“All right, all right, you win, just stop tickling me.” I wave the white flag, giving in. I can't take it. I hate being tickled, and he knows it.
Doug throws his arms up and pumps them in the air. “Hell yeah, I win.”
“You're suck a dork.”
He chuckles. “I still win. You said it yourself.” Running his hand through his hair, he grips the back of his neck. “Well then, I think this is cause for celebration.”
“Oh really?”
“Of course, it is. I won, you got the job, now we need to go celebrate. Come on, I've got just the place in the mind.”
I follow him as he starts walking. “Where are we going?”
“Some place fun.”
“That could be anywhere.”
“Could be, but it isn't. This is a particular place you love.”
Veering my stare, I purse my lips. “Is it Gelina's Ice Cream? Because I love that place. They have the best peanut butter cup ice cream.”
“No, but we can go there after, if you want. This is your night.”
“How far is this place?” I ask. “I am in heels, you know.”
“Not far, it's only a few blocks away.” He reaches back and takes my hand, pulling me to his side. “We're going to have fun tonight. You deserve it.”
We walk hand in hand. He's swinging my arm back and forth as he tugs me along. “We're not far now, it's right around the corner,” he says.
“Oh shit, I know what it is,” I say excitedly. “I know exactly what place it is.”
“What is it?”
“Rocky Point Park.”
We take the corner and his eyes gleam. “Bingo.”
The arch for the entrance is engulfed in bright spotlights. I can hear the music from the live band playing on the stage, and the sound of kids screaming on the rides. The ferris wheel is spinning slowly in the distance, bright as the north star in the sky.
Instantly, I'm taken back decades. Back to being a teenager. Back to when we used to hang out here in the summer as kids. This place has so many memories for me. My dad used to get tickets from his work every summer.
We used to go as a family, then as I got older and things changed, he'd just give me the tickets and I'd go with my friends. Or just Doug, sometimes it was just the two of us, and that was always fine with me.
With Doug there was never any drama. He was, and still is, a guy who just likes to have a good time. It's one of the things I love about him. He finds a positive in a negative, and that makes anything better.
“Wow, I haven't been here in years.”
“I know, me either. It's kind of sad. I mean, we drive by it every day, and it's like we forgot all about it. Barely giving it a second glance. It's like a billboard you see so much that you don't even know it exists anymore.”
“I can smell the fries and dough boys from here. I forgot how incredible that smell is.”
“And the beer. Come on, let's go enjoy ourselves.”
He pays for our tickets, and as we walk beneath the giant arch, it's like I went back in time. I feel sixteen again. I look up and see the skyline above my head. People are looking down at us and waving.
I wave back as I say, “Do you remember when we were kids and we were up there pouring water on people as they walked under us?”
Doug laughs and nods. “I do. I also remember dropping globs of ice cream on people too.”
“We were terrible,” I say with a chuckle.
“No, we were just kids. Unless you're telling me you have the urge to go do it now. Then we'd be terrible.”
“Yeah, no, I don't think I could do that now.”
“It was funny though. Remember the guy who thought he had just gotten shit on by a bird or something, and he ripped off his toupee to see in a panic?”
“Oh my God, I do!” I yell as I giggle. “And when he realized it was just us, he screamed that it was assault, and he could have us sent to jail.”
“That's right, he did. I guess we were pretty bad, huh?”
“No, you were right the first time. We were just kids.”
He looks off and spots the water gun game. “You know what, I'm going to win you a stuffed animal.”
“Sure you are.” I don't hide the sarcasm in my tone. “You used to say that all the time and I don't think you ever actually won.”
“Well, I'm going to win today,” he says confidently.
We walk to the booth and he pays the man two dollars. Doug picks up the water gun and aims it at the mouth of the clown.
“No one ever wins these games, you know. They're rigged for you to lose.”