FB4-85 "It Takes Balls"

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F U T U R E   B A R R I E R ( The 4th Novel ) Secret Technology, Unrequited Love, Absolute Vengeance © February 2021 - Written by David Wicker Please do not reprint without permission  CHAPTER 85 - "IT TAKES BALLS" [ CHOOSE A DIFFERENT CHAPTER TO READ ] * * * This chapter is Rated: TEEN It's been an interesting week I can attest to that. Now as you know my best friend in all the world is Chris, but, he does have some idiosyncrasies about him. Like for instance when we're in a restaurant, he wants things. And in most cases it's best that I am the one doing the asking as Chris can be a little - rough around the edges when it comes to talking to people, especially anyone in a position to serve him, such as a waiter or waitress. Like for instance Sunday we stopped at this nice oriental restaurant and were offered to sit right next to the entrance. Well they had a space heater going there so I thought that was pretty neat. We placed our orders then Chris said there's no salt and pepper on the table. So I put my mask on, got up to request that to our server, she brought it. Chris then said he's going to need extra napkins. I put my mask on, got up, told her we'll need more so she brought some extras for Chris. Then Chris said there's no soy sauce. He's going to need that with his meal. 3rd time I'm up with my mask on, I'm asking her for soy sauce. Now she's just lingering a bit to see if there's anything else. There isn't, so that's fine. Our meals arrive. I got me one of those Bento Box lunch things which has all kinds of variety. Chris got his meal, but no salad. He got very cross, "Where's my salad !?" So I got up to let her know Chris was supposed to get a salad. She went to the back kitchen, apologized to us, then gave it to Chris. Then Chris sat down and started picking at his food. This is what he does. For instance he hardly ever likes salad as is and takes out "white" pieces of lettuce to put in a bowl, which I ultimately work into my own food. To me salad is salad. Unless it's moldy or something it all tastes good to me, but Chris is very particular about his food and he's always done this. He'll set something aside and I'm like, "You gonna eat that ?" He says, "No." and - it's fair game to me at that point. Now he sets aside an empty plate every time we go out somewhere and anything that arrives on that plate is for me if I want it. And this is not the first time Chris has this behavior and demeanor, to not be satisfied with what is out there and I doubt it will be his last. Me ? I've always felt, hey, I'm glad to be here. Glad to be here for the ride. Glad to get out of the house. So my expectations of a great day really don't need to be very much. I always try to be polite, courteous, and generous whenever I'm out and about. Pretty well the opposite of Chris. Ah well. As a lot of people are out of work for the Covid, so Chris was trying to find work earlier. And I KNOW him. I know how he is and it must be difficult for the staff to try and hire him with his - attitude. Now me when I was working I was always quiet, gracious, and grateful. And this earned me many good chances to be interviewed for jobs with positive progress - like being hired the first interview from the first person I see. Whereas with Chris he said they keep calling him back for more than one interview. Several in fact. I can't help wonder if he'd just adopt my idea of friendliness that he might get hired on the first interview and the very first day. I guess I learned this from working for my Dad for 5-years as his office manager. His patients would call in and start out yelling on the phone about this that or the other and in a short time I learned that if I'm empathic and responsive, I can usually calm them down. Chris has expressed to me his total disinterest in being a person like this. He would absolutely hate to answer the phone and be "nice." As if it's a complex job skill or something that he just cannot do. Every job I've been at in the past I have had remarkable success by being polite to others. By being a good listener. And by giving helpful feedback to not only confirm I was listening to everything that was said by my superiors but that I had my own ideas - my own feelings on how I interpreted what I heard. How Chris and me work so well together today from the start of him meeting me when I was 18-years of age I think would be beyond most people to understand except that I am his Domate. Truly we are polar. And it's always been that way with me. Even when dating Wayne years ago, I was his domate and that was immediately reflected everywhere we went. Rose used to be, when we first met. She was elated to find me submissive and was more than eager to fill in the spot for dominant being twice my age at the time. A bit of a Mommynatrix in truth. Today though ? Hmm ... Not so much, but she's also in her 70s and gardening really is her true love. And that's fine. Maybe I've slowed down a bit too as Old Man Time starts to put his increasingly cold and dark shadow over me ... . . . In another light having recently rewatched Superman 2, I'm tempted to write the story of what happened to General Zod and his cohorts in the movie. For all we see they fall to their grave at Superman's Fortress Of Solitude having had their superpowers removed, essentially making Superman a murderer. But I wanted something more than this. And yes I'm familiar with the "Richard Donner Cut" which to me doesn't add anything very useful except that Superman "once again" spins the Earth backwards to reverse time and events. Geez may I =NEVER= go that route in any of my stories ! We'll see when I get around to writing that fan-fiction, time allowing. . . . And now, we return to Dev who has as they say a hole burning in his pocket from that remaining $92 - eager to play the shell game, but will he win ? Let's find out. So before Janet could protest I had already pulled out a $1 bill. And handed it to the carny. He felt it with his hands. I guess that was his way of determining if it was not fake, and of course it wasn't. "Very well !" he said and then lifted up the glittery marble to show me. He placed it under one of the cups. Then started to move the cups around. I smiled. This was easy ! I could definitely do this. Janet whispered in my ear again, "He's Pulling A Casey Dev." I had no idea what that meant so I simply dismissed it. Finally he stopped moving the shells and I had kept my eye right on it every time. The carny pulled his hands back and spoke, "Under this shell you have followed with your eyes. Reveal to me now which it is that you may gain your prize !" I immediately pointed to the middle. He scoffed as if I had chosen incorrectly. But there it was the crystal marble ! Right under it. The expression on his face looked truly surprised - or was he ? Was he playing at appearing so ? In any case he reached under the table and pulled out a flat box of little toys. He spoke heartily, "Congratulations ! For you have won ! Now pick your gift you son-of-a-gun !" But I wanted the pocket electronic game he had hanging on the shelf in the back. I pointed to that. He then took one of the toys from the tray and handed it to me. A cheap plastic one-color silly dog riding a skateboard where the wheels wouldn't even spin - and put the tray away. He then went to the back of his stall to lift the prize I wanted. He returned and spoke. "Small bets for small things. Bet higher, this prize brings." "How high ?" I asked him. "Ten bucks." he said greedily. Wow, he didn't even bother to rhyme that at all. But I was game. I could do this. I pulled out my $20 and gave it to him. "Okay you're paying for two tries." he said. That confused me. "What ? I won't need that ! I'm gonna win this time ! I won't need another turn, so I'm just paying for one game." He laughed, "Sure you are, buddy. Sure. He then changed my $20 to give me back a $10." Perhaps I should've felt uncomfortable that he was no longer being silly and rhyming words. "Keep your eye on the marble." he said and held it up again. My eyes were all on it. Then he put it under the middle shell. And then he started. He was going faster than last time and increasing his speed every second. If he kept this up then I would lose track of where it was ! I guess from the sound of misery from me Tyr came to comfort and held my hand. I felt the ticklish feeling of that loop of light encircling us. And then to my vision it slowed down ! The plugin within me seemed to slow down time for me so I could keep track of the marble. My eyes were following it no matter how fast he was moving it now. I think he saw this and struggled to shift the shells a little more until they were a blur. But I still knew where it was. Finally he stopped. "Where is it ?" he was all smiles. Well I was gonna win that video-game now so I pointed to the left shell. There was no doubt that's where it was. "You sure ?" he asked. I nodded. "Yep, I'm sure." He lifted the crystal shell to show - that it wasn't there ! "That - that's impossible !" I said. I clearly followed the movement of it. "Too bad." he said. "I can see you had your heart set on that electronic gizmo. Want to try again ?" Now Janet spoke angrily, "No, Dev. He's just taking your money !" The carny laughed a little with a cruel tone, "Who is this, boy, your wet nurse ?" "Wet nurse !?" Janet's eyes grew wide with anger. She started to reach behind for her sword but I stopped her. "Nono ! Not here !" "Not here, what ?" the carny asked, a little curious now. I was eager to change the subject. "Uhh, that's fine. Yeah, I'll play again. Same amount $10 for the game, right ?" He took the $10 he gave me earlier and put it in his register. "Right, $10 for the win ! I'm certain you can do it this time !" But he did something strange before he started. He took his hand and dumped all 3 shells into his lap, then brought them back holding up the crystal marble where I could see it clearly. That was odd. Why didn't he just lift the shell with the marble and start over ? "Second try for the big prize !" he said seeing I had my eyes sharply on the sparkly globe. "Best of luck to you !" I was all eyes now. Tyr had since let go of my hand so I reached out for it again. And like before everything slowed down to my vision. But in real life he was going a blur ! He was determined I could not follow it, but I did. * * * Finally he stopped. "Alright pal ! Where is the marble ? Take your time. Give it some real thought. You only get one chance here." This time it was the far right. Without waiting for him I picked up the right shell. And strangely once again it was not there ! He certainly was sympathetic, "Oh too bad. Too bad ! I was certain you would get it this time. Want to try again for the same amount ? Best of 3 ?" "Wait." I said. "Is it okay if I try again. I mean pick up another shell before you start ? If it's not there and I'm wrong both times - I'll play one more time." He scratched his chin in deep thought. "I don't normally do this but you really do seem to have your heart set on that toy so - yeah - let's give you another chance. Come on winner ! You can do it !" He held up clenched hands and moved them back and forth eagerly. "You've now got a 50/50 chance of getting it. Think carefully !" Tyr was still holding my hand. I blinked my eyes for a second. There ! Now I could see under the shells before they were lifted and - there was no marble ! I squinted and the opaque table in front of him turned clear. And there it was. I could see he was balancing the marble between his two knees ! The cheater ! When he was shuffling the shells he must've slipped the marble over the edge and expertly caught it. So I concentrated. I thought about how pretty that marble was with its lovely little jewels embedded in it. And with a flash of yellow grid lines that couldn't be seen because they were beneath the shell I made a copy of the marble - under the middle shell. I could see it now ! Tyr moved her hand slightly, I guess a little confused as to why I wanted to hold her hand just then and everything went back to normal and opaque. I was going to get this but I wanted to be certain. I spoke, "I say that marble is under the middle shell. So if I'm right I win the video-game, right ?" He laughed, "Tell you what, sport. If that marble is under there you not only win the videogame but you get to keep the game marble too as a souvenir for playing this great challenge - as a way of showing your buddies how sharp your eyes are. How fair does that sound ?" My eyes darted down for a minute and I could tell from his flinching feet he was quite certain he had the marble held between his knees still. I lifted up the middle shell and there was the marble I duplicated. "What !?" he yelled. Suddenly he stepped back and we saw him still awkwardly holding his legs together. Then they released the marble which went bounce-bounce finally noisily rolling under the table towards me. We could all see it that he wasn't playing fair. "You cheater !" I said, grabbing the video-game which was still sitting to the side of the 3-shells in case he decided I didn't win it. "Cheater !?" his eyes were still wide with fright. "You - found the marble, but - it wasn't supposed to be there ! I - had it all along. I did - I ..." He started blubbering in fear. His marble had stopped rolling and was by my feet. I reached down to pick it up as well as compare it with the one I made. Naturally is was a perfect copy. "Mine." I told him with narrowed eyes. He gulped in fear and looked at me like I was some kind of black-magic witch or something and shook his head. "Take it ! Take the shells too ! Take it all !" he then ran top speed in utter terror away from his stall and me. Tyr started to go behind the counter to grab a free stuffed animal but I stopped her. "No, Tyr. He did cheat us yes, but he cheated ME. I got what I wanted." His moneybox was still there too with no-one to protect it. Lilly tempted, walked over to it and spoke, "This would be a nice souvenir for me to take home !" And I had to stop her, "Come on, Lilly. That would be stealing. Stealing real money. Dollar bills that aren't even ours. Don't do that. Hey - let's try a different game. I think we did pretty good here." And so saying I thought about it. The duplicated marble was mine since I made it but I felt bad about taking his. Even though he was a cheater I set his original down on the table where he could easily find it when he returned. I took a step back along with the 3-girls and closed the wooden doors to his stall to show other patrons he wasn't open for business. I confirmed, "We don't want to be thieves here. I think I earned this though." and held up the pocket video-game machine along with the pretty jeweled marble. Now Janet stepped forward and spoke almost clinically, "Mr. White will be interested in this turn of events, Dev. For now though would you like me to carry those for you ?" "Where are you gonna put it ?" I asked her. Apparently that "bustle" as part of her pretty dress outfit was actually a backpack. So saying she turned the bustle around to open the front of it and put both the marble and pocket video-game there. Then turned it back around and once again she was a vision of loveliness like Alice In Wonderland. "Here, it's my turn !" Lilly said and grabbing my hand started dragging me towards one of the roller-coasters. I had just eaten and was certain if I went on that ride with her - everyone on that ride would KNOW what I ate. I pulled back a little, "Lilly ! I told you I can't ride this ! Not after just eating ! How about the Ferris Wheel ?" "After maybe. Come on you big baby." And I guess I wanted to comment that now she was speaking in rhyme but the other two girls followed and with no-one ahead of us in line we went straight up to the front. "Four of ye ?" the carny said. "Eight bucks." I handed him the remaining $20 I had. He carefully looked at it, decided it was legit, then returned a $10 bill and two more $1 bills. I looked to the name of the roller coaster which was called, "Monster Mouse." And sure enough painted on the sides of the roller-cars was garish artwork of some kind of rabid rat with sharp yellow teeth that was foaming at the mouth. His eyes were wild red swirls. Nasty looking. "Step in." the carny invited, oblivious to my fears. Well we all 4-fit very comfortably into the wide carriage. Tyr on my right and Lilly on my left. Janet to Lilly's left. He looked at Lilly, me, and Tyr and shook his head. "Ye gots frames on. I ain't responsible they gets lost." with that he snapped down the cushioned metal brace to make sure we wouldn't fall out. Then went back to the lever to start the ride. END OF CHAPTER 85 Return back HOME You are Earth Visitor #

Reviews

[Kari Rakitan]

Ah, this brings to mind the old saying about catching more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Awesome chapter! I loved that whole duplicate marble trick. That's nice how Dev took the higher road.

[dw817]

Thanks, Kari !

And yes, Dev is sometimes a little TOO fair. I mean he could've taken $20 from the till as he really was robbed of it, but he chose not to.

This is one reason Dev is picked on so much is that he is often "more than fair." Something that he may change in the future as he keeps getting hurt for it.

And yes. I think Dev is capable of doing these feats himself but feels he needs support from Tyr. This all being carefully observed by Janet who is not just there to have a good time but remember anything 'interesting' Dev does while they are there.

And Dev has already set in motion a series of events at the carnival ... he may regret having shown his 'magical' hand.

Thanks for commenting !

[dw817]

Thought I would add as I'm checking these chapters out (11-01-21), ready to start the 5th book.
read moreThought I would add as I'm checking these chapters out (11-01-21), ready to start the 5th book.

Anytime you see text in BOLD or BLUE in my writing and it doesn't look like English, there's an excellent chance it's a word or phase from Urban Dictionary. Check it out.

[dw817]

Another "read more" error. Tired of these.
Anyways, if you come across any text that is bold or BLUE and does not appear to be English, there's an excellent chance the word or phrase can be found and defined in the Urban Dictionary. Check it out.