Omorphi (69 page)

Michael squatted again. “He can make almost anything you want out of balloons.”

“Balloons?” he whispered.

“Those things around his neck and arms are balloons. They’re rubber filled with air.”

“Would ye like an animal? An airplane? A hat?” the man asked boldly.

“I don’t know,” Christy’s deep voice intoned softly.

The old man did a double take and laughed a full-bellied laugh filled with warmth and admiration. “I know jes’ what ye need, pretty lady.”

Christy looked on in utter amazement as the old man quickly fashioned a rainbow, bent with a deep bow, and presented it to Christy and asked him to hold it for a moment. He went to work with teal balloons the color of Christy’s eyes and, within moments, had created a top hat. Retrieving the rainbow from Christy, he affixed it to the front of the hat and placed the hat on Christy’s head. “Need jes’ one more thing.” He fashioned a feather in bright lavender and stuck it through the brim of the hat. “And there ye are!”

Christy removed it from his head and looked at it in awe. “This is beautiful.”

Michael handed the old man a ten-dollar bill, but he refused it. “If she’s brave ’nuf to come out here dressed as she is, the leas’ ah can do is ta make a fine hat!”

“No, c’mon, take it. You’ve made Christy happier than you can imagine. Please?”

The old man took the money and bowed deeply. “Yessa, I thank ye kindly, sa. Very kindly of ye.”

The man walked on to his next prospect.

“Do you like it?” Michael asked.

“Yes.” Christy squeezed one of the balloons.

“Don’t squeeze too hard or it’ll pop.”

“Pop?”

“Break with a loud noise.”

“I want to learn how to make this.”

“I’m sure you can find it on the net. Just look up ‘balloon artist.’”

A loud shriek tore their eyes from the balloon hat only to see Jerry practically strangling Stephen with his cast as they plunged, rounded the last curve, and came to a slow stop at the end of the roller coaster. Jerry disembarked, white as a sheet, and teetered as he walked through the turnstile.

“Are you okay?” Christy asked, concerned.

“I don’t think that’s my thing. There is nothing exciting about feeling like you’re going to die.”

Christy’s eyes went wide. “It is this bad?”

“Scarier than crap.”

“It’s perfectly safe,” Michael assured.

“That’s what I kept telling him,” Stephen said as he rubbed his neck and the side of his jaw.

“What’d he do, whack you with his cast?”

Stephen gave Michael a slightly humorous look as he shook his head. “Kid was scared to death.”

The next group of cars to plunge and round the curve included Jorge, Lisa, and George, their three large forms crammed into one car. Lisa and George were laughing hysterically, and Jorge simply looked bored. The last group of cars contained Jake and Sophia, who looked thrilled. Sophia whooped on the air as they descended the final plunge and swung around the curve. She was still laughing when she disembarked and came through the turnstile.

“Did you like it?” Christy asked.

“It was wonderful! I can’t wait for you to do it! Such a lovely hat! Where did you get it?”

Ignoring her question, Christy turned to Lisa. “Did you like it?”

“I’ve been riding that thing since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, Christy. I’ve always loved it. I bet Pappy made your hat, didn’t he?”

“He was an old man with many balloons.”

“That’s Pappy. He’s been here for as long as I can remember.”

“He’s a great guy. I remember him from when I was a kid,” Michael said.

“Loves kids and doesn’t have a problem with us.”

“I can tell.” Michael gestured to the rainbow hat.

“There are no more things to ride?” Christy asked.

“There are, but nothing that’s safe for you and Jerry.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re either crashing into each other with bumper cars or spun around and stuck to a wall with centrifugal force. Not good for a cast or a burn.”

Christy’s brow knitted. “Centrifugal is like in the science?”

“Yep.”

“They have a large top to spin with the people inside?”

Michael chuckled. “That’s almost exactly what it is.”

Christy looked disbelieving. “How does this feel?”

“Weird. Your face gets all stretched back like this.” Michael stretched the sides of his face back with his hands.

Christy laughed. “You are teasing me.”

“No, I’m not. Ask these guys.”

Christy looked to Lisa for confirmation. “He’s right, honey. Your face gets seriously stretched, and your mouth gets all blown up with air until your lips look like nothing more than thin lines. A bad thing if you’re worried about wrinkles.”

Jake looked at his watch. “It’s five thirty. Let’s head back down the boardwalk to the Crazy Clam.”

Michael signaled to him to wait and leaned down to Christy. “I’m going to give my mom a call. Be right back.” Michael walked away from the group.

“Hey, Mom, how’s it going?” Michael could tell by his mom’s reply that she couldn’t speak freely. “Okay, we’re heading back down the boardwalk now. We have a few extra people with us…. Ah, like five…. Yeah, Lisa’s with us, why…? Seriously…? Ah, okay. We’ll see you in ten.”

Michael walked back to the group and tapped Lisa’s shoulder. “You didn’t tell us Smitty planned on coming down to speak with our parents.”

Lisa’s mouth gaped. “Mike, I swear, I didn’t know.”

“What’s he talking to our parents about?” Jake asked, serious as a heart attack.

“Hell if I know, Jake. Smitty doesn’t come out often. He lies real low, if you know what I mean.”

“Interesting.”

They headed down the boardwalk with Christy and Jerry racing their chairs fifty feet ahead of them. Christy’s balloon hat flew off, and Michael rescued it before it floated away on the breeze. They raced increasingly faster and swerved more than once too close to the edge of the boardwalk as they veered around the crowd, and Michael began to worry. “Christy! Slow down!”

Christy turned back to look at Michael and didn’t see Jerry swerve to miss the crowd. He careened into Christy’s chair hard. It spun once and began to tip backward over the edge of the boardwalk.

“Christy!” Sophia screamed.

“Oh shit!” Michael cursed loudly.

J
ERRY
’
S
chair followed Christy’s over the edge, and the two chairs made a sickening clank as they collided in the water.

“Oh my God! Christy can’t swim!” Sophia shrieked.

Michael sprinted down the boardwalk and dived into the water.

Lake Oneida didn’t reach warmer temperatures until May or June and, though the ice had melted, its waters remained near freezing. Christy and Jerry would be hypothermic within minutes.

The water was murky and dark, and Michael couldn’t find any sign of Christy as the wheelchair sank slowly past him. The water jostled him as Jake, Stephen, and one of their security guards joined the search, and the four of them scrambled to find Christy and Jerry. Jerry’s cast showed neon-bright beneath the surface of the water, and Michael jerked Jake’s shirtsleeve and pointed to it. Jake shoved Stephen in Jerry’s direction and rejoined Michael in the search for Christy. They found no sign of him, and Michael began to panic.

He surfaced, took a deep breath and dived deeper, followed by the security guard, and swam with all his might into the depths of the dark water.
It shouldn’t be so damn deep along the shore
. Then again, he had no idea how far they’d built the boardwalk out over the water. For all he knew, it stretched over the deepest part of the lake. He swam deeper, the pressure on his lungs and in his ears making itself known. His panic rose, hysteria becoming a feral band around his chest. Then he saw them; the sparkling bracelets on Christy’s wrist and the long, blond mane swirling around a very still Christy.
No, no, no! Christy!
He swam straight for him, latched onto his still form, and swam as fast as he could, kicking his powerful legs to propel them upward. They popped to the surface with a splash, and Michael yelled, “Grab him!”

Jorge and John, the other security guard, bent over the edge of the dock and lifted Christy from the water as if he weighed no more than a Kewpie Doll.

“Christy!” Sophia shrieked as George held her back.

Michael hoisted himself from the water and began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation through Christy’s too-blue lips. “C’mon, Christy, come back to me. Dammit! C’mon! Somebody help me!” He took another deep breath and began again.

John began to apply compressions on Christy’s chest, and Lisa pushed through the crowd none too gently, a dark-complected man with stringy, black hair snarling at her. She ignored him as she bent and pushed the security guard away, taking over the compressions to Christy’s chest in time with Michael’s breaths. She was surprisingly gentle for as large and powerful as she was. Christy suddenly gasped, swallowing gulps of air like the drowning man he nearly was, and Michael turned him onto his side to vomit a pint of water. He rubbed Christy’s quavering back as he coughed up water and struggled to breathe. “Easy. Just try to breathe.”

Christy gasped and wheezed and gripped Michael’s hand.

“You’re all right. You’re all right. Just try to breathe.”

Christy’s breathing slowly settled into an uncomfortable, rapid, wheezing rhythm.

Michael looked at Lisa. “Did they get Jerry?”

They looked over simultaneously just as Stephen handed a woozy Jerry up to George.

Jake dragged a wheelchair to the dock, and Jorge lifted it from the water. The security guard dived, presumably for the other chair.

A concerned crowd had gathered around them, asking too many questions. “Lisa, will you get someone to jog down to the Clam to get our parents?”

“I’ll go, Mike. You okay here?”

“Yeah. Thanks for your help.” He squeezed her big shoulder affectionately.

She grinned her toothy grin. “You did real well, Mike. Fast thinking.”

Michael gave her a yeah-right smile before she took off, and he said a silent thanks to his lucky stars for his summer lifeguard training.

Jerry dropped to his hands and knees next to Christy and puked up water. “I’m sorry, Christy. I didn’t mean to crash us,” he choked out before rolling onto his back and coughing up a storm.

Christy rolled onto his back and gurgled, “I am okay.” He threaded weak arms around Michael’s neck and hugged him tightly. It was one of his almost too tight hugs, but Michael didn’t mind. “Sorry,” Christy managed against his neck.

“Don’t be. It was an accident. I shouldn’t have yelled and distracted you.”

“You are not angry—” Deep breath. “—with me?”

“No. It was my fault. I distracted you.”

“I will not—” Wheeze. “—have punishment?”

“No, Christy. We talked about that. You will never be punished again.”

“What’s he talking about?” Jerry asked through coughs and sputters.

Michael didn’t know what to say and looked to Jake for help. Jake leaned in and whispered into Jerry’s ear.

“Oh, sorry.” He reached a hand out to touch Christy and hesitated. “Can I touch him? He let me hold his hand in the hospital.”

“Give him a few minutes,” Michael answered softly.

Michael and Jake’s parents half strode and half jogged down the boardwalk, followed by a short, wiry man with wild white hair sticking out in every direction, followed, in turn, by a couple of mountainous goons.

Smitty. It had to be
.

They pushed through the crowd, and Mac and Bobbie knelt next to Christy and Jerry and checked them out. A few minutes later, another goon appeared with woolen blankets and handed them to Smitty, who, in turn, handed them to Bobbie and Mac.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Bobbie asked softly.

“Sorry. We crashed,” Jerry attempted to explain.

“It was a freak accident, Mom,” Michael said calmly.

“Put this blanket around Christy. Jerry, put this around you before you catch your death of cold.”

Stephen wrapped Jerry as Michael wrapped Christy, but Christy wasn’t inclined to release his hold on Michael’s neck. “You’re okay, babe. We need to get this blanket around you.”

Sophia knelt next to Michael and began to speak slowly, softly in Greek. Christy nodded against Michael’s neck in reply to her gentle words but still wouldn’t release his hold.

“Christy, honey? We need to get you warm,” Bobbie pleaded.

Christy ignored her kind words.

“What’s the matter, Christy?” she pressed.

Michael leaned in and whispered, “He’s afraid he’ll be punished for the accident.”

Bobbie’s eyes first filled with disbelief, then with infinite sadness. “You can’t be serious.”

Michael nodded.

“Hear, hear, young man. Let’s get you warm before you catch pneumonia and I have to rehospitalize you. Come now, we need to get you warm,” Mac said sternly as he firmly pulled Christy from Michael’s arms, and Bobbie wrapped him warmly.

“There we go,” Bobbie said as she cradled a bundled Christy in her lap.

Mac checked Christy’s eyes with a penlight. “Did you hit anything when you fell? Your head, your leg?”

Christy shook his head almost indiscernibly.

“You managed to keep your lovely barrettes and bracelets. Isn’t that fortunate?” Bobbie whispered.

Christy looked as if he intended to nod, but a shiver took him.

Nero lectured John and the now soaking wet second security guard.

“It was an accident, Papa!” Jake called out to him.

Nero looked at Jake, then at Mac. “He is okay?”

“He’s all right. We simply need to get him warm. Jerry, the same with you, and it goes without saying that your cast is ruined.”

“O-o-okay. W-w-what do you w-w-want m-m-me to d-d-do?” Jerry shivered.

“I have extra sweats in the car, Dad,” Michael said quickly.

“So do I, Dr. S,” Jake added.

“Enough for all five of you?”

“Yeah,” Michael answered.

“Run and get them, will you?”

“I’ll get them, bro. Stay with Christy,” Jake said.