The Seven Day Gangster

Chapter 17

My memory of a carnival was very different than what I saw.

I had remembered annoying tinkling music, sticky drinks over the benches, screeching kids, creaky rides and burnt hot dogs.

I guess you could say that my earlier experience was pretty bad.

But much to my surprise, this was a lot better than what I was thinking of.

So far, we had gone on three rides, which didn't shake as if they were about to fall apart into a million pieces.

The food was decent. I mean, it wasn't like some gourmet meal, but at least there weren't any burnt hotdogs.

I had never pegged Logan as someone who was scared of roller coasters, but he was actually really reluctant to go on any of the rides. We finally forced him to go on this one ride The Zipper, which actually made me feel really dizzy afterwards.

I tucked my hair behind my ear and pointed at a booth a few feet away.

"Hey can we play that one?" It looked like some water shooting game. From what I had played at amusement parks, these games were actually pretty entertaining.

"Those games are stupid," said Randy flatly. "They just waste all your tickets. I don't want to play."

I scowled at him. "Afraid I'll beat you or something?"

Randy scoffed. "I would never stoop that low to think that."

I was about to interject something, when Alex agreed as well. "Yeah, let's go actually. Those pandas are super cute; I want to win one. Come on, Sam." She dragged Sam over with his arm so I stuck my tongue out at Randy and followed after.

We headed over to the booth and handed a bunch of tickets over to the guy behind the counter who looked incredibly bored.

The point of the game was to hit the target with your water gun to move your duck along to the finish line. Whoever finished first would win some huge stuffed panda in the corner.

I eagerly stepped up and grasped the nearest water gun confidently. Next to me, Randy snorted as he selected the gun to my right.

As the bell rang to start, I gripped my gun and pressed the trigger down, sending a stream of water way off the target.

I adjusted my aim and watched as my duck slowly inched its way towards the finish line. Damn, I cursed internally. Why was it so slow?

To my right, Randy was easily hitting the target's center. His duck was way ahead of mine, so I reached my hand over and knocked his gun off childishly.

"Hey!" he snapped. "What the hell?"

I grinned, noting that my duck was now ahead of his. "Sucker," I said under my breath, focusing on keeping my gun on target.

Randy rolled his eyes and spun my gun hard to the left, so my duck stopped moving forward. I grappled for control, but just as I was about to press the trigger again, the bell rang.

I peered across the booths, and saw that Sam had won. He looked over at mine and Randy's ducks and laughed at how far behind they were.

Randy scowled at me. "Cheater," he said, narrowing his eyes.

I widened my eyes innocently. "What are you talking about?"

Sam selected the largest panda in the corner of the booth and held it out to Alex. "Here, you can take it."