A BOBBY STORY: A FIST FULL OF QUARTERS

BY BLACKWIND

It was a warm July afternoon when I excitedly got out of my sister Merry's car and waved good-bye to Mommy, as she called out to me to have fun. I just waved and kept running across the parking lot. Stuffed in the pockets of my short denim cutoffs were all the quarters I'd managed to save up from my allowances for the past three months, since my birthday and I was eager to use them.

It was a really nice day, the sun was shining, and I was dressed, like always, for it. I had on a white short sleeve polo shirt, my denim cutoff short shorts, and white running shoes. I was tanned all over. I was only four feet tall so I was kind of small and my hair was dark brown and had gotten kind of long, it was down past my collar, all thick and wavy.

Lehman Family Fun Park used to be just a little city-owned picnic area with a playground and lots of grass until it got bought out a long time ago, and things like rides, an arcade and a snack stand were put in. It wasn't very big but for me it was perfect. I spent a lot of time at Lehman Park every summer, usually while my mother and sister's shopped. So I was there alone a lot.

Nobody worried about their kids there because it was a family place and nothing bad ever happened.

I rode the rides sometimes but mostly I liked the arcade. It was in a big old dark building with big open windows and the bumper cars were inside too, the games were on all sides of the bumper car pen. A lot of the games were pretty old, but they were getting some new ones like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroid", so I was thrilled!

I went right to the arcade and the "Asteroids" machine. Unfortunately I really wasn't very good at games and in no time at all my carefully saved stash of quarters was gone. I was searching my pockets when a tall man wearing a beret walked up to me. "Out of quarters?"

I looked up slowly. I was always shy and fearful around men, even nice ones. I couldn't tell if he was nice or not; he was kind of older but not too old and a lot taller than me. "Yeah", I answered, my voice barely a whisper. It's always like that around men.

"Hey, that's okay. I've got tons of quarters back in my office. Never use them. You can have them. Just come with me." He put his hand on my back, between my shoulders, and gently pushed me toward the back of the arcade, toward where the bathroom was, and another door next to it. I went, partly because I wanted the quarters but mostly because I always complied (or mostly always) with what men told me to do.

He pushed the door open and I went in, and saw three other men standing there. I knew instantly I was in trouble. The man came in behind me and shut the door. As soon as the door closed, the man grabbed me and clamped a hand over my mouth. I grabbed at his hand and tried to pull it away, frightened.

"Put your hands down and keep quiet", the man warned me. I put my hands down and he took his hand off my mouth. "That's good. Just keep your mouth shut unless I ask you something." He pulled my hands behind my back and tied my wrists together with rope. The other men watched. I didn't look at them, I was so scared!

"How old are you?", the man asked.

"Ten."

"What's your name?"

"Bobby."

"I like that name. You're very pretty, Bobby. Open your mouth." I did and he pulled a blue bandana in and tied it off behind my head. Then he sat me down on a box by one wall and tied my ankles together.

"We like pretty boys", he told me, "boys with sexy legs like yours. Boys with cute faces who know how to wear sexy shorts." He ran his hands over my legs. "Just like you." He stood up, took another blue bandana, and blindfolded me.

"Now you just stay there until we come back", the man told him, running his hand over my thigh. "Then we're all going for a nice, long ride."

After I heard them leave I started struggling, but I couldn't even get loose, and I gave up, but I didn't cry. I didn't want to be taken away! I wanted to go home and play with my toys and be with my mommy and sister. I didn't want to get taken away and never seen again, and that's what was going to happen!

All I could do was sit there and a long time passed, and then the men came back. I whimpered as they came in, I could hear their footsteps. "So many cute boys today, so many nice legs", one said. "Just like Bobby here."

"Yeah", said another one. "I really like Bobby. But you know what? I don't think Bobby wants us to take him away."

I didn't! I wanted to say but was gagged so I couldn't.

"Hey, you think maybe if we let him go, he'll help us?", asked another one.

"I don't know, let's ask him."

Suddenly the gag was pulled out of my mouth. "Hey Bobby, bet you want us to let you go, right?"

"Yes", I said hopefully.

"If we do, will you tell on us?"

"No", I promised, and meant it.

"Will you help us?"

"Uh..."

"Don't answer just yet." My blindfold was taken off next and I was looking at the man in the beret. "Okay, kid, here's the deal. I let you go and give you this whole roll of quarters, and you don't tell anybody what happened here. You like that idea?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's good. You're a smart kid." He reached behind my head and undid the knot on my gag. "Smart kids go far."

The man stepped behind me to undo the ropes on my wrists. "You like video games? Spend a lot of quarters?"

"Yeah."

The man untied my wrists and moved around and untied my ankles. Then he stood up, reached into his pocket, and pulled out four more rolls of quarters. "Then how would you like these?"

Despite everything else, my eyes lit up when I saw those. "Oh, yeah!" I reached for them, but the man snatched them away.

"Not so fast. You gotta earn them." He took me by the shoulder and led me over to the door, opening it a little. "You see that little boy over there?'

I looked. I saw the boy; he was about my height, slender, pretty; he had round cheeks with lots of freckles, wavy red hair about as long as mine, green eyes. He had on a white short sleeve polo shirt, short shorts that were the same green as his eyes, and white sneakers. He was trying one of those crane games, where you scoop up the stuffed animals.

"Go over there, find out his name and how old he is, then bring him over here. Do that and you get these."

I thought about it for a second-and went. When I got there the boy was searching the pockets of his shorts and frowning. "Hi", I said, my voice still soft and shy. "What's your name?"

"Randy", he said, smiling at me. "Do you have a quarter?"

I looked at my hand wrapped around the quarter roll, then selfishly hid it behind me. "No, but I know who does. How old are you?"

"Seven", he told me. "Can we get quarters?"

"Okay", I told him, and took his hand and led him over to the closet. The men pushed the door open and we went in. Randy looked up at them, smiling, and then one of them grabbed him, clamping a hand over his mouth, then grabbing Randy's wrists and pinning them together. He looked at me like he wanted me to help, but I didn't do anything, and the men took him into the other room in the back.

"A-Are you going to hurt him?", I asked, feeling bad about what I'd done.

"Nah. Just going to tie him up, like we did to you. Don't worry. And here's your quarters." He handed me the other four rolls. "You want to make more?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Well, if you do, come back again", he told me, all but pushing me out the door.

Whatever guilt or sadness I felt faded pretty quickly as I started pumping quarters into the sit down "Star Trek" machine. Between that and "Space Invaders" I used up three rolls of quarters. I soon found myself over at the crane game, trying to grab a stuffed Scooby Doo from the pile. That ate up the rest of the quarters.

I looked down at my empty hands and thought about the man; he said I could make more. I thought about Randy and knew if I wanted to make more I would probably have to help the men again. I didn't want to but I didn't want to be bored, either.

The man opened the door before I could knock. "Back so soon?"

I nodded slowly.

"Thought you would be. Okay, same as before." He led me out and pointed to the boy he wanted me to bring this time. There was a little boy standing, crying, over by the snack stand. He was smaller than me, with thick, wavy brown hair, lots of freckles, and big brown eyes. He had a really cute face with a little nose and round cheeks. He had nice legs too and was wearing short denim shortalls with a white polo shirt and white tennis sneakers.

The man showed me a fist full of quarter rolls. "Okay, Bobby, do your stuff and this is yours."

I went over to the little boy and said hi. He looked up and me and said hi back but was still crying. His name was Timmy and he was five years old, he told me. He couldn't find his mommy and that's why he was crying. I lied and told him I knew where she was; I led him by the hand back to the men in the closet.

As soon as we walked in the men grabbed him; one was hiding behind the door and got him. He put his hand tightly over Timmy's mouth and carried him into the other room. I saw Timmy's eyes get wide and he looked at me to help him but I didn't. The man with the quarters smiled at me and held out five rolls.

"You're doing good, Bobby", the man told me. "Still more quarters if you want them."

I told him no again, left, and spent all five rolls in very little time. I was back at the closet in no time, despite feeling guilty about it. "So soon?", the man asked. "All right. I'll give you ten rolls, but this time you're really going to earn them." He led me out of the closet, halfway across the arcade, and stopped, pointing toward the snack stand. "You're going to bring us him."

The boy was standing by the snack stand, eating a snow cone; like me he was small and slender, with very shapely legs. His hair was blonde, long and slightly curled, and hung in his eyes; he had brown eyes and an angelic, finely featured face. He wore a dark blue polo shirt with short sleeves, short red soccer shorts, and white running shoes.

I went over to him. "Hi, I'm Bobby", I said.

The boy took another bite of his snow cone. "I'm Lex", he said, after swallowing the ice. "How old are you?"

"Ten", I told him.

"Cool, I'm eleven." He looked at the arcade. "You like video games?"

"I love them", I told him. "Want to get some quarters and play?"

Lex shrugged. "Sure. Where?"

"There's a guy in the closet in back", I said, somewhat amazed at how easy I was lying to him! I was shy around other boys normally but not Lex. That made me feel even worse about what I was doing. "You ask and he gives them to you."

"Cool, let's go."

I led and Lex followed, throwing away his snow cone cup as we got near the door. I felt really bad about this, really, really bad, and still I lied.

"In there, just go in and say you want quarters", I told him.

"Wow, really?" He smiled at me and pushed the door open. Then he went in. But nobody grabbed him. I didn't see the men at all.

I went in behind him and the door closed. "Really, he was here!", I insisted.

Lex shrugged. "I don't see-mmmph!"

The door to the other room had opened up and one of the men grabbed Lex, pinning his arms down and clamping a hand over his mouth. He was quickly yanked out of sight. It happened so fast I almost couldn't believe it!

I waited and waited for the door to open again, but it didn't. Finally I opened it to look. I wasn't thinking about Lex as much as my promised quarters. Okay, so I was thinking of Lex too.

The first thing I saw was little Timmy, sitting on a box. His hands were tied behind his back and his ankles were tied together, and he had a blue bandana tied over his mouth. He was crying and looking at me helplessly. Randy was on a crate next to him, tied up the same way.

Then I saw Lex. He was sitting on another crate and was really tied up. His hands were tied behind his back and he had rope tied around his arms too. He had rope tied around his legs above his knees and his ankles were tied together. He had a red bandana tied tightly over his mouth. He looked so scared!

The men were admiring him, touching his blond hair and shapely legs. The man who had the quarters noticed me come in. "Well, there's Bobby now. You did good getting us Lex here. He's really fine." He walked over, holding a small bag. "Ten rolls." I took the bag and started toward the door.

Then he grabbed me. His hand was over my mouth, just like before, and he pulled me back. I didn't fight and he was able to tie my hands pretty easy. Then he tied my arms too; then he sat me down, tied rope around my legs above my knees, and tied my ankles. Then he gagged me, a red bandana over my mouth. Just like Lex. He sat me down next to him.

"Sorry, Bobby, but you are worth a whole lot more than ten rolls of quarters", he told me. "Thanks for the help, anyway."

The men kept us tied up there until dark. The park closed; Merry and Mommy came to pick me up, but I wasn't there to be found. Randy, Timmy and Lex's moms couldn't find them either. They all met up and went to call the police and that was when the men carried us out and put us in a van. They took us to a warehouse, where another man gave them money. Then he took us to another warehouse.

They kept us a long time after that, a month. They made us wear different pretty outfits and tied us up, and took pictures and made movies. They fondled us and kissed us but never really hurt us. Then one day they took us back to the park and let us go. Our moms were real happy to see us. Merry wasn't happy to see me. She hoped I was gone forever.

I didn't get to go back to the park again that summer. The other boys probably didn't either but after that, I never saw them again.