The whole building shook with the storm’s fury. There was so much racket that the desk clerk woke up again. The hurricane carried Mrs. Elliot right through the window and out over the desert. The clerk watched her fly away.
“Guess she won’t be wanting any cherry pie, after all,” he said.
She flew for many miles, right over Mr. Buxtable’s house, and then away to parts unknown.
***
“There you have it,” Joe says. “Mrs. Elliot was the portent in the sky!”
I’m too flabbergasted to say anything. Tommy and Ken scratch their heads.
“I think I’m missing something here,” Tommy mutters.
“Yeah,” Ken agrees.
“Don’t you get it?” Joe says. “Mrs. Elliot started the whole chain of disasters. She was like the first domino that gets knocked over and topples all the rest.”
“Really?” I say.
“Yeah,” Joe says. “All of them met disaster because they could not control their obsessive ideas. And the obsessive ideas all played off each other.”
A light bulb seems to go off in my head.
“You mean, I might be the next domino?” I say. “If I’m afraid of something, it’s gonna echo along until something awful happens?”
“Could be,” Joe says. “And that’s why your situation has everything to do with hurricanes.”
Four: Final Test
14. Fateful Decision
We all just stand around, quiet and awkward. Even Ken, who is usually the talkative one in any group, can think of nothing to say. He looks at Tommy, and Tommy nods. They move toward their bikes, ready to take off.
Then, without really meaning to, I roll my own bike to the edge of the drop off. Tommy and Ken stay where they are.
This is no “obsessive idea” but a real, flesh and blood hill! I look away from it, and when I look back again, the hill seems even bigger – it’s almost the size of Mount Everest now.
“Come on, Brett,” Joe says. “Wouldn’t it be great to do something real and exciting instead of making up some lie?”
I know that he’s speaking the truth. Tommy and Ken are still here, too, wondering what I’m going to do next. I have a golden chance to outdo them, or to slink away defeated.
Sure, they said they’d talk to the other guys and get me off the hook. But what does that mean? I can just hear them:
“Don’t be mad at Brett,” they’ll say, “he can’t help the way he is. If we were as messed up as him, we’d probably be telling big lies, too.”
How will I be remembered – as Brett the Ice Cream Thief or Brett the Bike Hero? I need a dramatic act to my credit. Something that will forever wipe away my reputation as a big-talking phony.
Besides, I want to go – whatever anybody else says. Forget the other kids, and forget those make-believe people, too. This could be my day to shine!
“All right, Joe,” I say. “This is a very hot day, and I’ve had to stand out in it listening to you talk. Now you’re going to listen to me!”
Joe looks very surprises, then he says:
“Okay, Brett, fair enough.”
I begin my own amazing story; not a lie this time, but a peek into the future . . .
15. The Under the Radar Kid
Once there was a kid named ... Cruz. He was the youngest and the smallest one in the whole neighborhood, and nobody took him too seriously.
What they didn’t know was that he was very smart and he learned a lot from other people’s mistakes. For instance, when he was out canoeing with a bunch of other kids, they all wanted to be first to ride through the rapids.
They left Cruz behind in the rush to be first. Many of them flipped over, but when it was Cruz’s turn to go, he knew exactly which route to follow. So he got through the rocks and rough water ok.
The kids struggling in the water waved to him as he zipped past, pleading for help. But he couldn’t hear their voices over the roaring water. He waved back politely.
“Nice to see you, too!” he called.
Seeing as other people ignored him, Cruz came to realize that their opinions didn’t really matter much. He was never afraid of ‘not fitting in’ or being forced into line by ‘peer pressure.’ He was truly under the radar, unnoticed. He decided to develop his excellence – become a person of substance.
So, while the others were all twisted in knots trying to be accepted and not stick out like the local screwball, Cruz went his own way. He had a rock band where he played guitar; he wrote incredible stories. His friends were always the most interesting and unusual people.
After he finished school, Cruz travelled the world, writing stories and playing music along the way. He went to amazing places, saw amazing things. Whenever he got tired of one place, he picked up and moved to another. He always followed his own path – he even got to be rich and famous.
Many years later, he returned to his home town. Cruz still looked cool, but the ones he left behind were all old and worn out by dull jobs and obsessive ideas. Whatever dreams they once had were long forgotten.
“Cheer up!” Cruz told them. “I’m playing a concert tonight. Here are some free tickets.”
***
It’s totally quiet now, except for the dry rustle of the breeze. Joe is looking at me with this half thoughtful / half surprised expression. Tommy and Ken lean against their bikes with their arms crossed.
Finally Joe says: “That’s an interesting story, Brett.”
I stare down the hill again, and it shrinks back to its normal size, which is plenty bad enough.
“Okay ... I’ll try it,” I say.
My voice sounds like somebody else’s; it’s real small like it’s coming from far off.
“No way!” Ken says.
“You can’t be serious,” Tommy says.
I pay no attention to them, only the hill is important now.
“You have to go first, Joe,” I say.
“Of course,” Joe says. “Follow me!”
He jumps on his fancy racing bike and starts downhill.
My final thought: I sure hope my bike knows the way!
I take off after Joe.
“Good luck, Brett!” Tommy and Ken shout.
16. The Grand Finish
Our speed increases rapidly.
“Hooo Weee!” Joe yells.
I’m too scared to yell. I sit frozen to my bike, my eyes wide with fear. Why have I been such an idiot? I’d give anything to be back up there with Tommy and Ken.
Wind roars past my ears like a hurricane, and my mouth is dry as a desert. We whip around the first curve. Joe glances back and lifts both hands off the bars.
“See, Brett? There’s nothing to it!”
But there is something. A small crack in the road.
“Look out!” I yell.
Too late. Joe’s front wheel hits the crack.
“Ahhh!”
He tumbles off his bike and slides right in front of me. My heart jumps into my mouth. I yank the handlebars over and practically fall off myself, but I miss Joe by inches.
In my mirror I can see him getting back up. Good. At least he is okay.
Not me, though!
I once saw a guy on TV flying a giant kite. It lifted him high into the air. If he held on, it would carry him off, but he couldn’t let go, either. I know how he must have felt.
A steep drop zooms up to get me. I’m a goner! My sweaty hands grip the bars as if my life depends on it. My life does depend on it!
I can scarcely see through the tears the wind is forcing from my eyes. I fly down the drop off like a runaway elevator car. I try to brake but started skidding out of control. So, I just hold on hoping for a miracle.
Time freezes solid. I seem to be floating in some strange world between life and death.
Then the road finally levels off, and I slow to a less demonic speed. The wind blasts my face with less power. Relief washes over me like a tidal wave.
I’ve survived, and for the
first time in my life I’ve beaten Joe at something!
I zip past the park. For a second, wavering in the hot sun out in the baseball diamonds, I think I see ...
No, I’m sure I see it – a big Carnival Castle.
A roller coaster snakes around it, and a huge Ferris wheel gleams. Crabbeus, Buxtable, and Mrs. Elliot cheer as I race past. They all wave to me from their seat on top the Ferris wheel. I wave back.
Then they are gone.
THE END
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