The Lies That Bind

Chapter 20: All's Fair in Love and Rigged Carney Games

"We'll play ring toss game," He said, "Will show who is the best man."

That was nearly an hour ago, maybe more. As I stand there in the hot sun with my sister, watching Kazmir and Adrian trying to beat a clearly rigged game and win big as a show of ultimate manliness, I begin to rethink my options. What I suppose was just a harmless competition became an all out war. They have been at this for an hour; both had won a cheaply made, but cute, little stuffed animal for their respective woman, but that was clearly not enough. No, they had to win big, to show who was better... for some reason. I roll my eyes at the spectacle; I didn't think Kazmir was that kind of guy. I pause to think it over. No, he is that kind of guy, but just not to the point of snobby bro-guy. You know the guy; that guy who spends hours at the gym just taking selfies and hogging the mirror. The guy who thinks he's God's gift to women.

You know, that guy.

Adrian didn't seem like the type either, but who knows? I look over at my little sister who is equally tired of this charade. Her own blue eyes roll in their sockets as another $5 is put down for another round.

"Can we do something else," she says finally, "please?"

"Yeah seriously," I chime in, "You planning on spending $200 on this mess?"

The men look at each other blankly, it's clearly they've lost all semblance of time. Kazmir then retracts his money, placing the bill back in his wallet. "Devushka is right," he says, sounding more like himself.

I smile, "Great, now can we - -"

"We need to find a game with less unfavorable odds." Adrian states.

"Exactly," Kazmir says.

A collective sigh escapes my sister and I as our men go off to prove their worth. After they're gone, Erika looks at me and asks, "Wanna get on the Tilt-a-Whirl?"

Ah, the Tilt-a-Whirl, the king of vomit-inducing carney rides of which I remember vibrantly. Erika loves those kinds of things. I turn to see the attraction in action, the large, half-circle cars spinning at varying speeds as the platform moved up and down like a rolling wave. I prefer the Ferris wheel, but I wanted to ride that with Kazmir.

I look back at Erika, "Yeah, sure I guess."

"So uh," I begin as we wait in the relatively short line for the stomach churning ride, "did you know Adrian could be so competitive?"

Erika shakes her head, "No, it's really surprising, but cute all the same!" She turns to smile at me, "It was just so boring watching them fail at that damn ring toss. You'd think after blowing $20 they'd stop."

"Perhaps he's doing it for you?"

My little sister's brow rises, "And Kazmir isn't doing the same for you?"

I roll my eyes again, "I don't know what he's doing it for."

"To prove his love for you, duh!" Erika poses dramatically just before it's our turn to get on the ride. The gate soon opens and I follow her onto the platform and towards one of the red cars near the back on the left. I set my parasol against the railing, silently praying it doesn't get stolen before joining my sister. She's giddy like always while I'm dreading what is to come. Memories of extreme dizziness and nausea from childhood flood my mind and I almost want to get out. However, the glistening metal bar drops and locks us in. The teenage operator fails to inform us the ride's about to start, and the sudden jolt forward makes me jump. I grip the bar tightly for dear life, helpless to do nothing but watch the other cars roll and spin with the unending wave just before the one I'm in follows suit.