My Brother's Keeper by Adrienne Wilder Page A

kids currently bounced around on the air filled floor. “He likes the baseball throw.”
    “You like to throw baseballs, huh?”
    Ellis tugged on Rudy’s arm. “Jon’s talking to you.”
    Jon repeated the question. Rudy said, “I like it but I think the hole is too small. It would be easier if it was bigger. But sometimes I get it through.” He went back to staring at the inflatable castle. “If I was smaller, I could go in there.”
    Jon clapped Rudy on the shoulder. “If you were smaller, you couldn’t ride all the rides we were on.” He steered Ellis and Rudy toward the booths. “C’mon, I want to smoke some rubber duckies.”
    “Smoking is bad,” Rudy said. “They smoke outside the grocery store sometimes and it smells like the trash barrel when it’s on fire.” He pointed. “Baseball throw.”
    Ellis let Rudy go on ahead. Jon was still grinning.
    “Your face is going to freeze like that.”
    “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
    Ellis rolled his eyes. “C’mon, duck smoker.”
    They caught up to Rudy. He jerked his hand back from the baseballs and said, “No touching.”
    Jon gave Rudy five tickets. “Here, pay the man, then you can touch.”
    The booth owner handed over three balls. Rudy cradled two in one arm while he threw with the other. Every ball caught the edge. Rudy looked at Jon and said, “See, the hole is too small.”
    Jon picked up one of the balls sitting on the counter. He held it out to the booth owner. “You mind putting this through the hole?”
    The man narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
    “Humor me.”
    The guy snatched the ball out of Jon’s hand and went to the back. The ball fit, but barely. “Satisfied?”
    “Yeah. Nice to know you’re running a scam.”
    The man thrust his chin out. “Get the hell out of here, faggot, you’re messing up the scenery.”
    Jon shook his head.
    They walked down the alley between the booths to find more games. Bald light bulbs lit the way, adding a harsh glare to the already gaudy colors.
    The man’s words played over and over in Ellis’s head. Get the hell out of here, faggot.
    “You okay?” Jon said.
    “I guess I better get used to that, huh?”
    “Not everyone’s a bigot.”
    “But a lot of them are.”
    “You regret it? You and me.”
    “No. Never.”
    Rudy stopped by a booth where a man sat shuffling plastic cups around on a table with a pile of tickets off to the side. He wore large hoop earrings and a purple vest. There was a tattoo of a horse on his right arm. A group of teenagers watched.
    The shuffling stopped and the redheaded girl pointed to one of the plastic cups. The man lifted it, flashing the empty space underneath. “Aw, better luck next time.” He waved a hand, begging them forward. “You want to play double or nothing? I will even give you the first try for free.”
    The teens grumbled and spat out a few choice words as they disappeared into the crowd.
    Rudy said, “I want to play.”
    “It’s a scam, Rudy.”
    The man at the booth huffed. “You calling me dishonest?”
    Ellis surprised himself by meeting the man’s angry gaze. “I’m just saying the house has all the advantage.”
    “Tell you what. I give you three tries for free.”
    “Can I? Please, can I play?”
    “Rudy…”
    “Please, Ellis. Three free tries.”
    “What would it hurt?” Jon said.
    It would hurt to see the disappointment in Rudy’s face, that’s what. But if the guy was willing to give three free tries, what did they have to lose? “Go ahead.”
    Rudy stepped up to the table. “I love this game.”
    “You’ve never played it,” Ellis said.
    “I still love this game.”
    The man laughed. He picked up one of the cups showing a quarter. “Now we shuffle. Keep your eyes on the quarter, my friend.” He shuffled the cups, easing one around the next, moving them slower than he had with the teenagers.
    He stopped sliding the cups. “Now you guess which one.” Rudy pointed to the middle cup. The booth owner