Page 22 of Titus

“Nothing but net! So who’s got next? This is the King’s Court. Who’s brave enough to try?” the ref calls out on the mic. I step up and hold my hand out for the ball. “It’s five dollars a shot or five balls for twenty.”

I pull out cash and hand him a twenty. The small boy standing on the left side of the goals tosses me my first ball. Quinn stands to my right side, cheering me on as I aim for the money shot first. I’m not wasting my balls on other goals. I go hard in all things. Unfortunately, I miss.

“Ouch! That was ugly,” the ref taunts.

“It’s okay. We got four more,” Quinn counters. “Ignore him.” Lil man tosses the next ball and I miss that shit again. On the third try, the ball hits the rim but doesn’t go in. “Try the two outside ones next. If you win twice, I can trade up to the panther.”

“If I don’t make this shot. I think I figured this shit out. These balls are lighter than the regular ones, so I need to use less forcewhen I throw. That’s all.” My theory fails because I miss the last two shots too. “Shit!’ I huff.

“Pop out this time,” the ref says but I ignore him.

Because I hate to lose at anything, I stay here and pay for five more balls. I fuck around and miss all five of them joints too. Now I’m starting to get pissed but I’m not stopping. I peel off another twenty, give it to this aggravating ref, then get five more balls.

“Let me try one,” Quinn practically begs.

Reluctantly, after catching the ball from lil man, I give it to her. “It’s real light so don’t throw it too hard. Aim high and avoid that backboard, that’s a set up,” I coach.

Although she’s modding like she’s listening, as soon as she throws the ball, I know she wasn’t paying my ass any attention. She palms it with both hands and her arms are raised above her head. She swings her arms a few times then releases it. That shit lands right in the hole, nothing but fucking net.

“Whoa! We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen. Looks like it takes a lady’s touch. Congratulations!” the ref yells as the crowd and Quinn yells. She’s jumping up and down too. All I can do is shake my damn head and laugh.

She did that shit! Put my ass to shame.

She rushes over to the ref and gladly accepts that big ass panther. The smile on her pretty face won’t let me be mad at all. At least she has her damn stuffed animal.

“You did that,” I admit.

“I know! I can’t believe it. Look at my panther. He’s so cute. I’m going to name him Titus,” she says.

“Please don’t. Now what are we going to do? We can’t ride shit with that. It’s too big.”

“We can make it work. Come on. I really just want to ride the Skyliner anyway.”

We leave The King’s Court and walk back toward the center of the fairgrounds. More of the food stands are there and I’m getting hungry. Since the damn panther is about half her size, I grab it and carry it for her. She hooks her arm around mine and we continue to the main part.

We stop at Monster Burger and I get the double burger with bacon. She gets a mound of cheddar spuds and we grab drinks. I get a Heineken from Big Ass Beers and she gets one of the slushies she likes. Then we get in line for the Skyliner. It runs on top of the entire fairgrounds from one end to the other. You can pay for a one-way ride or round trip. Since we are eating, I pay for the round-trip.

Skyliners have really upgraded. When I was a kid, they were just big ass seats with your legs hanging out. This one is so different. Each cable car is actually enclosed at the bottom and can seat up to four people.

When we step on, I place her panther on the bench then she sits next to it. I sit on the other side. As it inclines up, we finish our food. I look over at her and notice she’s shivering. She has on tight jeans and boots but her shirt doesn’t have any sleeves.

“You cold?” I ask.

“A little. It’s much cooler up here than I thought it would be.”

“Come here. I got you.”

“Can we unbalance this ride?”

“Quinn, it’s already unbalanced. It’s fine. Look up. There are over six cables holding us up.” After looking up and studying the cables, she stands and holds the rails as she steps toward me cautiously. “I know you’re not scared. You picked this.”

“Not scared, just careful.” When she reaches me, I unsnap my Amiri overshirt and drape it over her shoulders and back. “Are you going to be okay with just that tee?” she asks and I nod. Quickly, she sticks her arms into the sleeves and closes the top few snaps. “Oh, thank you.”

“So… no lap?” I ask.

“Every time I’m on your lap, we end up doing something freaky.”

“I don’t have any problems with that.”

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