“Take it easy,” Tanya said.
“What’m I gonna do?” he asked. “You see what she did to me? How’m I gonna go home with my face like this? What’m I gonna tell my mom?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“God, I can’t go home.” Gingerly he fingered the torn flesh of his chin. Touching the wound brought fresh tears to his eyes.
“We’ll think of something,” Tanya told him.
“Everybody’s gonna know I was in on this. All they gotta do is look at me.”
“I’ll take care of you,” Tanya said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Easy for you to say. It’s not your face.”
“It’s my ass. We’re in this together, Duke. It’s all right. I’ll take you home in the morning and tell your mother that a dog attacked you on the beach. I’m a lifeguard. She’ll believe me.”
Yeah! That might work. He felt a little better. He’d have to come up with a story to explain why he’d left the house without telling her, but that shouldn’t be too hard.
“What about Nate?” he asked.
“He’s deader than shit.”
A horrible keening noise burst from the girl. She began to writhe and buck under Jeremy. He rammed his fist down, smashing her just below the rib cage. The blow made her sit halfway up as her breath exploded out. Then she slumped down again, wheezing loudly.
“She won’t be in any shape to talk either,” Tanya said. “We’ll make sure of that.”
“I’ll make sure of that.” Jeremy twisted sideways and worked on her. She flopped and jerked, shuddering with pain, and he knew she’d be screaming if she had any air.
“Not yet, for Godsake. Everybody gets a crack at her. We don’t want to cheat the others out of their fun.”
“I’m not killing her.” He glared down at the girl. Her head was flying from side to side, lips peeled back as if stretched by fingers trying to rip her mouth wider. “Am I killing you?” he asked her. “Huh? Naw. Maybe just hurting you a little bit. Maybe just a little bit. How’s this feel, huh? And this?”
He felt the car stop.
“Okay,” Tanya said. “We’re here.”
She climbed out and opened the passenger door beyond the girl’s head. Reaching in, she grabbed her under the armpits. Jeremy lifted himself up, and watched Tanya drag her from the car. He crawled out after her.
He shut the door quietly. The girl was on her back, Tanya straddling her and fastening the buttons of her shirt. “Get her legs,” Tanya said.
The girl thrashed, trying to kick him, but he got her legs apart and hugged them tightly against his sides. Tanya raised her shoulders. Together they lifted her and carried her up the stairs. They passed beneath the grinning moonlit face of the clown. In the entryway, shadows closed over them.
Something pale stepped out from behind the ticket booth.
Jeremy sucked a quick breath and froze. He felt the girl’s legs pull in his grip as Tanya took one more step. Then Tanya halted too.
“It’s just me.”
No!
Guilt rushed through him, hot and sickening.
Shiner, standing in the darkness, wore white clothes that almost seemed to glow. Her arms were folded across her chest. The ocean breeze stirred her hair.
She doesn’t know what I’ve done, Jeremy told himself. But her presence was like a brilliant light, and he saw his deeds in that light as sordid and horrible.
What have I done?
Oh, God, what have I done?
“The others here yet?” Tanya asked.
Shiner shook her head.
“We’ve already got ourselves the troll for tonight’s festivities,” Tanya said.
“So I see. Jeremy, let go of her and come with me.”
“What’s this shit?” Tanya snapped.
“Stay out of it,” Shiner said. She came toward Jeremy. “You’re going to get in real trouble if you stay.”
“If you don’t like it,” Tanya said, “get out of here.”
“Shut up. Jeremy.” She put a hand on his shoulder. It suddenly tightened. “What happened to your face?”
“We had some trouble with this one,” he muttered.
“Jesus.”
He released the girl’s legs. She started to thrash. Tanya wrestled her away, flung her facedown onto the floor of the boardwalk, and planted a foot on her back to keep her still.
“Does it hurt?” Shiner asked.
“Yeah. A lot.”
“I’m sorry. But it wouldn’t have happened if you’d come to me tonight. I know I’m not as…exciting as Tanya. I know you want her. Hell, you’re a guy. Who wouldn’t? The thing is, she’s going to ruin you. Look what happened to you.”
“Tell her to get the fuck out of here,” Tanya said.
“She’s right,” Jeremy said. “Go away.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you come with me.”
“I’m not leaving,” he said.
“Yo!” Cowboy called. “All set to kick some troll ass?”
“Got one here,” Tanya said.
Cowboy and Liz walked over to her. “Hey, hot damn!”
“A trollette,” Liz said.
“We’ve also got a traitor.”
“Yeah?”
“Shiner.”
“Naw. What gives, Shiner babes? You’re not quitting on us, are you?”
“Turned chicken?” Liz asked.
Cowboy came closer. Shiner let go of Jeremy’s shoulder and faced him.
My pal, Jeremy thought. He felt a wonderful sense of relief and gratitude. It was like the time that Cowboy had chased the begging troll away from him.
“Tell me it ain’t so,” he said, sounding concerned.
“I’m done with trolling,” she told him.
“You’re joshing me, right? These’re the low-life scum suckers that did your sister.”
“Greetings, gang.” Randy. “Hey, you got one already?”
“Shiner wants to bail out,” Liz said, disgust in her voice.
“Really?”
“What’s that car doing in front?” Samson had arrived.
“Duke and I brought the troll in it,” Tanya said.
“You left it running.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Say, what we got here? A gal? All right!”
“We’ll get to her in a minute. Duke has to make the goddamn traitor go away.”
“She ain’t no traitor,” Cowboy said. “She’s just riled up.” To Shiner he said, “What’s the story? You upset ’cause of the one that bit the dust?”
“That’s one thing. It’s all gotten out of hand, Cowboy. Look what this one did to Jeremy.”
Cowboy peered at him. “Holy heifer shit. That bitch do this?”
“She bit me,” Jeremy said, his voice shaking. “And scratched me.”
“Well, she’s durn sure gonna wish she hadn’t.”
Liz and Randy came over to look at him. Samson didn’t. He was kneeling beside the girl, turning her over.
Randy pushed his glasses higher on his nose, squinted at Jeremy’s face, and muttered, “Gosh.”
Liz said, “She’s gonna die.”
Their sympathy for his injuries made Jeremy’s throat tighten. These are my friends, he thought.
I didn’t do anything to the girl that they wouldn’t have done.
They’re on my side, even if Shiner isn’t.
The hell with Shiner, anyway. Who needs her?
Heather was suddenly there, nudging Randy aside. Her pale, bloated face came very close, and Jeremy smelled her onion breath. “Poor Dukey,” she said. She put her arms around him. Her breasts and belly felt like swollen bags of jelly. She pushed her hands into the back pockets of his corduroys and rubbed his rump.
Shiner pulled her away.
“We’re leaving,” she said. “Come on, Jeremy.”
“No.” His voice came out strong. His friends were here now. So many friends. They were on his side. “I’m no
t going. If you don’t like it, lump it.”
She tugged the shoulder of his jacket.
Then someone hooked an arm around Shiner’s throat and yanked her backward. Her arm flew up. She clutched the head of her attacker, twisted, and ducked. The body flew up behind her, legs kicking, and slammed the boards at Shiner’s feet. She lurched backward a few steps and raised her open hands, ready to defend herself.
Nobody else went for her.
Karen, gasping, lay sprawled on the boardwalk where Shiner had thrown her.
“Everybody just stand still and listen to me,” Shiner said. “Nate was right. It’s gone too far. But I’m not here to stop you from going after trolls. I hate them as much as any of you. I still do. They took my mother from me.”
“Sister,” Cowboy corrected her.
“No, my mother. I don’t have a mother, thanks to the trolls. But I have a sister, and some of you know her. My real name is Deborah Delaney. My sister is Joan Delaney, the cop who’s been patrolling Funland the past few weeks.”
Cowboy lifted a hand to the bandaged side of his head.
“Yeah,” Shiner said. “She’s the one who saved your ear for you.”
“I’ll be hog-tied.”
“Your sister’s a cop?” Tanya blurted.
“I knew you wouldn’t let me troll if I told you about her. But I’m not trolling anymore. I came here to warn you. Joan’s coming here tonight, dressed like a bum. She and her partner. They’ll be coming to bust you guys. I let the air out of their tires, but I don’t think that’ll stop them. For all I know, they might get here any second. You’re my friends. You, especially, Jeremy, but the rest of you too. I don’t want Joan to arrest any of you. And I don’t want her getting hurt trying. So, please, call it off. At least for tonight. Call it off and get out of here before it’s too late.”
She stood there, breathing heavily, her head turning slowly as she looked at each of them.
Tanya stepped toward her.
Shiner stiffened. She raised her hands again.
Karen, on her knees, muttered, “Nail her.”
“Shut up,” Tanya said. She held out a hand to Shiner. “Thanks for the warning, Debbie. You’re all right. Even if your sister is a cop.”
Shiner took the offered hand. Tanya drew the girl closer, released her hand, and put her arms around her.
They hugged each other.
Jeremy couldn’t believe his eyes.
He half-expected Tanya to knee her in the guts.
They parted, and Tanya turned to Jeremy. “Go with her if you want. Nobody’ll hold it against you—against either of you.”
“I can’t,” he said.
Not after what we’ve done, he thought. Not with my face like this.
It’s way too late.
“I’ll stick with you,” he told Tanya.
“Good man. All right, trollers! You heard what Debbie said. Cops are on the way. We’ve gotta make it quick. Randy, you stand watch. You see anyone coming, blow your whistle like crazy and run for it. Let’s do it!”
She squeezed Shiner’s arm, then hurried toward the cuffed girl. The others went to join in.
Shiner stepped up to Jeremy.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Me too. What the hell, I guess I’d be after Tanya too if I was a guy. Still friends?”
“Sure. If you want me for a friend,” he added in a trembling voice.
“I do.”
“Great. And thanks for…warning us.”
“Hey, what’re friends for?”
He wanted to embrace her, but he kept his arms at his sides. He knew that he could never hold her again.
He had removed himself from the part of the world where teenage boys and girls dated, hugged and kissed, made out in innocent questing passion. That was the world where he and Shiner might have dwelled. But it was lost now forever.
“Go for it, hoss!”
Some others cheered.
Jeremy looked away from Shiner and watched Samson lift the handcuffed girl. He hoisted her off the boardwalk by the front of her shirt and the crotch of her jeans, swung her up, and raised her over his head as if she were a living barbell. He led the way. The others followed, except for Randy.
“I guess you don’t want to miss out,” Shiner said.
Jeremy shook his head.
“Let’s go, then.”
“Aren’t you leaving?”
“I told you before. I’m not leaving without you. You stay, I stay. Somebody’s got to look out for you.”
They hurried to catch up with the group.
The procession moved quickly down the moonlit boardwalk. Tanya, taking the lead, rushed to the gate of the fence that surrounded the Ferris wheel. She opened it for Samson, and climbed the wooden platform.
At the top, Samson lowered the girl. He held her standing while Tanya stepped behind her. Jeremy heard a quiet click and realized that Tanya was unlocking one of the cuffs.
“How’re you gonna get the thing running?” Samson asked.
“I’ve got Nate’s key.”
“Hot damn,” Cowboy said.
“Let go of her.” Samson released his grip on the girl’s shirtfront. As she sagged backward, Tanya braced her up, reached around her, ripped open the shirt, and yanked it off.
“All right,” Samson said.
“Get her pants.”
Samson tugged the jeans down her legs. Tanya, arms around the girl’s chest, hoisted her up. Samson pulled the jeans off her feet and tossed them aside.
“Who wants some fun?”
“What about the cops?” Samson asked.
“Forget the cops. Who wants to fuck her?”
“I don’t know,” Samson said. He caressed the girl’s breasts. “I wouldn’t mind, but she’s a troll, you know? Wouldn’t want to catch something.”
“Well, I reckon…”
Liz jabbed Cowboy’s arm.
“Reckon not,” he muttered.
“Jeremy?”
His heart pounded.
Not with Shiner watching.
He just couldn’t.
Besides, Tanya had made promises about later.
“Not me,” he said.
“Bunch of candy asses.” She drove a knee up. The girl jerked as it smashed against her rump. The blow lifted her feet off the boards. Tanya hurled her down. The platform shook as she slammed against it. Dropping to her knees, Tanya pinned the girl’s hands. “Come on, somebody!”
Karen scurried forward and crawled over the girl, moaning as she delved, caressed, squeezed, licked, and sucked.
“You don’t want to be in on this,” Shiner whispered.
I want to be doing it, Jeremy thought, feeling guilty and hating Shiner for being here to shame him.
The girl bit the top of Karen’s head.
Yelping, she clutched her scalp. Then she battered the girl’s face with her fists until Samson pulled her off.
“Let’s run her up there and haul on out,” he said. “Those cops are gonna show up.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.”
Tanya and Samson dragged the girl to the bottom gondola. Tanya propped her against the seat, rump on the footrest. She swung the safety bar down, hooked the connecting chain of the handcuffs over it, and closed the empty bracelet around the girl’s wrist.
“If she falls too…” Shiner muttered.
“One more good troll,” Liz said. “Give her a ride!”
“Hang her high!” from Cowboy.
Tanya pulled a calling card from the pocket of her sweatshirt. “Greetings from Great Big Billy Goat Gruff,” she said. She took a small plastic case from her pocket, opened it, and held up a straight pin for everyone to see. She poked the pin through the middle of the card. The girl winced and her legs flinched as Tanya stuck it into her, just above the left breast.
“God,” Shiner muttered.
Liz laughed. “Looks like a name tag at a nudist convention.”
Tanya hurried over to the machinery. Momen
ts later, the motor rumbled, sending vibrations through the platform. The wheel began to move, dragging the girl’s bare heels over the boards as she was swept backward.
The gondola tipped out from under her. She let out a sharp gasp as her weight was borne by her cuffed wrists.
The wheel picked up speed, carrying the moonlit girl quickly to the top. Just as she swept over the crest, Tanya stopped the wheel. The girl snapped rigid. She shrieked. She looked as if she might be torn loose. Jeremy half-expected her arms to be wrenched from their sockets, and he pictured her naked, armless torso falling through the night. But nothing gave. After the harsh tug, she seemed to be flung upward. She dropped straight again and dangled there, her pale body suspended in front of the swinging gondola.
All the trollers on the platform stared up at her.
“Holy jumping Judas,” Cowboy muttered.
“Well, shit,” Liz said. “Isn’t she gonna fall?”
The motor went silent.
Jeremy, suddenly alarmed, hurried over to Tanya. “She’s alive,” he whispered. “We can’t leave her alive. Christ, she’ll tell—”
“Don’t worry, huh? The cuffs are loose. Real loose. I’m surprised she hasn’t already fallen. That stop should’ve done it. She must be keeping her hands fisted.”
“What if she doesn’t fall?”
“She will. I don’t give her ten minutes.”
“You sure?”
“I told you, it’s my ass too. She’ll be taking a big dive.” Tanya stepped past Jeremy. He followed her, and they joined the others. All their heads were tilted back.
The gondola had stopped rocking. The girl dangled straight down, her rump against the edge of the footrest. She looked limp.
Is she passed out? Jeremy wondered. If she’s out cold, why hasn’t she fallen yet? Maybe the cuffs aren’t as loose as Tanya thought.
“Okay,” Tanya said. “Let’s get out of here.”
They hurried down the stairs and out the gate. Standing in the middle of the boardwalk, Jeremy again looked up. From here he had a very good view of the girl. She was incredibly high. A fall would kill her for sure. She wasn’t moving at all. Her head hung. But he couldn’t see whether or not her fists were clenched to keep the cuffs on.
A brilliant burst of light suddenly hit his eyes.
Heather blurted, “Shit!”
Jeremy snapped his head around. No more than thirty feet away stood a giant troll with a camera at his face. Its flash blinked again.