Arcade and the Fiery Metal Tester

by Rashad Jennings

  Zoe looked over at me. “But what? I see that twinkle in your eye, Arcade. You’re about to make a big mista—”

  “BUT don’t make it boring!” I yelled. Zoe reached out to try to stop me, but she was too late. I opened my palms and the token zoomed into the coin slot. I put my hands together again, pulled them apart, and the doors opened!

  * * *

  Inside the elevator was a box labeled EXCITING STUFF. I reached in and discovered three cameras with head straps.

  “This is DOPE! There’s even a tiny one for Loopy!” I wrestled Loopy to get it on his head. He panted and slobbered all over the carpet. “Zoe, we’re gonna get pictures this time. And video!” I slid the switch on the top of Loopy’s camera, and a light came on. “Can’t wait to see what you see, Loop!” I held one out for Zoe.

  “That thing is going to look ridiculous on me.” She turned her head and put her nose up in the air.

  I put mine on. “Okay, then, I guess we won’t be recording this adventure from your viewpoint then.”

  She stuck out her hand and I gave it to her. She pulled out her ponytail, put on the camera, and then retied.

  “You’re right. You look ridiculous.”

  Adrenaline shot through my body as the elevator began to rumble and spin, like my favorite ride at the fair. The one that spins so fast it pins you to the wall and then you can lift your feet up and not fall to the ground. One time it made my cousin Derek barf and, unfortunately, that stuck to the wall too.

  Ringing and squealing sounds blared from the elevator speaker. Zoe and I had to cover our ears it was so loud. Different styles of music faded in and out. The song that played the longest was the ABC song.

  “This better stop spinning soon, before I bar—”

  Before Zoe could say it or do it, the elevator came to a halt. We fell to the ground, hands grabbing our stomachs. Loopy ran around in circles, recording our reactions.

  “Don’t forget to turn on your camera,” I said to Zoe. “Who knows, we may be bungie jumping our way out of here, and you wouldn’t want to miss that.”

  Zoe flipped the switch on the top of her camera. “Why do I let you talk me into these things?”

  We waited for what seemed like forever. Loopy barked and licked the crack between the doors. Finally, the music faded, and the doors opened.

  * * *

  We’re in a big arena, standing on a humongous trampoline that covers the entire ground. Huge TV screens hang down, circling around us. It’s kind of like Times Square, but the TVs are a hundred times bigger. On the screens are pictures and videos of kids doing things like riding bikes, swimming, camping, crying . . . fighting . . .

  Wait. It’s not lots of different kids. It’s the same kid, just at different ages! As I realize this, words begin to scroll across all the screens.

  PICTURE POST . . . WILEY OVERTON . . . PICTURE POST . . . WILEY OVERTON . . .

  Woof! Woof!

  Loopy’s tail is wagging so fast you almost can’t see it. He runs, jumps, flips over, and loses his footing on the trampoline.

  I pick him up and try to calm him. “It’s okay, boy.” I turn to Zoe. “I think we’re in Wiley’s Picture Post profile on the Internet!”

  “No.” Zoe points to a screen that has the Picture Post guidelines listed on it. “You have to be thirteen to sign up for Picture Post. But, judging by these pictures, I’d say this is his mom’s account.”

  Of course. This is exactly what my mom’s Picture Post account looks like! My first step, my first words, my first day of school . . . my whole life’s been recorded on this app.

  All of a sudden, the trampoline starts to bounce us, without our help! And we can’t control how high we go or our trajectory.

  “This is CRAZY, Arcade!”

  “Yeah, but it’s NOT boring! Just like I ordered!” I laugh and hold Loopy tight as we fly higher with each bounce.

  “Watch out, Arcade! You almost hit your head on that screen!” Zoe grits her teeth and points up at a large screen with a picture of little Wiley riding a two-wheeler with training wheels in the street.

  “I can’t control where I’m going!” The next time I land on the trampoline, it bounces me a little too hard. Zoe too. And when we reach the TV screen, we break right through it!

  * * *

  We’re picking ourselves up off a sidewalk. Our head cams still have the green lights flickering.

  “Wiley! That’s so good! You’re being brave!” A young woman stands in the middle of the street on the Upper West Side, holding her arms out to little Wiley Overton as he rides his bike toward her. “See, honey? I knew you could do it!”

  Wiley jumps off the bike and hugs the woman. “Can I do it again, Mommy?”

  “You bet, champ!” She helps him turn his bike around and then runs down to the other end of the street. “Okay, come on down!”

  Wiley gets on his bike. A group of bigger kids are walking on the sidewalk across from us. “Hey, Wiley! You still using training wheels? Little baby! Can’t you ride a bike yet?”

  “Yeah! Maybe next you’ll finally learn your ABCs! HAHAHAHAHA!”

  “Hey! Leave him alone!” The group of kids runs away as Wiley’s mom rushes back to her son. “Ignore those mean kids, Wiley. Come on. Ride your bike over to me.”

  We watch as Wiley starts to cry. Then he kicks his bike over in the street. His mom comes to try to hug him, but he pushes her away, runs and grabs a rock from the gutter, and heaves it at one of the brownstones. He hits a window, breaking it.

  “Whoa. That’s some serious anger,” Zoe says.

  “And he has great aim,” I add.

  Wiley’s mom walks over, and this time, he lets her give him a hug. “Okay, then. Let’s go do the right thing.” She leads him up the steps of the brownstone, and they knock at the door. A little girl about Wiley’s age peeks her head out the door.

  “Hello, Reagan,” Wiley’s mom says. “Can you please tell your parents that we’re here?”

  The little girl’s eyes widen when she sees Wiley. “Did you just throw that rock at my window? It really scared me.”

  Wiley’s crying a little now. “I’m sorry, Reagan.”

  She says nothing to Wiley but, instead, turns and yells into the house, “Mom! Dad! Whiny Overton is here! And guess what? He broke ANOTHER window!”

  * * *

  Next thing we know we’re being pulled out of this screen. It’s like a giant vacuum has attached itself to our feet. We land back inside the arena on the trampoline. But we don’t stay long, because we’re bounced again until we crash through another Picture Post!

  * * *

  Now we’re at a school, crouching behind bushes, witnessing an argument. Wiley Overton’s a little older now, and he’s holding a poster, shaking his fist at a group of boys. “Who put this up? I’m gonna blast ya!”

  The boys laugh and try to walk away. Wiley follows and grabs one by the shoulders. He pulls him down on the concrete.

  “Back off, Wiley! We didn’t put it up there. We couldn’t care less if it’s third grade and you CAN’T READ YET.” They all laugh again. Wiley drops the poster and starts to punch away on the kid. Whistles blow and a couple of teachers come running over to break up the fight. There’s a bunch of yelling and pointing of fingers, which ends with one of the teachers leading Wiley and two of the boys into the building.

  The wind whips up and blows the poster in our direction. Zoe picks it up, and then covers her mouth with her hand. “This is terrible!” She turns it so I can see.

  WHINY OVERTON–DUMBEST KID IN THIRD GRADE

  There’s a drawing on the poster. The person didn’t have great art skills, but I can tell it’s Wiley’s face.

  I take the poster from Zoe, fold it up, and put it in my pocket. Right then, the vacuum sucks us back to the trampoline, where we’re bounced around in a tornado of golden glitter.

  “OKAY, I’m ready for boring now!” I yell. The token returns to the chain on my neck, and one of the huge screens
turns from Wiley’s mom’s Picture Post account to a pair of golden elevator doors.

  Whew!

  “Watch this, Zoe!” I grab my token off the chain and flip it with my thumb to see if it will land in the coin slot. “Whoop! Three-point shot!”

  Cousin Derek would be proud.

  * * *

  Zoe brushes glitter from her shorts inside the elevator and pulls the head cam off so she can smooth her hair. “Do you think we should leave these here?”

  I take the camera from her and pull out the memory card. ‘Yes, but we’ll take these. We can download the files to our laptops. Should be some pretty sweet footage!” I take off my camera, retrieve the card, and put it back in the box labeled EXCITING STUFF.

  “Okay, Loop, time to get that silly thing off your head.” I look around. “Loop?”

  Chapter 24

  Where’s Loopy?

  The elevator doors opened at the bottom of our brownstone steps. Usually this is when I feel relieved and refreshed, and sometimes a little confused. But this time, I was horrified.

  “WHERE’S LOOPY? Is he hiding? ZOE, help me find him!!!”

  Zoe and I checked every square inch of the elevator. No Loopy.

  “I think we should stay in here, Arcade. Maybe the doors will close and we can go back and get him.”

  I put the token between my palms and spoke SPECIFICALLY: “Take us back so we can get Loopy!” But there was no heat. No sparks. No glitter. And then, as if to rub it in my face, the elevator tilted, dumping Zoe and me out at the bottom of our brownstone steps.

  “NOOOOOO! Take me back to Loopy! Bring my dog back!” I reached for the token and tried to wrestle it off the chain. Zoe grabbed my hands.

  “Arcade, STOP! People are walking by. You need to calm down.”

  “I CAN’T CALM DOWN. LOOPY’S GONE!”

  “Please, Arcade. Come up here and sit down. I’ll help you figure this out. We’ll find him.”

  I covered my face with my hands. Zoe pulled them down. “We’ll FIND him.”

  And then, along came Michael Tolley. “Hey, everyone! How’s it going?” Michael took one look at me and ran up the stairs. “Arcade, what’s going on? Are you sick?”

  I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. Sweat squirted out of every pore of my body. I felt sick to my stomach. Tears ran down my cheeks.

  “We lost Loopy,” Zoe said, and a few tears ran down her cheeks too.

  “Your cute little dog? Oh, no!” Michael grabbed the back of his neck. “When did you last see him?”

  “I don’t know.” I threw my hands up in defeat.

  Was it at Wiley’s house when he was riding his bike? Or Wiley’s school when he was in third grade? Did Loopy even make it to the school?

  “He was here with us on the steps a few minutes ago,” Zoe said. “Then we . . . got a little distracted.”

  Michael grinned. “Well, he couldn’t have made it very far then. I’ll help you find him. I bet he took off toward the park. Dogs love the park.”

  I wish it were that simple.

  Michael took his phone out of his pocket and started texting. “I’ll get my brothers to search. They need something constructive to do. I’ve got a few other friends who can help too. Do you have a picture of Loopy I can send them? Also, does he have a collar or a leash attached or anything that would make him stand out?”

  “This is going to sound funny,” Zoe said, “but he had one of those head cams on.”

  “A what?”

  “A head camera. You know, so you can take action pics and video without using your hands. They work really well for dogs.” She grinned a little.

  “Okay, then, this should be NOOOO problem.” Michael poked away on his phone for a few seconds and then looked up at us. “I’m ready to start looking if you are.” He gave Zoe a gentle smile. “Should we divide and conquer, or do this together?”

  Right then, my friends Scratchy and Carlos came wheeling by. “What’s up, Dude?” Scratchy asked.

  “We lost Loopy,” Zoe said. “Do you want to help us find him?”

  “Who’s Loopy?” Carlos wheeled his chair in closer to us.

  I pulled out my phone and showed him a picture of my little pooch. “He disappeared from, uh . . . the porch here.” I gave a sly glance over to Scratchy, who’s been with me on a couple of token adventures. He pointed to my chest, and I nodded.

  “Dude. That’s NOT RAD.”

  “Well, hey,” Carlos grabbed tight to the arms of his wheelchair, “I’m fast in this thing. And I know the park really well. You think he ran over there?”

  “Maybe.”

  He’s not there.

  “Okay, we’ll find him!” Carlos revved up his wheelchair. “Scratchy’s been helping me soup this thing up. This will be a great test!”

  Always pay attention when you are being tested.

  “I’ll go tell Mom and Dad where we’re going.” Zoe said. She must have seen the look of terror in my eyes. “What?”

  “Don’t tell them about Loopy yet. Let’s see if he turns up first.”

  Chapter 25

  Notifications

  “Arcade! Thanks for calling me, man! I’m SOOO bored here in Florida! What’s up?” I held the phone tightly to my ear as we ran over to Central Park.

  “Doug! Loopy’s lost!”

  “Loopy’s LOST? OH, NO! Where’d you lose him?”

  “In the doors.”

  “The doors?”

  “The elevator doors. We were in the Internet . . .”

  “Did you just say you were in the Internet?”

  “Yeah. Well, only the Picture Post app.”

  “Oh. That’s CRAZY COOL!”

  “Yeah, it is. I mean it was. Until Loopy disappeared.”

  I had to take a break to catch my breath. Michael and Zoe were two blocks ahead of me and were getting ready to cross the street into Central Park. “Doug, I have an important question for you.”

  “Well, shoot, bro! What is it?”

  “Do you remember what street Wiley Overton lived on when he was in first or second grade?”

  “Why? Did Wiley take Loopy?”

  “No. But we were at Wiley’s house when he was little the last time I saw him. I think. Anyway, do you remember, Doug?”

  Doug was quiet for a few seconds. “I’m sorry, Arcade. I don’t know. But I know I could walk there from my house.”

  “Really? Which direction? North or south?”

  “North or south? Who knows? I didn’t have good direction then. I don’t really have it now. Good thing everything in New York City is numbered! Even the schools . . .”

  “That’s it! The schools! What school did Wiley go to in third grade?”

  “You know where he went, bro. He went to PS 23. Before he got kicked out, I mean.”

  “PS 23? Right! That makes sense. Doug, I gotta go. I’m sorry!”

  “No worries. Go find Loopy. Hey, have you talked to your parents about adopting me, yet?”

  I kicked myself on the inside. “No, I haven’t had time to have a serious conversation with them yet. But I will. I promise.”

  Doug sighed. “Okay. Well, go find your little pooch . . . And shoot me a text when you do!”

  “I will. Thanks, Doug!” I stopped to put my phone in my back pocket. “ZOE! I’m going to PS 23!”

  Zoe turned around. “What? Not by yourself you’re not. I’m going with you!”

  Zoe ran back to me, and Michael followed. “I’ll hang with you two. Let Carlos and Scratchy ride through the park. With their wheels they’ll be faster. Why do you want to go to PS 23?”

  “Uh, I just got a tip that Loopy might be there.”

  “Okay then, let’s go!” Michael changed direction and started jogging west. Zoe waited until he was out of hearing range before whispering to me, “I don’t know if Loopy made it to the school scene, Arcade. I was too busy watching the boys fight to notice. And who knows if it’s even possible to find him if we don’t go through the doors firs
t.”

  “I know. But we gotta check. He’s my dog!”

  Zoe’s shoulders rose, then fell. “I know. Let’s go.”

  * * *

  It took us about twenty minutes to get to PS 23. The gates were locked around the small yard outside the building. Michael jumped up, threw his leg over the chain-link fence, and dropped himself inside. “I’ll go check it out!” He disappeared behind the far wall.

  I peered through the metal fence, hoping to spot the place where Wiley had his fight with the boys in third grade. “It has to be . . . THERE! Those are the bushes we hid behind.”

  Zoe grabbed the fence and pushed her nose through a gap. “I don’t see him, Arcade. And Loopy’s fast. I can’t imagine he’d stay put.”

  “He would if he was waiting for me.”

  Zoe’s phone buzzed, and she jumped, letting go of the fence. “Maybe Michael found something.” She unlocked the screen with her thumb and her eyes popped wide open. “Arcaaaaade . . . you’ll want to take a look at THIS.”

  “What?” I jumped over next to Zoe. She poked a couple more buttons on her screen.

  “I’m getting some notifications.”

  “What kind of notifications?”

  She turned the phone my way. “From my Picture Post app. I have a new follower.”

  “Is that good?”

  Zoe put her hand on her hip. “Here. I clicked on his profile. You tell me.”

  I pulled the phone in close to look. A familiar face filled the screen, but I couldn’t believe my eyes. “This is impossible!”

  “Oh, yeah? I’m surprised to hear you say that, Mr. My-Token-Can-Do-Anything.”

  The new follower’s username was @LoopDogNYC. And the profile picture was . . . LOOPY! With his tongue sticking out, his ears perked, and his head cam on!

  “Follow him back, Zoe!” I handed the phone over to her, and she clicked “follow.”

  “Oh, this is funny,” Zoe said.

  “What?”

  “Loopy posted his first picture! I think we’re barking up the wrong tree, Arcade. Check this out. This picture was posted five minutes ago.”

  It had to be a picture taken from his head cam. It showed his front, furry legs running, and in the distance was a bridge I had seen before. In Central Park.