Silver
2
Half the town loved a carnival. The other half didn’t give a rat’s ass.
Billy Lumpkin swiveled on his stool in order to get a better look at the television. Luckily, Barney had the thing turned up loud enough for him to be able to hear the game. Not only was Billy’s hearing shaky from logging half his life, but the place was damn near full.
“What team?” Someone asked him.
Billy craned his head to side to see who would ask such a stupid question.
Standing beside Billy was an oily faced boy with yellow shocks of hair flaming around his skull.
“Do I know you?” Billy picked his bottle of Budweiser off the counter and eased it to his chapped lips.
“No,” said the young man. “I don’t believe you do. I’m not from around here.”
There was a chorus of cheer throughout Barney’s and Billy was certain that the Niners had score again. “This ain’t a game,” he grunted. “This is a fuckin’ slaughter.”
“San Francisco than,” said the young man.
“Why you so interested?”
The boy shrugged before taking Billy in with his large, somber eyes.
Billy turned back to the television. He strained his hearing so he could hear the announcer, but it was harder than before. The place just kept filling up; and now the strange kid standing behind him, staring into him… Billy didn’t need to look back to know that the kid was still there.
Barney came over to Billy and asked him if their was anything he could get him.
“You could turn the game up for one thing.”
“That’s as loud as she goes.”
“For fucks sake. I might as well go home.”
“Nothing I can do,” explained the bartender. “Carnivals in town. Means a lot of folks out and about.”
“Carnival.” Billy hissed.
And before Billy knew it the kid behind him had these smooth, lean fingers snaking over his right shoulder.
“What the…?!”
And Billy’s hearing returned just like that. Twenty years of logging and—just like that… Billy could hear the announcer like he was inside of his head.
“Sorry to bother you,” the kid said, his voice booming.
Billy turned to face the kid for the last time. The eyes…
And than he was letting go of Billy’s shoulder and disappearing, through the crowd and toward the door.
