Arcade and the Dazzling Truth Detector

by Rashad Jennings

  I took it, pulled off the wrapper, and stuck it in my mouth. “Thanks. I’ll be back to clear my good name. Now please excuse me as I go find my delinquent sister.”

  She smiled. “See you soon.”

  I caught up to the Tolley brothers just as they were about to carry Daisy down the stairs to the subway.

  “What’s wrong with you, Arcade? You’re all doo-doo-doo again. We gotta get you home.” When Casey said that, Kevin gave him a weird look.

  “You gotta get me home? Why?”

  “Oh, well, you gotta find those overdue books!”

  Since when do the Tolleys care so much about library books?

  CHAPTER 7

  Big Surprises

  Casey and Kevin walked me all the way up the steps of my brownstone and right to my door.

  “Just need to get our books out of your suitcase and we’re outta here,” Kevin said while Casey nodded.

  I opened the door, wanting nothing more than for this day to be over, when the cheers erupted.

  “SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ARCADE!”

  WHAT?!?

  My mom, dad, Zoe, and Doug were all standing there smiling and clapping. Zoe grabbed my hand and pulled me to the dining room, where a huge cake shaped like a book was waiting for me.

  “You like my food project, Arcade?” Doug asked as he began lighting the candles on top. “I stayed up half the night working on this thing! I used fondant, and I didn’t even eat it this time.”

  It was awesome! A cake, shaped like a thick book, opened to the middle. It said Arcade’s Life, and there was a red number twelve at the bottom.

  I inched a little closer to check out the masterpiece. “Doug, you’re amazing!”

  “What about us?” I turned around. The Tolleys were standing right behind me in the dining room. “We were in on this the whole time.”

  The Tolleys?

  And then the singing started. At first, it was just Mom, Dad, Doug, and Zoe, with some grunts from the Tolleys. But then a few others came from the kitchen and joined in. They sang off-key, but I didn’t care, because it was my cousins from Virginia, Celeste and Derek!

  And Jacey Green. The girl I met at the Bridgeview Bakery. She and her family helped us rebuild the windmill course at Forest Games and Golf—the business the Badger brothers own.

  “Hi, Arcade.” Her smile beamed. “Happy birthday. I’ve always wanted to visit New York City.”

  My cheeks got hot.

  This is crazy sauce!

  There was a lot of high-fiving, hugging, and fist bumping. “Dude! Did we surprise you, or what?” Derek popped off his yellow upside-down visor and placed it on my head. “This is a cool city you got here!”

  “Yeah, Arcade.” My cousin Celeste came over and punched me in the arm. “And we only have one day, so you have to hurry and show us everything.”

  “Only one day?” I glanced over at Mom and Dad.

  “Sorry, bud,” Dad said. “It was all we could wrangle with school schedules and everything.”

  “Okay, then, let’s get started. This is the city that never sleeps, so that gives us some hours.”

  Mom brought some paper plates over to the table. “First you should blow out these candles. The wax is ruining Doug’s artwork.”

  “Oh, yeah!” I stood behind the cake.

  “Make a good wish, Arcade. It’s the last one of your childhood.” The way Zoe said that made me think about the boy in Greece who had made the Triple T mold. We were connected somehow, through time and travel. And, I suspected, through testing too. What had Ruah said?

  You are ready to experience the widest, the longest, the highest, the deepest . . .

  I grabbed my chest, hoping the token wasn’t going to show off its brilliant display in front of everyone. I took a deep breath.

  I wish to experience the -ESTS of life.

  I exhaled and blew out all the candles. It wasn’t so hard. There were only three.

  The sounds of cheers and claps filled the room.

  “Good job, brother. You always were full of hot air.” Zoe laughed.

  I grabbed the token under my shirt.

  Where will we go next?

  CHAPTER 8

  The First-EST

  You people can’t see New York City until you experience my white chocolate raspberry swirl cake.” Doug brought a knife and serving tools from the kitchen. “Arcade, you get the first taste. Man, this was hard to pull off with you in the house.”

  Doug cut out the big piece that had the twelve on it and plopped it on my plate. “Here you go. Happy birthday!” Doug handed it to me, beaming with pride.

  “This is an amazing cake, Doug.” I took a big bite. “And it’s the best I’ve ever tasted! I think you could open a bakery now!”

  “Well, he needs a lot of decorating training.” Zoe took the knife from Doug and began serving. “But he did okay with a little help from me.”

  Mom came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. “She was working on the finishing touches all day in her room.”

  “Is that what the crisis was? I thought you were having a bad hair day again.”

  “Again? Hey, maybe you need a little help with your hair.” Zoe pushed her finger into the raspberry swirl and came at me with it.

  Casey Tolley laughed. “Hey, look, Kevin! They fight like we do.”

  “Yeah. That’s cool. We’d love to stay around for the wrestling match, but we gotta go. Mom’s cookin’ dinner.”

  Casey took a step toward the cake table. “I wanna stay for the party.”

  “We gotta go!” Kevin put Casey in a headlock and pushed him toward the door. “Happy birthday, Arcade. We’ll see you around.”

  I waved. “Thanks, guys.”

  They wrestled their way out. It was nice of them to help with my birthday surprise . . . but it’s always a bit of a relief when the Tolleys leave.

  Zoe got one smudge of raspberry swirl on my forehead before Dad stopped her. “That’s enough.” He held his index finger up in the air. “We’re going out, so no food fights.” He checked his watch. “We’re leaving in twenty minutes. Don’t forget to put on warm clothes.” With that, he and Mom grabbed some cake plates and took off upstairs.

  Doug licked frosting off his finger. “And I don’t want any morsel of my cake wasted.”

  I took another bite. “That’s the truth.”

  Just then, the token erupted with light. Flashing beams shot out from under my shirt, and two beams shot straight up into my eyes, dropping me to my knees. I put one hand out, keeping a tight grip on my cake plate with the other. “Zoe? Doug? Are you still here?”

  I felt hands on my shoulders. “Arcade, are you all right?” It was Jacey. “Your token is putting on the most amazing light show!” She already knew about the token and had traveled with us to India, San Francisco, and Niagara Falls.

  “Yeah. It’s been doing that lately. But the lights hit me in the eyes and now I can’t see anything! Can you guys see anything?”

  “Yeah.” Zoe took the cake plate out of my hand and pulled me to my feet. “I can see antique gold elevator doors and a coin slot, right here in our living room. Here we go again, bro!”

  “Dude,” Derek said, “and this time there’s a sign above the coin slot!”

  “No kidding?” I put both hands out in front of me and walked forward till I hit a barrier. “What does the sign say?”

  “Just like before.” Zoe came up behind me. “Get truth.”

  “Awesome! Quick, someone pull off my token and drop it in the slot.” I felt a tug on my chain. Then another. And another.

  “It’s no use, Arcade.” Zoe grabbed my hand and put the token in it. “You have to do it.”

  I clasped my fingers around Triple T and pulled. It came off, like it always does.

  “But I can’t see what I’m doing!”

  “I’ll help you.” Zoe took my hand and placed it on top of the coin slot. “Okay, go ahead and let go.”

  I did. And then I
heard squeaks and rolling, and gasps from everyone around me.

  “This is magical,” Jacey squealed. “They even look like doors I imagined New York City would have.”

  “Except they’re pure gold,” Doug said.

  Man, I wish I could see!

  I felt a bunch of hands grabbing my arms, my shoulders, and my shirt. They pulled me forward. Then more squeaks, telling me the doors were closing.

  Ding!

  The elevator was on the move. And my vision cleared!

  “Whew, I thought I was blind for a second!” I reached both hands up to my glasses and was grateful for my vision, even if it had to be corrected with supersonic lenses.

  “So, does this mean we aren’t going to see New York City?” Celeste stood in the corner of the elevator, one hip sticking out, arms crossed, a frown on her face.

  “Aw, c’mon, Sis.” Derek nudged Celeste. “You know this is gonna be a good trip.”

  “Where do you think we’re going, Arcade?” Zoe walked around inside the elevator, fingering the cracks in the gold. “Did you say anything to the token before you dropped it in the slot?” She pointed to the gold sign above the doors that said GET TRUTH.

  “I was being blinded, so I don’t remember. But—”

  Derek jumped in next to me. “But what? Are we gonna meet the Badgers?” He held up his fists. “I got your back, cousin.”

  “No! I hope we don’t run into them! Not now, at least. I was going to say that I made a wish on the token before I blew out my candles.”

  Zoe stepped in close. “What was the wish?”

  I pushed her away. “You’re not supposed to tell people your birthday wishes.”

  She groaned.

  “But it does have something to do with what Ruah said.”

  “Wait now. Who’s Ruah?” Doug asked.

  Zoe held her hand out. “No time to explain. Arcade, did your wish have anything to do with truth?”

  “Yes,” I said with a smirk. “You’re getting it now.”

  “GETTING WHAT?”

  I laughed. “Ruah said that. Can’t you just wait and see, Zoe? We’ll be there any minute.”

  “Where? Where will we be?” Jacey jumped up and down. “I loved when we went to India.”

  I tilted my head back and was just as surprised as the first time to see that magnificent gold dome again. “Hey, guys! Can you read what those signs say? Derek, you’re tall—can you see them?”

  Derek looked up. “Whoa!” He squinted and turned around a few times. “Nah, I can’t quite make them out. Looks like there’s a hole up in the top of that dome, though.”

  Celeste got a boost from Zoe and crawled up on Doug’s shoulders. “I don’t think that’s a hole. It’s a light. And it looks like there’s a person up there! Could someone be watching us?”

  My stomach lurched. Right then the elevator came to a halt. The antique doors squealed as they began to open.

  “I hope you wished good, Arcade.” Zoe wrung her hands, and then reached up to help Celeste down.

  Goosebumps rose on my arms. “I did.”

  As the doors roll open, they unveil the most astonishing thing I’ve ever seen. Elephants, a herd of them, lumbering through a grassy plain, followed by giraffes, and . . . ostriches?

  “Duuuuuuude! Are we in Africa?” Doug claps his hands to the sides of his face and steps out. Celeste, Jacey, and Derek follow. “Trip of a lifetime, man!”

  I start to exit, but Zoe grabs me by the sleeve. “Don’t get any crazy ideas. We’re not taking any of those animals home.” Then she sighs. “What am I saying? All your ideas are crazy.”

  I pull my sleeve out of Zoe’s grip and step out of the elevator. The parade of animals continues through the long grass. “No worries, sis. They’ll never fit in the elevator. The African elephant is the world’s largest land mammal, and the giraffe is the tall . . . est.”

  Hey, wait a minute!

  Doug stands there with his jaw hanging open. “This waaaaaay beats the Bronx Zoo!”

  Jacey covers her cheeks with her hands. “They’re beautiful. I could watch them all day!”

  I look up and down at my outstretched arms. “Do you think they can see us? I mean, they aren’t charging, and one time we were invisible.”

  “We could test it.” Derek puts two fingers to his mouth and whistles.

  “Derek!” Celeste pulls his hand from his mouth. “That’s not the way to test it!”

  But maybe it is. Because none of the animals turn to look at us.

  “I want to get closer.” Jacey holds her hand out to me. “Will you come with me, Arcade?”

  Sweat squirts out of all the pores in my head.

  What am I supposed to do? Say no? We are in Africa and . . . well . . . she asked.

  I grab her hand and she, Zoe, and I walk out of the elevator toward the animal parade. We end up in the middle of a family of elephants. Doug, Celeste, and Derek check out the giraffes.

  “They’re huge, yet so calm and gentle.” Jacey drops my hand and reaches out to pet one of the babies.

  Zoe gasps. “That could be a problem if the mom doesn’t want you doing that.”

  Jacey grins and rubs the baby’s trunk. “He seems to like it.” The larger elephants don’t notice us. “I think we are invisible.” She pets the baby on the head. “God sure had a great idea when he made you, little one.” She looks around at the giraffes and ostriches and starts laughing. “And I thought I was going to New York City this weekend. Wait till I tell . . . oh, wait, I guess I can’t tell anybody!”

  “Yeah,” Zoe says with a smile, “welcome to our world over the last year. Arcade’s Triple T Token has been providing one rip-roaring, don’t-tell-a-soul adventure after another.”

  “Do your parents know about it yet?” Jacey moves through the family of elephants toward the giraffes.

  I follow. “The token? Maybe.”

  Jacey stops to look at me. “Maybe?”

  “Our parents had the token long before Arcade did,” Zoe explains. “They won it from the claw machine at Arcade Adventures. It was in there by mistake, and the Badger brothers were not happy to lose it.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t think it was a mistake, Zoe.”

  Zoe ignored my comment. “So the answer is, yes, our parents know about the token. But, no, they don’t know Arcade has it.”

  Jacey raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure they don’t know?”

  “I’m sure,” I say. “If they knew, they’d put a stop to it for sure.”

  Jacey tilts her head. “Would they?”

  I stop in my tracks. “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, what if they know, but they want you to experience everything they did? Ooooh! I just had a crazy thought! What if they’re somehow watching us right now?”

  Zoe holds her hand out. “That’s impossible. We’d see them.”

  “But we’re invisible now, right?” Jacey rubs her arms and turns around.

  Zoe’s eyes widen. “Okay, stop. You’re blowing my mind.”

  I get a chill up my spine. “Celeste did say she saw someone watching through the light in the elevator ceiling.”

  “Celeste saw a hole, or a light, and a blob she thinks could be a person. It’s a long shot! Plus, that ceiling hasn’t shown up in the Triple T elevators until yesterday.”

  “At least that’s been our perception,” I say. “Ruah always looked old to me until yesterday. She said that’s just how I’ve perceived her. Maybe the truth is—”

  “The truth is, those ostriches need us to ride them!” Doug comes running over. “Look, Arcade, they’re lined up in a row! And there’s six of them! Wanna race?”

  “Ha!” Zoe laughs. “Arcade hates birds!”

  I push her away. “I do not. I just don’t like Milo. May I remind you that one of my best friends is a flamingo?” I start walking toward the ostriches. “Did you know that the ostrich is the larges—”

  An ostrich is an -EST. So is an elephant. So is
a giraffe. This is DOPE!

  “Sure, Doug, let’s race!” I run up to the biggest of the birds, grab it by the feathers, and hoist myself up. Then I smooth its feathers. “There now, friend, why are you an -EST?” I turn to my friends. “It’s okay! They really don’t know we’re here!”

  Zoe scowls. “Arcade, this reminds me too much of our first token adventure! Remember Bone Crusher? I suggest you get down!”

  “Well, maybe you should be the rodeo clown again! You still have your red nose?”

  Celeste is the next brave one to jump on an ostrich. “C’mon, Zoe. I bet my ostrich can outrun yours!”

  By the time Celeste is finished issuing her dare, Derek, Jacey, and Doug have already chosen their ostriches and are perched on top with nervous grins.

  “There’s one more bird, Zoe!” I point to the smallest one. “And she’s got the same hairdo as you!”

  “Very funny.” She climbs on and hugs the bird’s neck. “Hey, Mr. Ostrich, beat that kid with the red glasses.”

  And then we all just . . . sit there, waiting for something to happen.

  “How do we get these things to run?” I ask.

  Derek puts his fingers to his lips. “You want me to whistle?”

  He takes a deep breath, but right before he blows, one of the elephants lifts his trunk and makes a trumpet sound.

  The ostriches tear off, thankfully all in the same direction. Jacey’s gets the best jump, and she quickly moves into the lead.

  “Where are we going?!?” I yell.

  “Ha! You finally ask a great question!” Zoe grips the neck of her ostrich as she slips to one side. “Too bad you didn’t think to ask before we took off!”

  Celeste and her bird gallop past me and take the lead from Jacey. She points to an acacia tree a couple hundred feet in the distance. “Let’s turn around there!”

  “Okay, sure!” I dig my hands in and try to hold on to as many feathers as I can. “I’ll just tell my bird, since I speak ostrich!”

  “You speak ostrich?” Doug finally catches up to me on the right. “Hey, Arcade, why don’t these birds fly?”

  “Beats me! That would sure be helpful right now.” And then, my bird slows waaaay down, and everyone passes me! Even Zoe zooms by on the little ostrich.