South Jersey Underground #15

the day, made tentative forays outside to check the weather. The amusement park crews scurried to dry off their rides before the nightly rush of thrill seekers, compensating for a wasted afternoon, choked the boardwalk. As the lights came on for the night, they offered every reassurance that the storm was over, that vacation had resumed.

Jake and Charlie washed up after dinner. They slicked back their hair and found the cleanest shirts they had left in their overnight bags. There was still a half hour until their date with Holly and Margaret, and so they finished what was left of the beer.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Yea?” “I mean, is there anything I should know? With Holly later. Something that might help.”

Jake laughed.

“Think you’ll get another shot?” he asked.

“Shut up, I’m just saying, if, you know?”

“Just stop worrying so much.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

They met at the convention center just after nine o’clock. Margaret was dressed in a thin cotton dress and a short jacket against the cool breeze that blew in off the water this time of night. Her hair was let down and it swept across her face with each gust of wind. She appeared more wholesome than her younger cousin, who was somehow fragile looking, like she might bruise at the touch.

By unspoken agreement, the group broke off into pairs and made its way down the boardwalk.

The crowd split occasionally along parallel concrete tracks built for the electric tram cars which ferried passengers up and down the two mile stretch. Breaking apart to avoid being struck by the tram, the sundered crowd fell back in place behind the last car and resumed its anarchic circuit of carnival games and frozen custard stands. Charlie thought he recognized the two boys from the beach yesterday, but he lost sight of them behind a passing tram car.

After several unsuccessful attempts to win Margaret a stuffed animal - “Just one more try and I would’ve had it,” Jake confessed, away from the girls - the couples found themselves at the amusement park on Morey’s Pier.

“I’ve always loved this Ferris wheel,” said Holly. “I don’t really know why. It doesn’t really do anything, but still. Margaret, do you remember when Uncle Bill took you on it when we were kids?”

“I think I screamed the whole ride,” added Margaret. She had a way of appearing to laugh even when she was serious.

“What do you say we give it another try?” Jake asked her.

“Not this girl, I’m never getting on that thing again.”

“Count me out too,” said Charlie. “I don’t go much for heights. Why don’t we try something else?”