Death Machine

The rattling of metal on metal shook my skull as the car passed over my head. Screams of joy filled the air as the cart climbed to monumental heights and then dropped throwing the passengers back into their seats. My stomach flipped just watching the cart speed along the rail. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and a chill ran down my spine even as I stood there sweating in the summer heat.

“I can’t do this.” I turned to make a not-so-elegant exit.

“Sis.” My younger brother looked at me with knowing eyes. There would be no excuse for escaping this crazy plan he would accept. “You’re going to be fine. You might even have fun.” Sweat trickled down my back as I shook my head. “Listen to me. Hundreds of people get on these things every day, all walking away. Most probably want to get back on but the line is too long. You can do this.” He grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. My mouth was dry as the line moved forward.

I rubbed my palms over my thighs as we moved closer. My brother’s arm was around my back preventing me from making a mad dash for the nearest bathroom and elevating my stomach of the hot dog my brother let me eat before talking me into this crazy idea. If my niece hadn’t been there staring at me with wide envious eyes, he wouldn’t have gotten two words out of his mouth. The little angel was waving at me from the sidelines like I was a movie star. I took a deep breath and then an unsteady step forward.

The ride attendant shuffled people into the plastic seats and lowered a metal harness over their chests. We shuffled our feet closer to our inevitable doom only to have the snot-nosed brat loading victims into the car hold up his hand bringing us to a stop. He bent four fingers and held up one digit higher in the air as he looked back at the line. A child, A CHILD, pushed passed us with a grin plastered on his face. My brother’s face put the child’s to shame.

“We’re going to have the best seats!” He was bouncing on his heels, the bastard. I bent at the waist and put my head between my knees. I was the gruel butt of life’s greatest joke. “Seriously Sis, what is it that scares you?” I could hear the eye roll without looking up at him.

To my brother, it was irrational that I didn’t want to get on a death machine hurdling around the track at the speed of sound. Even the mention of a roller coaster would induce a vision of the car leaving the track and sailing through the air only to pancake on the concrete below. My stomach performed a loop of its own as another chorus of joyous screams filled the air. My brother shared his enthusiasm with the other people in line until the car rattled around the track as it closed in on the final bit of track between me and death.

“Come on, Sis.” My brother held out his hand to me. He may not understand why my blood ran cold but he wasn’t making me do it alone. I took his hand as the attendant ushered us to the front seat. The air stopped moving in my lungs. My entire being shook. The bar came down over our heads in slow motion. The lock clicked into place with a loud thunk and we were prisoners ready to walk the gallows. My hands turned white as they painfully gripped the tiny handles next to my head. “This is going to be so great!” The harness couldn’t stop him from bouncing like a damn ball.

I wish I could say his excitement was contagious but it only made things worse. How could he be excited? I wanted to slap him. The people behind us laughed as the bar came down over their heads. It was painfully slow waiting for the attendant to lock everyone in. I was strapped in, the noose was tied, and there was no going back. The attendant jiggled the safety latches as he systematically made his way up the line of seats and back to his podium.

The chain below the car engaged and lurched us forward. I was going to lose bodily fluids before this torture was over. We crawled up the metal peak at a snail’s pace, tilting us back in our seats. The only thing in front of me was the blue sky. My grip on the handles tightened until my fingers tingled as I questioned my life’s choices. Closing my eyes I said a prayer to any God that would listen. Before I could finish the world dropped out from under me, my hair whipping around my face.

I didn’t want to open my eyes. If the end was coming I’d rather not see it but fear of not knowing forced my eyes open as we rocketed around a right turn. Our bodies were pushed to the left. People, including my brat of a brother, laughed and the car began another climb propelled by the inertia of that first drop.

“Isn’t this great?” He shouted over the rattling metal.

“No.” My brother shook his head and laughed as the car dropped and turned to the left. I swallowed the bile that had made its way into the back of my throat. A few more turns bounced us around our seats and then a chain latched onto the car.

“Oh boy!” My brother was vibrating with joy at the loop we’d seen from the parking lot, the same loop that had my niece looking at me with envious eyes. The loop that my brother drove us an hour to see. “Biggest one in the state.” If he had mentioned that we would be riding the thing, he would have been that last single rider, and I would have been home happily napping on the couch. The ass knew what he was doing. We climbed higher than the first drop and I squeezed my thighs together. I was sure I would piss my pants.

The drop came and my stomach floated as I was lifted out of the seat like the balloon tied to my niece’s arm. The metal harness caught, thank God, and I was stopped from floating off into the ether. My hair seemed to stand on its own accord. Looking up I was staring at a sea of concrete and people in bright-colored clothes. The other passengers screamed with joy as the loop leveled out. My brother was laughing his head off. A few more small turns slammed us around in our seats and then the car straightened out to make its way slowly back to the beginning.

The bile once more crept up the back of my throat. The one advantage to the whole horrid event was that we were the first let out of our shackles. I couldn’t get out of the seat fast enough. I ran down the ramp and as far away from the death machine as I could get before the bile needed to make an emergency exit. Dipping my head into the closet trash can my nostrils filled with the putrid smell of cotton candy and someone’s vacated stomach contents. The smell didn’t matter as I heaved making my addition. When I pulled my head up my niece handed me a bottle of water.

“Are you okay, Auntie?” Twisting the top off the bottle I looked over at my brother whose face was filled with guilt. My sister-in-law glared at him, she’d had my back since he’d opened his mouth. I swished the water through my mouth and then spit into the trash can. My niece reached up for my free hand. Those little brown orbs staring up at me full of worry. I couldn’t ruin the rest of their day. I plastered a smile on my face.

“I’m fine. Too much fun I guess.” My niece grinned.

“I can’t wait until I’m big enough to go!” My brother wrapped his arm around me.

“Thank you.” I leaned on him still weak in the knees. “It means a lot.”

“I don’t want her going through that level of fear.” I nodded to the metal monstrosity. Another set of screams filled the air as another group of daredevils plummeted off the first cliff. He squeezed me. “If you ever think about asking me to do that again, she’ll be an only child.” He laughed and nodded.

“Never again, Sis.”