28. A High Note 🕹️

We walked inside the building and my childhood was triggered. "They changed everything." I placed my hand over my heart as I spun around.

A.B. glanced at me. "It's been more than 10 years since you were last here."

"Okay, but... if I don't see my game, I'm done." I walked ahead of A.B.

We got in line to purchase tokens or coins or whatever they call them now. "A.B., look!" I pointed at the large window. There was a go-kart track outside and people were racing on it. "That wasn't here before. That's definitely new."

"Want to do that?" He asked me.

"Mmmm.... no. I really want to play my game."

A.B. chuckled, "Okay."

At the register, the employee asked what we would be purchasing today. The menu in front of us listed the amount of tokens, go-kart passes, virtual reality games, and the restaurant's food prices.

"We'll get 300 tokens and two go-kart passes."

I glanced at A.B. and tilted my head. I just told him that I'm wasn't interested in go-karts.

"All right! When you see the green light, press on the right pedal with your right foot. When you see the yellow light, slow down by slightly pressing on the left pedal with your left foot. When you see the red light, come to a complete stop by pressing all the way down on the left pedal. Any questions?" The man in a checkered pattern uniform uniform asked everyone.

I looked over at A.B. as we sat in a two-person go-kart.

He looked at me. "You ready?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "No!" I shouted over the loud engines.

"Have fun!" The man walked over to the platform, stepping away from the go-karts.

"What'cha say? I didn't hear you." A.B. pretended not to hear me.

Not even a second later, A.B. pressed on the right pedal and we were speeding on the track. I let out a loud scream. When we reached our first curve, our bodies jerked to the side. It led us up a ramp. We made a sharp right turn. Before I knew it, we went from having five go-karts in front of us to having none. We went into another curve that was a large semi-circle. Then, we started going down a hill. I tightly closed my eyes. At our speed and as low as we were to the ground, I could feel my stomach jump out of my body. And I was still screaming. I'm pretty sure I sounded like a cat fighting a rat or when the guy in the movie "Accepted" screamed.

A.B. placed his hand on my arm. "It's over. It's over."

I opened my eyes to see that we had stopped. Most of the people were out of their go-karts and heading back inside. I quickly took off the seatbelt and got out the go-kart. I went back inside the building, shaking off my embarrassment. I could hear A.B. laughing behind me. I turned around to look at him.

He cleared his throat when he saw my face. "Yeah, that wasn't funny."

I snapped my fingers. "Now, let's go find my game." I led the way as I paraded around the game floor. By the third walk around, I became agitated. "Please don't tell me they got rid of my game."

"Didn't you say you won a lot a tickers from it?" A.B. asked me.

I nodded my head as I did a slow turn to make sure I didn't miss a spot.

A.B. said, "Listen, we got 300 tokens on this card. I'm sure we can find a good game in here to win a lot a tickets on."

I still want to play my game, though.

"How about...?" A.B. looked around. "Let's play the bowling game," he suggested.

I followed him over to the two empty spots in front of the two bowling lanes. A.B. swiped the card on both machines.

The small balls rolled down to me. I picked up the first one, swung back, and released it like a bowling ball. The digital screen displayed a bowling ball rolling towards the pins. All-of-a-sudden, my ball went to the side. The screen read: Gutter.

I bucked my eyes. "No this game didn't. I did not roll a gutter ball." I grabbed another ball. It became a gutter ball, too. "I don't like this game!"

A.B. glanced at me, "Remember, you want a lot of tickets."

I took a deep breath as I picked up another ball and rolled it. It hit one pin. One pin?! I looked at A.B. and his scoreboard was full of strikes. By the end of the game, A.B. won 25 tickets and I won 2 tickets. "Let's play something else!" I folded my arms.

"Ohh! We gotta play basketball." He pointed at the hoops a few spots down. I followed him as we waited for the people ahead of us to finish playing. Once they were gone, we stepped up. A.B. swiped the card on each machine.

A whistle blew and the game shouted "start" or "go" or something. A.B. was already shooting his shots, but my basketballs were taking their time to roll towards me. And the nerve, I only had three basketballs.

The hoop started to move close, I aimed and missed the rim. I took my second basketball shot and still missed. When my third basketball disappointment me, I grabbed a basketball from A.B.'s slot. Then, I quickly grabbed another one, because why not? I made another shot just as the hoop went backwards. Now, it was farther away. My shot didn't even hit the rim. Then, the game counted down from 10 seconds to one. I sped up my pace on taking shots. Finally, one went in. The buzzer went off.

"Four points? My arms got a workout, and all I get is four points?" I inquired. "How many points did you get, A.B.?"

"Sixty."

"Six? Not bad." I looked at the card reader, and he had 30 tickets being added to the card.

A.B. nudged me. "That was just a warm-up."

I sucked my teeth. "Let's play something else."

We ended up playing about 7 more games until I saw it. It was pushed back in a hidden corner.

"A.B." I grabbed his arm. "That's my game!" I skipped over to it.

When A.B. was next to me, he read the name of the game, "The Big Wheel."

"Yes! All you gotta do is pull the lever, and then hit the button when the light is on the number of tickets you want. I've won hundreds of tickets off this game," I explained to him.

"Show me." A.B. swiped the card.

I pulled the lever and a single light went around the circle. It passed up the numbers that were ranged from 5 to 500, but of course 500 had the smallest space on the wheel. I didn't blink as I locked my eyes on the number 40, but it wasn't my goal. If I was too fast, I could hit 10 tickets. If I was too slow, I could hit 500. I hit the button. The light stopped on 40.

"They cheating!" I shouted.

A.B. chuckled, "Try it, again." He swiped the card.

I took a deep breath before pulling the lever. With my hand over the button, I locked my eyes on the number 40. The light was fast, but not faster than me. I hit the button. It stopped on 20. "I'm done!" I threw my hands in the air.

A.B. was still laughing as we traded places. I watched him as his eyes were locked on his number which I'm sure is 500. All the rookies make that mistake. I don't think I can watch. Before I could look away, A.B. looked at me. My brows merged. He hit the button.

"Sir, what are you--" I looked at the wheel and quickly jumped up and down. "A.B., you won 500 tickets! You got it!"

He said, "That wasn't hard."

My celebration came to a halt. "Beginner's luck."

"No luck. All strategy." A.B. swipe the card again. He played until we couldn't afford to swipe the card anymore. In the end, we walked away with 3,785 tickets. I knew my gaming would take us far. I couldn't stop smiling after that. "We have to come back here, again."

"We should, but next time, you're driving the go-kart," A.B. pointed at me.

I thought about it before agreeing. "Just as long as we play my game."

We went to redeem our tickets.

"Do you want to save our tickets for next time or...?" A.B. waited for my answer.

Suddenly, I remembered that this was only a day trip, and that I would be back at my parents' house tonight. Even then, I was just visiting them. Soon, I'd be back in California, getting to work on my career as a singer and songwriter. Could I pretend that I'd have another opportunity like this?

As if he knew what I was thinking, A.B. took my hand and placed the card there. "You keep it until next time. Ready to get back on the road?"

I looked at the card in my hand with Fast Lane written on it. "Let's go."

As we walked to the truck, I just had to ask, "I wasn't doing too much, was I?" I anticipated his answer.

A.B. unlocked the truck and opened the passenger's door. "Why you ask?"

I walked up to him. "I was really ready to leave, because I thought they didn't have my game in there. I wasn't even thinking about you or if you were having a good time. It was selfish of me."

"I guess I was too busy enjoying our time together to notice," he told me.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

A.B. said, "Do like this." He used his hand to demonstrate a mouth closing. "And get in the truck."

We both laughed.

I got in the truck. "But I did have fun, and we will be back." I grabbed the handle on the door and closed it. I hope this day never ends. How many times have I said that, and the day still ended? Too many to count.