Slam Dunk at the Arcade

Thirty years had passed since I’d set foot in this hellhole. The bane of my existence hadn’t changed much since then. The sticky purple flooring was still decorated with planets and stars that had faded over the years by the tramples of teenagers. The neon lights of nostalgic icons like Pacman and Donkey Kong enticed the children to spend their parents' coins one by one like mini-gambling addicts.

‘Can I have a taste of your slushy, Auntie Claire?’ Callie said as she gleamed at my bright blue, raspberry-iced drink. She hadn’t seen me fill three-quarters of the drink with vodka. She hadn’t seen my nerves from earlier be calmed with each sip of the luminous drink.

‘No, I’ll buy you one of your own when your parents come back. Lord knows why they’re taking so long.’

‘Dance with me then.’ She said as she pulled me over to an obnoxious dance machine blasting 80’s disco music.

‘No, you just dance. I’ll watch.’

The last thing I needed right now was to bounce up and down with this hangover. Blue vodka-flavoured slush all over the dancefloor wouldn’t make me look like the most responsible guardian. Although, it wouldn’t be the worst thing that had ever happened to me here.

I put the pennies into the slot to start the machine.

‘£2.00? This was 20 pence when I was your age.’ I mumbled. She’d only be having one round.

Callie rolled her eyes and prepared to dance. Her feet stepped quickly onto the lit-up arrows to the beat of the music. Instead of looking like a disco dancer, she looked like a crab scuttling ungracefully across a beach. I held in my laughter.

The last time I danced on these machines was with Maria. I remember her blonde ponytail bobbing up and down frantically in time to the music. She turned to me with her cherry-tinted lips and smiled.

‘I’m going to get the high score, Claire.’ 

One of the things I loved most about her, was how happy she would get about the little things. So, when she did get the high score, I cheered and threw her a high five. I wanted her to know that I was happy for her.

‘Hey babe, I’ve bought a round of air hockey. Hurry up.’ Jack said as he ran over.

‘I got the high score.’ Maria said, wanting him to congratulate her.

‘Hurry before someone takes our spot.’ He started to drag her towards the air hockey table.

He never tried to make her feel as happy as I did. I took another sip of my vodka slushy, only bits of crushed plain ice and vodka remained. My hipflask was still half full, I poured the flask into the plastic cup while Callie was distracted. I’ll say it’s melted water if she says anything.

Callie’s score was nowhere close to being as high as Maria’s. I searched the leaderboard silently hoping that I would find her name at the top but as the years passed her name must have been pushed to the bottom of the list. Her triumph over the machine was never to be remembered.

‘I want to play Pac-man.’ Callie said.

I’d settle for anything that meant I could just stand behind her and drink in silence.

The Pac-Man machine was empty and eagerly waited for my coin to bring it to life.

Callie focused on the neon flashing screen as she tried to eat all the dots and avoid the colourful ghosts.

‘Auntie Claire, you used to come here when you were my age right?’

Questions were not something I was in the mood for. Not when the pounding electronic music was making my hangover worse by the second.

‘Yes, every evening after school.’

‘So why aren’t you happy to be here? I like to visit the old playgrounds I used to play in, my old primary school and kindergarten. It's nice to see old places'

‘That’s because you have good memories of those places.’

Callie looked away from her flashing screen.

‘What bad memories can you have in an arcade? Did you lose lots of money or something? Mummy said you aren’t good with money.’

That stung worse than the vodka I forced down my throat.

‘I lost something. Not money but something.’

Callie returned her focus to her game, frantically pressing the buttons to avoid the ghosts.

I drifted my attention away from the gaming girl. The arcade was packed with families spending time together during the summer holidays. The holidays were normally a time for BBQs and day drinking for me, not babysitting.

Teenage boys walked around hand-in-hand with their dates. Their sloppy appearance reminded me of Jack – underdressed, unfit and likely haven’t read a book since primary school. Yet those boys always had the edge on me, no matter how much better at sports I was or how much better I dressed. I never stood a chance with any girls, especially not the one I wanted.

The smell of popcorn and candyfloss permeated the air making it feel thick with caramel and sugar. My nause increased. I needed to stretch my legs. 

I decided before coming here that no matter what, I wouldn’t go near the basketball machine. I could see it from here, daring me to come over with its bright crimson and orange glow. The baskets open waiting for me to throw a perfect slam dunk with no one around me to impress.

I said that I wouldn’t go over there but maybe confronting my fears was what I needed. Perhaps the vodka was impairing my decision making but I felt like I needed to confront my fear.

I took off towards the basketball game, leaving Callie behind. It’s not too big of an arcade and she was ten years old. Old enough to come find me when she needed me.

The game was unattended. No one else shooting into the hoops. My past pride in being the reigning Queen of the basketball machine was no longer present, I didn’t know if I’d still be good at the game after decades had passed. The athletic abilities of my youth had gone to waste. 

I put a coin into the machine and waited for the balls to be released.

Get Ready, Set, and Shooooot

I grabbed the basketball in front of me and aimed for the hoop. The vodka had dulled my reaction times but the basketball queen was still in these fifty-year-old bones. One after another, the balls slammed into the net racking up the points.

High Score, Congratulations

A tear rolled down my cheek. I hadn’t lost my skills.

There was a reason I never played this game again and it was all Maria. The memory of our last game ran through my mind constantly.

‘I can never beat your score.’ She pouted at me.

‘They don’t call me the champion for nothing.’ I boasted. The pride I felt at being the only name on the scoreboard was immense, but the look in Maria’s eyes as she pouted made my heart skip a beat.

‘Why don’t we play as a team?’ I said, my shots would boost her score.

‘No, then my half will bring the score down. What if you help me throw?’

I blushed a deep shade of crimson as she signalled for me to stand behind her. She put the coin in the machine and made me hold her arms as she aimed for the net.

‘No, you need to relax your arms and bend your legs.’

I took control of her arms and threw the ball causing it to hit straight into the hoop.

‘Carry on! Carry on!’ She said, her cheeks flushed.

As we kept shooting together, the smell of her intoxicating perfume kept hitting my nose. I tried to keep a reasonable amount of distance as I held her, but it felt as though she was edging closer towards me as the game progressed. The final ball was thrown, and the names Claire and Maria filled the screen. We managed to beat one of my top five scores causing our names to appear on the scoreboard.

‘We did it.’ She said as she turned around.

Her lips were just inches below mine. Her hazel eyes stared at mine with an intensifying hunger.

Her lips parted and started to move towards mine. It felt as though magnets were pulling us together, everything felt right in the world for the brief few seconds that the kiss lasted.

‘Woah I leave you for five minutes and you start lezzing out.’ Jack's voice cut through our moment of passion.

Maria pulled apart from me quickly, a deep flush on the apples of her cheeks. After a few seconds, she seemed to compose herself before giggling. Her hand covered her mouth.

‘She dared me to kiss her if we got onto the scoreboard. I didn’t actually think we would but I never back on a dare.’

She pulled far away from me and fell back into his arms. They left me at the basketball machine as they walked off hand in hand. The kiss from before was forever lost and forgotten by her.

A hand on my shoulder brought me back to the present. I turned to face her. Long blonde hair curled into her face, cherry-tinted lips and the same intoxicating smell.

 ‘Maria… I.’

Maria’s soft face soured.

‘You left Callie on her own, she ran over to us crying.’ She said. ‘And Christ, is that vodka? You said you’d stopped drinking?’

I looked down at my plastic cup which was almost empty. So much for the melted water excuse.

Before I could reply, we were joined by Callie and her father, Jack.

Jack turned to me with eyes of pity.

‘Claire, we brought you here so you could spend time with your family but you’re still determined to sabotage everything.’

‘No I was just… it was just one drink and I only went to play a bit of basketball. I thought she was behind me.’

‘We’ll try this again soon but I don’t think you’re ready just yet. You’re my sister and I don’t want to watch you waste your life away.’

They turned around hand in hand and left me standing by the basketball machine.

Stupid Jack. He looks the same as me – the same eyes, hair and face but because I was born a woman the sloppy twin got Maria. 

I took the last sip of my vodka slushy and threw it into the basketball hoop. Another perfect shoot.