The Acolytes of Crane "Updated Edition" (17 page)

‘Hey
Linc, let’s go hit the bumper cars. Dude, what was that? Who was that person?’
I inquired.

‘Don’t
worry about it,’ he said lowering his voice to say something under his breath.

‘What?’
I asked. I didn’t hear what he had said.

He
shouted, ‘I said, it is none of your damn business. Back off!’

‘Okay,’
I said, and stepped back out of respect.

This
wasn’t working well. Lincoln was pissed off, and we didn’t even find…

Then,
my heart froze. There, standing near the entrance, was Mariah. Pumped up with
anticipation, I worked up my nerve and walked up to her. Seeing me, she smiled
at me, settling my anxiety somewhat. I saw her moving her lips as she spoke to
me, but I couldn’t hear. All the beeps, blasts, and laughs within the arcade
were creating a din.

‘What?’
I yelled, pointing to my right ear.

‘I
said, it is nice to see you,’ Mariah shouted.

I
knew what to do. Weeks before, I had studied Spanish in the library’s reference
section at school, because it would improve my chances with her.

‘Hola
Mariah, como estas?’ I then asked her how she was, and she told me that she
didn’t feel well. Her mother was going to pick her up in ten minutes. My heart
sank as I realized that our task for today likely was not going to bring the
accomplishment we had sought. Still, I thought she looked damn good, even if
she was feeling under the weather. I thought I detected a hint of dejection on
her face as she turned away. ‘Excuse me,’ she said as she walked over to the
coat check attendant.

As
she walked away like a vision, I started daydreaming about Mariah and I,
holding hands as we bravely dodged laser shots together. Then I jerked myself
back to reality.

I
had to inform Lincoln what was going on, and I needed to do it quickly.

I
zinged around the arcade frantically in search of my friend. When I found him,
I rattled off everything I was thinking—in a sentence that sounded like it was
strung together into one giant word. I said, ‘Dude-we-have-to-go-the-girl-she-is-leaving-Mariah’s-leaving-c’mon-c’mon-let’s-go-let’s-go!”

Lincoln
got the hint right away. Returning his rented bowling shoes, he rendezvoused
with me near the building’s entrance. As Lincoln and I rushed out to look for
Mariah, it was as if a do-or-die dilemma had harshly slapped us in our faces.

The
scene for a free-for-all confrontation was set. Jack Winters, the leader of the
rogue pack that had shot paper wads our way earlier, was now grabbing Mariah
around her waist, from behind. She was shouting angrily at Jack to let her go.
Jack’s minions cheered him on. Lincoln and I glanced around desperately: there
were no adults around.

Mariah
was in trouble.
My Mariah
, even if it wasn’t politically correct for me
to say so. Without a thought in the world, I spontaneously hollered at the
bully. ‘Hey, get your hands off her, Jack, what is your problem?’

Jack
gleefully retorted as he laughed for show. ‘
My
problem? I don’t think I have
a problem, do you, Mariah?’

‘Let
me go!’ she yelled.

I
hesitated to take action, fully conscious that if something unexpected
happened, I could derail the intentions of Zane.

Lincoln
solved my dilemma for me. My impression of Lincoln as a quiet, studious guy was
forever shattered as he came tearing forward like a beast unchained. He took
three swift strides toward Jack and ferociously punched his shoulder. I gasped
at his bravery.

Unhurt
but aggravated by the sudden move, Jack threw his elbow in the direction of
Lincoln’s nose and blasted his nostrils flat. My friend looked like he had been
drilled with a croquet hammer. Jack laughed at all of us.

Jack
let Mariah go and hopped toward me, extending his fists outwards like a prize
fighter. He took jabs through the air with absolutely no fear, closing in on to
me.

‘Huh?
Huh?’ he sneered, dripping sarcasm. ‘You want some too, Ted? Your girlfriend
Lincoln has a bloody nose. What is the matter, you wishing Jason were here to
defend you? Everyone knows it was you that pushed him off that cliff!’

As
the other kids, including Mariah, physically shrank away from our altercation,
I stood there, breathing heavy. My peripheral vision collapsed, and a force
within strangled my throat. Jack was about to move in for the kill.

 Rather
than be intimidated, I instead became resolute. There were only two issues that
mattered to me now. First, he had accosted Mariah, the girl of my dreams.
Secondly, this bully had directly challenged my manhood, and I had to defend it
at all costs. I kicked my foot forward to take a blow at Jack, whatever the
consequences.

Something
froze my action. Instinctively, I remembered
The Intervention
. It was
back. The Dietons, unseen to the others, wrangled me completely still. Someone
was definitely monitoring me with a rolesk. I groaned inwardly.

Jack
hooted at me with derision. As he was about to take a swing at me, there was
another intervention. No, not the Dietons. It was Liam McCaffrey! Like a wild
buffalo snorting and blowing hot air from his nostrils, he had grabbed Jack
with two hands and elevated him into the air.

Showing
no weakening as he lifted Jack like a pro hockey player would hoist the Stanley
Cup in celebration, Liam growled at him. ‘You remind me of a grape I stepped on
yesterday. I picked it up and ate it.’

‘Don’t
do anything Liam, it isn’t worth it; he isn’t worth it,’ Mariah cried out.

Very
reluctantly, Liam lowered Jack safely. Jack’s legs began to stride before they
even hit the ground. He, and his posse, were gone in a blink. Released from my
Dieton shackles, I ran over to Liam as if to give him a hug, but instead we
slapped a high-five. Then we both tended to Lincoln.

‘What
were you guys thinking, messing with Jack? That guy has been acting weird
lately,’ Liam said, while we helped Lincoln recover.

Mariah
stepped up to Lincoln, and placed her hand on his shoulder. ‘That was brave of
you, Lincoln. Thank you.’

Lincoln’s
face turned a crimson red.

I
was next. As I dreamily observed her delicate features, she gazed at me in the
eyes and said, ‘Thank you, Ted.’

I
averted my eyes. ‘No problem.’ In the next instant, she touched my shoulder,
sending an electric tingling running up and down my body.

‘Bye
bye,’ she waved. Mariah’s mom arrived and like that, the object of my crush was
gone. We had to act fast with what we had left. There was a chance to invite
Liam to our group, and I wasn’t going to miss it. To my chagrin, Liam started
walking toward Fun Haven.

‘Ted,
why didn’t you stop Jack?’ Lincoln asked me, while he rubbed his nose that was
probably stinging from the blow.

Now
was not a time to discuss old battles. We had to get Liam.

‘Hold
on, Lincoln,’ I said, and he understood the delay. I ran after Liam before he
entered the building. ‘Liam, do you work here?’ I asked in a rush. He stopped
and looked at me.

‘I
sure do, they hired me to keep control of this outside area. I am supposed to
keep kids from loitering,’ he said as he pointed up to the
No Loitering
sign hanging over his head. ‘If you don’t need anything else I will just get
back to work. I get off at six.’

I
checked my watch. ‘In about fifteen minutes.’ I looked up at him. ‘Didn’t you
work at Miller Industrial?’

‘Yeah,
that job was lame,’ he said.

‘I
want to invite you over to my house for dinner. You finish soon. Then you can
just ride home with me and Lincoln.’

‘No
thanks, I would not want to impose. Besides, you have not even asked your
parents yet.’

 ‘Liam,
what you did for us back there was awesome. No one ever looks out for us, but
you did. Please come over to my house for dinner, I insist.’

Lincoln
quickly added, ‘We owe it to ya.’

Upon
reflection, Liam accepted my invitation and walked back inside the building to
finish his shift. We called Dan from the pay phone to see if he could help us
out in recruiting Liam, but his mom told us he wasn’t home at the moment.

Liam
was unique. He was number one on a short list of gifted individuals. He was
adeptly equipped with fortitude, compassion, and obvious physical superiority.
We had to try.

We
next phoned my grandpa to pick us up, and in twenty minutes, he arrived. ‘Hey
grandpa, is it okay if Lincoln comes over for dinner?’

‘Not
a problem. We’re used to him chowing over at our place.’

I
tested my grandpa further, pushing his boundaries. ‘And my friend Liam too?’ I
asked.

My
grandpa spun around with a disconcerted expression. ‘McCaffrey? I told you to
drop that. I’m on the verge of a major breakthrough with my research. I don’t
want to be disturbed.’

Picking
up his cue, Lincoln backed me up. He said, ‘I know how you feel, Marv.’ Lincoln
didn’t know my grandpa’s last name, so he winged it. ‘I think what Ted means is
that we owe him one. You see, Liam saved us tonight from getting our butts
kicked by Jack Winters.’

‘Please
grandpa, it is the least we could do for him, I will not mention anything about
what we talked about earlier, and we will stay out of your hair. I promise.’

‘Will
I have to call this Jack Winters’ parents, or did you boys handle it like
gentleman?’

‘No
it is fine. We handled it, so can Liam come for dinner?’

My
grandpa thought briefly, then said yes, and I went to fetch Liam from inside.

We
were now three strong. We all hopped into my grandpa’s tan car. The seats were
leather and were cold to the touch. It took at least five minutes to warm up to
them.  We finally ended up at home, and dinner was just about ready for us when
we arrived in the kitchen.

‘Grandma,
this is Liam McCaffrey. He helped us out with a bully tonight, and we invited
him to dinner to thank him. I hope you don’t mind.’

‘Well,
luckily I had extra, next time you and grandpa need to ask me first. I am glad
the older kids are looking out for the younger kids. It is a fine line, Liam.
If you are not careful when you get involved in a situation, you may become the
bully yourself. I appreciate you helping these boys. I hope you like liver,”
she said.

Liver.
My face fell. I should’ve been able to tell from the odor that greeted my nose
when I entered the kitchen. Of all the meals that I could have invited Liam
over for, this was definitely the worst. I hoped that wouldn’t deter Liam later
on.

As
we ate, I looked over at my friends, and I noticed we had an agreement with our
eyes of disgust, while we gnashed at the dry “delicacy.”

Even
though the food was gross, the company was great and one could see by the looks
on our faces that we were laughing inside about the dish. Dinner was quick. I
think we all figured the faster we ate, the quicker it might be over. We fled
to my bedroom to chat.

‘Liam,
there is a different reason why we brought you here. You have to promise you
will not freak out when we tell you,’ I said.

‘Yeah,
you have to promise, at least listen. Maybe I should do the talking this time,
Ted,’ Lincoln added.

Liam’s
face changed in that one second. He went from his usual jolly self, to a mood
of melancholy. He hung his face. ‘I already know what you guys are going to
say. My mom told me that you stopped over when my dad and I were gone. So yeah,
it is true. My mom is having an affair with another man. I know that is what
you guys wanted to tell me. My dad and I already know about it. She left us
last night. It is really tough and I don’t want to talk about it, so can we
just do something else?’ Now he was fighting back tears.

Lincoln
jumped in, and said, ‘You’re right. We did expect something, but that isn’t why
we brought you here. What we wanted to discuss is out of this world as we know
it.’

‘Are
you guys about to sell me something?’ Liam asked.

I
couldn’t hold myself back. ‘Okay stop! I am going to tell him because you are
taking too long.’ I pled with Liam. ‘Liam, we were chosen by a demigod named Zane
to save the world and Sephera from these Dacturon devils. There, I said it. We
need you to leave with us into space to help fight evil. That is as simple as I
can make this.’

‘That’s
it, you guys are nuts!’ Liam exclaimed. ‘I had to put up with liver for this?’
He stomped out of my bedroom, accidentally knocking over a couple of trophies
to the floor. ‘Sorry,’ Liam muttered, but he continued his stride.

‘Please
give us a chance,’ I begged him. ‘We are under attack. The Dacturons are at our
doorstep, and if we don’t do something, they are going to consign Earth to the
dustbin. You have to help us.’

‘Dacterrians?
Earth?’ Liam spat out, unable to emulate the exact pronunciation of the alien
race. ‘I did help you, and now you expect me to believe this nonsense. You guys
are weird! I am outta here,’ Liam said, as he marched out the front door. He
darted to the cul-de-sac, and down the road.