Galdoni (19 page)

I didn't have a reply.

“
The way I see it,” Iggy
spoke as though nothing had happened. “The best way to catch the
biggest audience is to show this during the Blood
Match.”

The others nodded and though it was still a
few weeks away, I had to agree. All the statistics showed that
viewers nearly tripled during the biggest fight of the season where
the best fighters from earlier months fought to the death. It was
what we as Galdoni prepared for our whole lives, and what I had
found out many viewers saved a year’s wages to gamble on.

“
Can it be ready by then?”
I asked, trying to push the images I had found on the internet of
the last couple of Death Matches from my mind.

“
Definitely,” Iggy replied.
“Add more slides, some heart-wrenching music, and a gripping note
at the end, and I think even Vegas would have to agree that this is
wrong.”

***

“
I don’t know if this is
such a good idea,” I said, watching a group of kids run by at
breakneck speed with a small football.

“
Sure it is,” Jayce replied
with a grin. “The Doc said you needed to experience student life,
and what’s more student life than a football game?” He handed a
couple of dollars and our student cards to the bored young man at
the ticket booth who handed back the cards and four
tickets.

“
Besides,” Nikko said from
my other side. “Zach invited you and it would be rude not to show
up.”

“
I just feel like we’re
pushing it.” We were jostled through the gates and I stared up
uneasily at the crowd filling the stands on either side of the
aisle.

Brie took my arm reassuringly and we walked
together up the shallow steps to the top. “It’ll be fine. You might
even have fun,” she said with a teasing smile.

I settled beside her on the hard metal bench
and watched the red and yellow team run through stretches and
cardio exercises. Across the fence on the practice field, the other
team in black and green tossed a football and performed several
drills.

“
And you get to watch the
cheerleaders,” Jayce said, nudging me with his elbow. “Especially
Kara and Katelyn.” He gestured to two blondes at the end of the
cheerleading row shouting warm up cheers to the crowd. Several boys
on the front bench yelled the cheers back at the top of their
lungs.

“
Looks like you have
competition,” I said.

“
No one is competition,”
Jayce replied, leaning back on the bench with a dramatic
sigh.

Brie just rolled her eyes. “Boys.”

I glanced down the aisle and saw Dane making
his way through the crowd with his two minions close behind. He was
a few seats away when he looked up and met my gaze. His eyes
widened and he stumbled back into his companions. They looked from
him to me and they both tensed; all three then turned and
disappeared into the crowd. I focused on the field, but kept a look
out in case they returned.

A whistle blew and the game began. It took
me a while to forget about Dane and keep my attention on the game,
but the defensive and offensive tactics appealed to my battle
sense. It was interesting to see the way Zach avoided the rushers
and threw the football without getting hit. His defensive line was
shorter than the other team, but they made up for it with
aggression.

“
You’d make a good football
player,” Nikko observed, his feet propped on the bench in front of
us.

I laughed. “I don’t know if the pads would
fit.”

Jayce leaned forward. “Imagine what kind of
a game it would be if they could fly!”

A lady in front of us with long black hair
piled on her head and strict black glasses glanced back
disapprovingly. Jayce sat up and turned his attention back to the
game.

I had learned about football from several
professors at the Academy who were obvious enthusiasts, but it was
different actually watching the game in person, feeling the rush
when a running back carried the ball past the defenders, hearing
the roar of the crowd when a team scored a touchdown. I thoroughly
enjoyed the ballpark hot dogs Nikko bought, and Brie shared her
purple cotton candy with everyone. I even got caught up yelling
some of the cheers back at the cheerleaders with Jayce.

I began to see similarities between football
and the Arena battles. Each side had supporters and people who
wanted to see the other team fail; I even saw money exchange hands
on more than one occasion. Each side fought for honor, and gave
their all no matter how hard the going got.

Then Zach went down after a hard hit and it
took him several minutes to rise. I stood up along with the rest of
the audience and waited while his medical team attended to him. I
wondered if the crowd for the other team hoped he would stay down,
but when Zach rose back to his feet and waved at the audience to
let them know he was alright, a roar of relief went up from both
sides of the small school stadium.

I looked at the people around me, wondering
how they could be so relieved that Zach wasn’t injured, but could
watch a television show where the entire goal was for one of the
contestants to die. It was hard to push the thought aside and enjoy
the rest of the game.

Our team won by a close margin that had
everyone standing on their feet and yelling by the time the game
was over. The Warriors ran off the field triumphant, shaking hands
with the Cobras in a show of sportsmanship I found amazing
considering the fact that they had lost. I wondered briefly how it
would be if the Arena battles ended without bloodshed and the
winner shook hands with the loser, each leaving the dome with their
lives and dignity still intact.

Brie saw some of her friends across the
field and left to talk with them for a minute. Jayce and Nikko made
their way to the cheerleaders; I leaned against the fence by the
field and watched their fumbling attempts to strike up a
conversation.

“
What’d you think?” Zach
asked.

I turned to find him in sweatpants and a
Warriors tee-shirt. “It was amazing,” I said honestly. “You were
great.”

“
I have a good team,” Zach
replied. He tossed me the football he was carrying. “Here, let’s
play.”

I shook my head and tried to give it back.
“I’d better not. You’re probably worn out from the game and I don’t
want to draw any attention.”

“
Hey,” he said with a grin.
“If I was worn out, I wouldn't have given you a football. Give it a
try.”

He held open his hands and I threw it
underhand into them.

“
Come on, now,” he said
with a challenging grin. “Give me your best.” He stepped back a few
yards and threw me a tight spiral.

I caught it against my chest and he jogged
back over to me. “Catch it like this,” he said, holding his hands
out with his fingers close together but not touching to create a
buffer for the ball. He tossed it up in the air and caught it on
the way back down to demonstrate, then he backed up and threw it
again.

I caught it the way he had shown me, then
chucked it awkwardly back at him.

He shook his head and returned to my side.
“Hold it with your fingers between the laces toward the end of the
ball, like this.” He showed me his grip, then put my hand on the
ball the same way. “The laces keep your grip firm and if you flick
your wrist as you let go, it’ll give it the tight spin.”

He backed up again and I threw it softly. It
spun in a slow spiral and he grinned when he caught it. “Perfect,
now put some zip into it!” He jogged further down the field, then
threw it at his full speed; it stung my hands when I caught it.

I threw it back faster this time and the
ball barely wobbled in its spiral. He threw it back and yelled, “I
know you’re stronger than that. Show me something!”

I took a breath and stepped into the throw,
putting my full strength behind it. The ball zipped toward Zach
like a dart to a dartboard, and his eyes widened as he reached out
to catch it. The ball hit his hands, and the force of it drove it
back to his chest. His breath left him in an audible whoosh and he
staggered back a few steps. He stared at the ball for a second
before jogging slowly back to me. I glanced over and saw several
younger kids watching me with wide eyes and open mouths. I walked
to meet Zach.

He handed me the ball, then rubbed his hands
together. “Geesh, man. That was a rocket!” He looked me up and
down. “I need to get you on the team. Of course, Coach would
probably replace me with you, but dang!”

I shook my head with a grin. “I don’t think
the uniform would fit. Besides, we’ve gotta give the other team at
least a chance.”

Zach laughed so hard he had to double over
with his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

***

The next morning someone had written a word
I didn’t recognize in black marker on the front of my locker. I
grabbed my Biology book out, then shut it to show Jayce who was
standing nearby. “What does this mean?”

His eyebrows lifted slightly, but he
shrugged. “It’s just another way to say hello.”

I looked at it again skeptically. “Are you
sure?”

“
Sure I’m sure. Someone’s
just being friendly.” He glanced back at the locker again, then
threw his arm over my shoulder and steered me to class. “Brie’s
waiting. We don’t want to make her upset by being late.”

I entered the classroom and nodded at Dr.
Ray as we passed his desk on the way to our seats. “Hello, Dr.
Ray,” I said, but I used the word from my locker in the place of
hello in an effort to expand my vocabulary.

Dr. Ray stared at me, his eyebrows lifted.
He then tapped a pencil eraser on his desk and glanced at Jayce.
“Is this your work?”

Jayce shrugged, his cheeks red, and hurried
to his seat.

A smile touched the corners of Dr. Ray’s
lips. “Kale, there are some words we don’t use at this school. That
happened to be one of them.” He threw a look at Jayce. “Next time,
if Jayce tells you to say something, don’t.”

I nodded, fighting back a smile as well, and
went to my desk. On my way past Jayce, I smacked him on the back of
the head. “Hey!” he said.

“
You mean
hello
?” I asked, leaning
down to say the word quiet enough that Dr. Ray wouldn’t
overhear.

Jayce’s mouth fell open and he stared at me,
then he started to laugh. He rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I
mean hello.”

“
Jayce!” Dr. Ray growled
from across the room.

“
Sorry,” Jayce said,
ducking his head to hide a laugh.

I chuckled and took my seat.

***

I fell back from the others when we walked
to school the next morning. Red and gold leaves drifted slowly from
the trees and twirled in a breeze that smelled of rich earth and
the promise of cold. The air carried a crisp bite to it that I had
never felt before, and I held each breath in my lungs as long as I
could.

The early morning sky was pale blue with a
blush of pink between the trees as the last of the sunrise faded.
It was such a contrast from cold cement walls, metal bars, and
stone-faced guards that I wanted to stop and watch the progress of
night into day in order to catch each nuance of a world I had never
known. It felt like every second the day changed to something new
and completely different from the moment before.

A bird sang above us; I was searching for
him between the thinning leaves when a shoulder jostled me back to
the present. “What I’d tell you! Three numbers. Read them.
Three!”

I stared at Jayce. “What are you talking
about?”

“
Did you call them?” Nikko
challenged. “Probably some mental institution or a school for the
emotionally dwarfed.”

Jayce glowered at him. “For your
information, all three told me they would answer anytime I
called.”

“
Who are you talking
about?” I asked.

“
Cheerleaders!” Jayce said
triumphantly. “I got three of the cheerleaders’ phone
numbers!”

I threw Brie a questioning glance and she
just shrugged in exasperation. “Men.”

“
Not all men stoop to the-”
Nikko was interrupted by several students running by.

“
Angela, what’s going on?”
Jayce shouted.

One of the girls turned, her face pale.
“John’s on the roof of the old city building. He’s going to jump!”
She hurried to catch up to her friends.

We exchanged glances, then ran after
them.

A big crowd had formed around the old
building a block from the high school. The structure towered above
anything surrounding it, but the architecture was old and clusters
of bricks were missing from the walls. The building had been locked
up after the new city building was built three years ago; it was
scheduled to be demolished, but the demolition date kept getting
put off. The locks were often picked and one of my duties on my
nightly rounds was to make sure no one was in the building.

The people that surrounded the usually
ignored structure stared up at a form on the roof. He waved and
shouted for them to move away, but several of the onlookers bravely
stood where he would hit if he jumped.

I found Mr. Mason, the head of security and
my boss, near the front. “Who’s taking care of this?”

“
The cops handle jumper
situations. We aren’t allowed to get involved. I called them
already but they sure are taking their sweet time.” His brow
creased worriedly and he looked back up at the roof, shading his
eyes against the morning sun.