Young and Beautiful

Jack was able to come with us.

Contrary to what Katrina wanted, he sat in the back seat with her when we picked them up from Katrina’s house and I was in the front with Mom. Katrina talked the whole way through, dropping hints to Mom about why Jack suddenly started hanging out with us. Mom kept a stern face, her curved eyebrows never moving. She mmhmed at the right spots and sometimes ohed. When Jack began to tell his life story, she seemed shocked by his age. This I knew because her eyes widened and her eyebrows bobbed up. She opened her mouth to say something about his band, but then she caught the look I gave her through the side mirror. Judging by the glare she gave me, I knew she was going to say something to Jack later.

The orange rollercoaster known as the Raging Bull came into view, signaling we were close. Mom took a turn off the express way. When we entered the parking lot of Six Flags Great America, I felt an empty feeling in my stomach. I stared at the highest hill of the Raging Bull. Katrina always threatened to drag me on that ride along with other rollercoasters whenever we came here. She’s never achieved the goal yet, but it still made me nervous.

As we all got out of the car, Katrina said, “You’re gonna get your ass on the Raging Bull, Layla” as predicted and then skipped ahead to catch up with Mom.

Jack stayed beside me, hands in his pockets. “She’s forcing you?”

I shook my head and waved his comment off.

After entering the park and being greeted with “Welcome to Six Flags Great America” one thousand times, Katrina guided us to the first ride which was the Whizzer. She rode with Jack while Mom stayed back with. She wanted to go on, but she knew I wouldn’t and she didn’t want to be alone. Next was the Viper, a wooden coaster. Jack, Katrina, and Mom sat in their cars, begging me to get on. I waved to them with a sarcastic smile as they took off.

Before I knew it, we were climbing up the stairs to get in line for the Raging Bull. I looked up at the first hill, jumping when the train zoomed by on the track behind me. I watched the second train plummet down the hill that seemed to be lost in the clouds. The passengers’ screams sent shivers up and down my spine. My breathing became haggard but I kept it quiet so the others wouldn’t hear.

The line was slow but as soon as we passed a glass box full of broken cell phones with a sign that said, “We aren’t responsible for what you keep in your pockets”, we never stopped moving and reached the top within ten minutes. This was where the long line separated into multiple mini ones. People were constantly getting on a train and after that left, another one quickly dropped off passengers and let new ones on.

“Let me get in front of you guys so I can walk through the car and get to the other side,” I said.

I tried to shove my way through but Katrina pushed me back. “No,” she said defiantly. “You’re getting on this ride whether you like it or not. I’m not letting you get away with it this year.” She pushed me in between Mom and Jack before I could protest.

To my utter disbelief, Katrina guided us to the line that was for the first row. I couldn’t stop myself from gasping and stopping in my tracks. Jack nudged me a little, telling me to keep the line going. I ran after Mom.

A train had stopped and was letting people off and on. After the four people in front of us were secured in their seats, I was standing between the two metal bars that separated lines. I watched the people who programmed the ride walking around, checking if safety belts and harnesses were how they needed to be. There were four in each row, so that meant my group could be in one row. It helped the jittery feeling in my stomach calm down but only ever so slightly.

“Take five,” the lead programmer said.

By now the second train had come. It sat behind first one, waiting for it to leave. People were laughing and had messy hair. As the first train began to leave, I felt my knees weaken. They shook, the jittery feeling in my stomach worsened, and tears formed in my eyes. I began to scratch my neck.

“You okay?” I heard a deep voice say. The second train parked in front of us and the passengers pushed their harnesses away. “You’re practically hyperventilating.”

I gulped, hoping it would calm my nerves. It didn’t, sadly.

The barrier opened and Katrina and Mom walked into our car. Jack had to nudge me to get me moving. When I got to my seat, Mom had to help me sit down because I was shaking so much. I fumbled with the seatbelt before Jack took it from me.

“You know, Layla. If you survive this, you’ll be able to survive everything else here,” Katrina said, laughter in her voice.

“You know, Layla. If you survive this, you’ll be able to survive everything else here,” Katrina said, laughter in her voice.

I heard my seatbelt click and the harness groaned as Jack pulled it towards me. Katrina’s comment didn’t help me one bit.

I wrapped my hands around the harness. My grip was so tight that my knuckles were as transparent as Katrina’s natural skin. My breathing still heavy, I looked ahead of me at the orange track. It only went straight for a few feet before turn left to climb the hill.

“Just close your eyes at the top and scream it out as we go down,” Jack said.

“You’ve been on this ride before?”

“Not this exact ride, but a similar one.”

I sucked in a deep breath and waited ten seconds before letting it out.

“Take five!”

I whimpered and my grip on the yellow harness became tighter than before. Five seconds later, the train was moving and the programmer was wishing us luck.

As we climbed up the hill, I felt as if we were laying on our backs. I made a frantic comment about it and everyone in the car laughed. The people behind us laughed as well.

“Don’t be a pussy,” Katrina said, despite being surrounded by adults. “It’s just your imagination.”

The higher we climbed, the more I began to shake. Tears were streaming down as I looked around. We weren’t even all the way at the top and I could already see the other side of the park. I freed a hand from its death grip around the harness and scratched my neck.

I must’ve made some kind of pathetic noise because Jack asked, “Why are you so afraid of rollercoasters?”

“I’m not afraid!” I nearly screamed.

Jack raised an eyebrow and then chuckled. “You skipped the Whizzer, which was described as the rollercoaster you bring your kid onto for their first ride, and the Viper. Now look at you on this one. Plus, Katrina wouldn’t stop saying she was going to force you to get on.”

“What if we fall off the track?” I asked. My voice was almost inaudible.

“Sweet Jesus, Layla. This isn’t Final Destination. Calm your tits,” Katrina said.

I was going to respond but Jack interrupted.

Close your eyes, Layla.”

He didn’t need to tell me twice. I shut them so tightly it hurt. The train lingered for a second but then dropped. It was a microscopic drop but I screamed at the top of my lungs anyway. Everyone around me laughed.

“Wow, Lay-” Katrina started.

Suddenly, we were falling. The wheels against the tracks were groaning underneath me. I did what Jack told me to do and screamed. My screams blended with his, Mom’s, Katrina’s, and everyone else’s on this ride. We weren’t even done falling when my breath completely left me. After that, I kept my eyes shut and hands on the harness.

The long, agonizing drop was done. My stomach was gone and for whatever reason I opened my eyes. We were racing through a tunnel and the ride was so fast that I saw the end in no time. The end led to another hill that was nowhere near as steep as the first one. Both Mom and Jack forced me to raise my arms as we dropped. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel the drop in my stomach. I kept my arms up along with everyone else’s. We were going so fast that I really had no choice. At the next drop, I caught myself laughing.

We reached a climb that led to a straight path. People were waving and smiling. I sat there dumbfounded.

“There’sacamerasmile,” Mom said quickly.

I did what she said. Something flashed a blinding light as we went straight down.

After curving around tracks that were practically turned onto the ground, we reached the exit. Everyone was cheering, including myself. An automatic message told us not to take our seatbelts off until the train came to a complete stop and then the programmer of the ride asked us if he had fun. I pushed the harness away when we stopped and then followed Mom and Katrina to the exit.

We weren’t even halfway down the stairs when Katrina turned to me and said, “See? That wasn’t so bad!”

“Are you still afraid of rollercoasters?” Jack asked.

I shrugged. “I feel like I don’t know what to fear anymore, to be honest.”

We saw our picture at the computer monitors up ahead. Mom and I were smiling while Jack and Katrina had their mouths wide open. All of us laughed and then moved on to other rides.

This trip to Six Flags was no longer a calm one after that. From then on, Jack forced me to sit in the front of every ride with him. Some rides I felt safe while others made me think I was going to fall out. Jack and I raised our arms and screamed throughout every ride, not caring if we were annoying the people around us. By the time we got to the middle of the park, Mom and Katrina separated from us. I followed Jack to something called the Dare Devil Dive right after we got off the American Eagle.

“I’ll pay,” Jack said.

I shaded my eyes as I looked up. My knees immediately felt weak.

“This is practically skydiving!” I exclaimed. “You can’t make me do this.”

“I will because I already paid,” Jack said.

I groaned at the lack of line. Jack handed me my blue vest and helped me get it on. Before following him out, I put my phone on the table the crew had set up. I checked the time (5:45 PM) and then walked outside.

One of the programmers hooked us up to some kind of cord that I was scared to find out the name of. Immediately, we were taken into way might as well have been the sky.

“Jack, I’m shaking already. Why did you bring me on this thing?” I asked.

Jack forced a shrug through the tight vest. “To talk, I guess.”

A few of all of Six Flags was beginning to form. I saw the X-Flight’s shiny red tracks and caught Raging Bull behind some clouds.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Jack asked.

I nodded. “You freed me from my fear of rollercoasters. You make me feel very adventurous Nickels. Jack Nickels.”

Jack chuckled. “I’m glad.”

By now we reached the top. The programmer did a countdown and then down we went. Just like on the Raging Bull, my breath and stomach were left behind. I shut my eyes and let Jack do all the screaming for me. Within seconds, I felt some sort of swoosh, meaning we flew passed the lowest point and were now flying upwards to the other side. At the top, our bodies turned and down we went again only to fly back to where we started. This continued and after the second time, my breath came back, I screamed with Jack and even began to laugh.

When we were done swinging, my hair tie was falling out of my hair and Jack’s hair became undone from its normal gelled-back style. He kept running a hand through it to make sure it stayed back. The programmer helped us out of our vests and then we left, retrieving my phone along the way.

“C’mon,” Jack said. “I’ll buy us a Slurpee to share. Is blue raspberry okay?”

“That’s my favorite,” I said, and then we walked side by side to the nearest concussion stand.

At nine o’clock we reached the carousel in the front of the park which was the meeting spot. I carried a St. Bernard stuffed animal that was larger than me. Jack had won it for me at a shooting game (and I had no idea how we were going to fit it in the car). Jack held our one and half foot tall neon green Slurpee bottle. It was empty since we didn’t want to spend another eight dollars on a refill.

“Your mom and Katrina aren’t here yet,” Jack said, heading over to the pond that was a few feet away from the carousel.

“I know,” I said, looking up. Did you know this thing had a second floor? “They’re probably fitting one more ride in. I heard some of them move faster at night.”

I looked over at Jack. He had the bottle in the pond.

“Jack!” I exclaimed. “What are you doing? People aren’t allowed to put their hands in there!”

I was ignored. Jack pulled the bottle out of the water and waited a few seconds for the excess water to finish dripping.

“Ew. Don’t drink that. Who knows how many people have broken the rule,” I said.

“Who said I was going to drink it?” And with that, Jack ran up to me and splashed the water over my head.

I screamed. Within seconds, my hair, face, and upper torso were soaked. Usually I would’ve been angry but for whatever reason, Jack made me bend over with laughter. People stared at us as very prominent has left our mouths. Jack ran over to the pond to get some more water. Somehow, he tripped and suddenly in the pond. This had everyone around us laughing. A man helped Jack out.

“Your mom’s gonna kill me,” Jack said, walking over in drenched clothes.

“You’re lucky I’m nice.”

Jack and I jumped. Mom and Katrina had appeared at our sides. Katrina was trying to stifle her laughter. Judging by the look on Mom’s face, she was not amused.

With a hard sigh, she said, “There are some towels in the car. Sit on those on the way home.”

And so he did, with my St. Bernard between him and Katrina.

Jack gave Mom his address. She drove to the northwest side of Chicago to drop Jack off in a small, shabby house. It was the smallest on the block. The black and white paint was feeling off the wood and the white plaster was cracked in several places. Sidewalk led to the black door instead of stairs, signaling the lack of a basement.

Jack thanked Mom as he got out of the car. While he walked up the path to his front door, Mom called after him.

“You have a band, correct?” Mom asked.

Jack nodded.

“Do you need some help with funding?”

Jack’s eyes widened. I looked back at Katrina who had the same expression as Jack on her face. She shrugged when we made eye contact.

“A friend of mine owns an acre of land in Rockford,” Mom said. “It’s a city north from Chicago. I’ll ask him and see if he can put some kind of stage there. I have another friend looking to be agent for a band. I can set him up with yours and you guys can plan a day to perform.”

“Are… Are you serious?” Jack asked.

Mom nodded.

Katrina cleared her throat. When I looked back she mouth, Is she really? My response was a shrug.

“We can have people donate money to see the gig. Maybe have fundraisers,” Mom said.

Mom was very serious.

Jack’s eyes gleamed and a smile spread across his face. “That sounds great!”

“Layla and I are heading downtown at the end of the month. Come with and we can talk about it some more,” Mom said.

“Will do!” He thanked Mom and went in the house.

I sighed and sunk in my seat. Today’s test-day with Jack was fun but I didn’t think I would have to give props to Mom for unknowingly making me have to give him more.

As Mom drove away, I asked, “Are you sure you can get your friends to do this?”

Mom shrugged. “That’s why I’ll need to talk with them. I think it’s a great opportunity.”

“It seems like a big task. Plus, you already have a lot going on with your other businesses.”

“Eh. This technically won’t be my project,” Mom said. “Besides, it’s not business. It’s more of a favor to help my friends get some money and also for your friend to get a start.”

As we drove in silence, I realized something. Katrina was still in the car. How did I not notice her house wasn’t anyway near Jack’s?

“Katrina.” I turned around to face her. “I thought you said Jack was your neighbor?”

“I lied. I met him at one of his shows,” Katrina said nonchalantly.

I glared at her. “Why did you lie?”

“I dunno. It sounded more believable.”

Mom laughed while I groaned. I eventually joined in because Katrina couldn’t stop laughing and she snorted.