The Price of Falling (7 page)

As they came into view I scanned the kids playing them. Typically, some pot-head and scruffy types hogging the zombie games. My heart thudded as I saw Jason.

He’s here, I thought, feeling hot and trying to fight my nerves.

I didn’t know why I felt so nervous. I tried to bury the panic, to keep calm. I changed my course to walk straight over to him. I glanced at his two friends, who had their backs to me playing a game for two players. Jason was at another game holding one of the plastic guns attached by a cable, pointing it at the screen. I could hear the sound effects from the machines; the horror ones always had this over-the-top moaning and grunting when the zombies died.

I stood next to him and waited. I didn’t want to interrupt, but he turned his head when he noticed me there. He looked surprised to see me as our eyes locked. He turned back to his game but had obviously received a critical blow in the split second he hadn’t paid attention. A gargled cry came from his character followed by a computerized theme tune. Jason swore.

‘Now look what you’ve done,’ he said to me, sounding annoyed. ‘You better pay for the next game.’

‘I want to talk to you,’ I said as calmly as I could, nervous and thrilled at the same time. I thought, considering what happened, Jason would agree to talk with me.

Of course I was mistaken.

‘Yeah?’ he said, frowning. ‘Well
I want
to play this game. So pay up or get lost.’

I sighed inwardly. ‘OK,’ I agreed, digging in my pocket for change. I figured if I wanted him to tell me what he’d told that guy, and not tell anyone else for that matter, I’d have to do what he asked. I handed over the coins to Jason, who didn’t say thank you but put a few quarters into the machine’s slot. He raised his plastic gun again and started selecting the game. He did however glance at me as he said, ‘You playin'?’

I stared blankly for a second before answering. ‘Sure.’

Why not? I thought. I stepped round beside him and picked up the second gun. I deliberated over which character to chose until Jason told me, ‘Hurry up, jock, we ain’t got all night.’

We played the game. I don’t think Jason thought I would actually be any good, but I’d been coming to this arcade for years. I knew each game pretty well, even this one, so our combined effort won a good game. Jason had a smile on his face as he entered his initials into the top scorer’s list.

‘Hey, Steven,’ he called to one of the boys behind us. ‘Beat your score, man.’

‘Huh?’ the taller boy turned around. He had eyes that looked half closed, whether from lack of sleep, playing too many arcade games or smoking pot I wouldn't know.  ‘Get the hell off my scores,’ he drawled.

‘Too late,’ Jason hung up the plastic gun. ‘Read ‘em and weep. I’m gonna get some food.’ He turned to me and added quietly, ‘Which you’re buying.’

I nodded. Anything, I didn’t care. I just needed to get him on his own.

‘Get me some?’ Steven asked.

‘Me too,’ added the second boy.

I saw Jason roll his eyes as he walked away. I followed him out of the arcade.

We didn’t speak until we got to the food court. Jason wanted a large portion of fries and a soft drink. I wasn’t hungry any more so had a soft drink too. He sat down at one of the tables tucked away in the corner. I followed and sat down opposite him. I was grateful that the mall was quiet now, it would probably be closing soon.

I was also grateful that Jason hadn’t wanted a hot-dog. I watched him eating the fries, my eyes fixed on his mouth. As I clutched my drink cup and remembered back to Saturday night, I could already feel my cock stiffening. I don’t think I could have coped if I watched him wrap his lips around a hot-dog.

Jason took a sip of his drink then flicked the straw out towards me. Cold, fizzy drops of soda hit me in the face. I blinked in surprise and wiped them away with my hand.

‘What was that for?’

‘You’re making me edgy,’ Jason said, going back to his fries. ‘What d'you want?’

I was embarrassed that he noticed me staring but really, considering what else we’d done I figured no point worrying about it further. And since he was getting straight to the point, I thought I should too.

‘You said you wouldn’t tell anyone,’ I said quietly. ‘But your friend knew all about it.’

‘What friend?’

‘The guy with the jewellery?’

‘Oh, AJ,’ Jason rolled his eyes. ‘He doesn’t know ‘all about it’, he’s just made a guess. I didn’t tell him.’

I looked at Jason, trying to read him. He was playing with the straw on his drink.

‘Then how does he know?’ I asked, frustrated.

‘It’s your own fault, dummy,’ Jason gave me a withering look. 2Did you really expect to march in somewhere you’ve never been before, insist I go with you and no-one to talk about it?’

‘But I-’

‘But nothing,’ Jason interrupted. ‘They're not stupid, and they’re looking for people to take out, especially AJ.’

I didn’t know what to say. Of course he was right, it was my fault. I’d stood there and demanded Jason leave with me, what else would they think? Just then AJ’s other words came back to me.

‘But what did he mean about you over charging?’

Jason frowned. ‘What?’

‘He said you over charged me.’

‘Oh, did he? What else did he say?’

‘Um, he said...he said he would work out a better deal.’

Jason snorted a laugh. ‘Sure, let him.’

‘Did you really over charge me?’ I pressed again.

Jason didn’t look at me as he picked at the last of his fries. ‘Well, you didn’t question it, you can obviously afford it. So no, I think that price was just right for you.’

I was stunned. He’d totally conned me.

‘What’s the normal price?’ I asked.

Jason looked at me in what seemed like surprise. ‘There ain’t no guide lines for this stuff, jock.’ He grabbed his drink and stood up. ‘We done now? Nice talkin’ to you.’

Before I could answer he’d stalked off from the table. I left my drink behind as I chased after him.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said as I reached his side. ‘I didn’t mean to be rude.’

Jason snorted a laugh and shook his head. We walked along together as he sipped at his drink. My heart was pounding.

After a few moments of silence Jason looked at me sidelong. ‘You following me?’

I knew he probably wanted me to go away but I couldn’t contemplate leaving.

Not on my own anyway.

‘Can I see you tonight?’

‘No,’ he answered. But I saw the ghost of a smile on his lips, and I knew my persistence had paid off before.

‘I’ve got the car,’ I offered.

‘Good for you.’

‘I can drive you home...er, after.’

That seemed to sway him. ‘Mm, OK,’ he agreed, suddenly changing his mind just like before. ‘You give me cash, though.’

I mentally checked how much I had on me. ‘I’ve only got about thirty bucks.’

Jason burst out laughing. ‘You better go get some more then.’

I looked at my watch. It was quarter to eight in the evening. My parents would definitely be wondering where I was. ‘I can’t,’ I explained. ‘If I go home now I won’t be allowed back out.’

Jason looked unimpressed. ‘Oh well,’ he shrugged.

‘Can’t I give you the money tomorrow?’

‘No.’

‘I’ll bring it into school.’

‘No.’

‘You know I’m good for it.’

Jason sighed. ‘Oh, fine. You better bring it in, jock. I don’t do freebies.’

‘I will,’ I promised, pulse racing. ‘Can't it be a little less though? I’m not loaded.’

‘You’re really pushing your luck, aren’t you?’

‘I can’t afford that much.’

Jason frowned. ‘You’re pushing your luck
and
you’re lying.’

‘I can’t afford it,’ I defended. ‘I’m supposed to be saving for college.’

‘Yeah, well I’m saving too, jock. And like I said, I don’t do freebies.’

‘Can’t we meet halfway?’ I felt pathetic arguing about this, but I was telling the truth, I really couldn’t afford much more. I hadn’t budgeted for literally blowing away huge amounts of money at once.

‘How about a hundred?’ I suggested.

Jason considered this for a few moments. I thought he would say no, but finally he huffed out a sigh. ‘Alright. You’re driving me home after though.’

I drove us out to the woods again. Jason had suggested we stay in the parking lot of the mall, but I wanted somewhere more private. There wasn’t much other choice in the town. At least being off season there wouldn’t be many people walking around in the woods.

The light was fading now, and the ranger would have locked up his cabin hours ago. Parking the car under the trees like before, I slid onto the back seat with him. I loosened my pants and shuffled them down as he bent over me. I was already hard, I'd been hard pretty much the entire drive out there.

When his mouth touched me I groaned, I couldn’t stop it. My fingers gingerly made a bid for his hair this time; in the dim evening light I looked down as I finally felt that long hair. It was soft, I thought absently. As he sucked on me and I began to lose myself, my fingers curled through his hair, touching at the skin of his scalp, gently caressing.

I didn’t want it to stop but same as before he brought me off quickly. I thought it was funny that I drove all the way out here for an act that must have been only a couple of minutes long at most. When he finished he pushed my hands off his hair so he could get up. I was left alone again in the car, wishing it could have lasted longer.

Jason smoked as I drove him home. The very last of the light was leaving the sky and the street lamps had started coming on. The wind whipped most of the smoke out of the window but I could still smell it. I wasn’t keen on smoke.

‘You should quit,’ I told him. ‘It’s bad for you.’

I thought of my Dad’s brother who smoked a lot. He smelt pretty awful the older he got, had a nasty cough too.

Jason replied with that little snort of amusement, took a big drag and turned his head towards me to blow the smoke out. The car filled with smoke for a second or two, wafting in my face before the wind pulled it away. I tried not to but I coughed. This made him laugh.

‘Do your parents smoke?’ I asked him, thinking of my uncle’s children. I knew my older cousin smoked, but no-one was supposed to know.

Jason didn’t reply.

When it became apparent he had no intention of answering me, I asked, ‘Won’t they be mad you’re not home? It’s pretty late.’

His only response was a small snort.

‘Which road?’ I asked, wondering why he wasn’t talking.

‘Up there, take the second right,’ he answered, gesturing with his cigarette before he took a final drag and flicked it out of the window.

I followed his directions, but was unhappy thinking about him leaving. Maybe this was why I was trying to strike up conversation, which was no mean feat for someone shy like me. I stumbled over a couple more things, then as it came into my head I said, ‘That film Mr. Thompson showed in History was interesting, huh?’