Trew.”

  “Yes, Sensei.” I bow.

  “Birthday party after we are through, bud!” my Dad says.

  I give him a thumbs up, smile at Mom, and run off to join the others.

  Two of my friends have saved me a spot, and I sit down beside them. The girl on my right isn’t someone I’ve seen before, so I smile at her. She smiles back. Remembering what Sensei just told me, I introduce myself. “Hi, are you one of the students from the American dojo?”

  The girl grins and nods. She’s really pretty. And very… confident, I g
uess is the right word. It’s like she’s a big movie star and everyone is here to see her. And she’s really pretty. “Yeah, I’m here from the States. This is a great dojo you have here.”

  “Thanks,” I say. “So what brings you here? We go to the States to compete sometimes, but I’ve been here for three years and I don’t remember any American schools visiting us.”

  “We came because of me,” she says with a shrug. “Apparently I’m pretty good at this karate, and not many people around can give me a very good contest in sparring. I win the kata part too. So somehow my Sensei knows your Sensei and they got to talking and agreed to bring me here. There’s a student here that is maybe as good as, or even better than me. I’m excited to meet him!”

  “What’s the students name?” I ask. I had no idea this dojo had someone so skilled.

  “Trew Radfield,” the girl says, looking around like she’s waiting for me to point him out to her. She looks around for a couple seconds and, when I don’t say anything, she looks back at me. I’m sitting there smiling with a finger pointing at my chest.

  “I’m Trew Radfield. But I don’t think I’m that good.”

  The girl holds out her hand to shake with me. “Well, I guess we will get a chance to see soon, Trew. Nice to meet you. My name’s Danielle Benton.”

  Stephanie

  It’s so hot out today. I wish I could be inside with a cold drink, but my gut tells me to keep a close eye on Trew this afternoon, and my gut is always right. I’m not having the type of feeling I get when someone wants to kill him. That’s a sick, panicked feeling with a heavy pressure behind my eyebrows. This is more of a tingling, curious feeling, not like something bad is about to happen, but more like I should just be close by to keep an eye on him.

  He went into the Dojo with his family. Poor guy, I know they turn the air conditioning off in there on test days. I’m likely better off being outside than in. I can’t be in there anyway, that’s not where my gut is telling me to be. I’m standing across the street from the dojo. Soon I’ll get closer to look through the window when enough people gather there to watch the events inside. So many kids born — there’s always standing room only for most events now with so many parents and children. It’s insane.

  I’m sipping on an iced tea, looking slowly around from time to time but trying not to look conspicuous, when from behind me I hear a familiar voice speaking in a language I rarely hear any more.

  “Hello, Stephanie. A little hot out for being lazy on a bench, don’t you think?”

  I slowly turn towards the voice, giving the man I see behind me a genuinely warm smile. I’m always happy to see Raphael, even though the last time I saw him he was trying to kill me. But that wasn’t personal — he was just doing his job.

  “Raphael, you handsome wolf! Come over here and give me a hug.” We embrace and it feels so good to touch him. Sometimes I’m apart from my countrymen so long that I’m afraid I’m the last of us. Of course, that’s not true — hundreds of us still exist; it’s just a big world to move in, and we’re all kept busy.

  Seconds pass and Raphael holds me at arm’s length, looking me up and down. The man really is beautiful. Hair so black it shines with a bluish tint in the sun pulled back into a ponytail. Eyes just like mine, deepest brown, with flecks of gold in them which swirl with different speeds depending on his mood. He’s six feet tall, with bronzed skin and very well defined muscles. And the smile — his best feature. If I hadn’t known him for so long, I would melt. I laugh because despite how long I’ve known him, I almost do melt.

  “So what brings you into my territory today, Raphael? Here for business or pleasure? And for how long?”

  “Business today, Stephanie,” He says. “I’m currently based in the United States. Ward duty for me for the past eight years. My girl is here today on a visit and I just wanted to make sure she stays safe, even though my gut says there’ll be no problems.” He looks over towards the dojo, and I guess she must be inside.

  “Any idea who she is? Your girl?” I ask pleasantly. Sometimes we tell each other, sometimes we don’t. But we always ask.

  Raphael shrugs. It looks like he’s willing to share the info with me. “In here she’s called Danielle Benton. Outside she’s Alexandra Montoyas. I’m hers for now. How about you, Stephanie? You have a ward also?”

  I nod dumbly. My mind is racing. I usually know what to do about a threat, but I can’t see how this is a threat to Trew. My gut tells me it’s fine, so I try to calm down. But something deep down feels… concerned. “We’d better go closer and take a look inside the dojo, Raphael.”

  He sees my look and his brows furrow with concern. I smile reassuringly and pat him on the back. “My ward is a nine-year-old boy named Trew Radfield.” I pause to see if he recognizes the name. He looks at me blankly, still waiting to hear something interesting. “Outside, he’s Zack.”

  Raphael looks at me for a moment in surprise. Then he tilts his head back and roars with laughter.

  As we walk across the street to get a good view of the dojo, he says, “That’s so funny, Stephanie. Word is that Alexandra Montoyas spent everything on her last play just to get a meeting like this and it didn’t work. I bet she didn’t spend one little credit this time, and yet here they are in the same room. Wanna bet they are sitting right beside each other?”

  I shake my head negatively. I bet that’s exactly where they’re sitting.