I never thought it was possible, but by the time
Curt and I got home, the entire town of Eastville was going “star
crazy.” The mayor had designated it “Space Week“ in honor of
Terra Tech Dynamics, the aerospace company that owned my father’s
satellite. There were all kinds of special events planned to
celebrate the launch, including a parade, a field day, a concert, a
sci-fi film festival, and science fair at our school. I thought
it was kind of strange to see our boring little town getting off on
something I’ve been into for years. For these people, space has
never meant anything more than the substance between their ears.
We got home just in time to catch the dedication of
a new planetarium Terra Tech Dynamics donated to our school. Curt
used the occasion to announce his acceptance of the Air Force Academy
scholarship and his plans to become an astronaut. He got an
outrageously loud round of applause from the people present, which
really didn’t surprise me at all.
“What do you think, Crystal?” asked Curt when
the lights went out and stars were projected on the ceiling.
“Not bad, but I’m sure it doesn’t beat the real
thing.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Someday, I’ll
know for sure.”
I looked up at him and realized he was right.
Whenever Curt decides to do something, no matter how big it is, he
always manages to do it. He’s a real overachiever. The only
thing he can’t do is his own laundry. Other than that, he’s
immortal.
Curt’s girlfriend came over and put her arm around
him. Her name was Kathy Katzenjammer, and she was one of those
annoying cheerleader types who always seem to date guys like
Curt. “That was cute, Curt. I liked what you said about the
Air Force Academy. Of course, you’re still going to go the
college I go to, right? You’re not serious about becoming the
next Buck Rogers, are you?”
“Flash Gordon,” corrected Curt. He gave me a
nudge.
“We’re going to have a long talk about this.”
“I know, Katz. I know.”
Kathy looked at both of us, then walked away without
saying goodbye.
“What a bitch,” I whispered. “You two were a
match made in heaven.”
Curt looked up at the stars and didn’t say a
word.
*
* * * *
I spent all day Saturday at the park. There
was a big banner hanging above the gate with “SPACE WEEK” written on it, and
there were all kinds of activities going on. It was kind of like
the field day the fire department has every year, only there were guys
walking around in Star Wars
costumes. I sat on the hood of somebody’s car with my portable
radio and sunglasses on, way too cool to be seen out in the open.
Casey Winslow and his friends came by once in a
while, but they never stopped to talk. They just flashed their
drugs at me and made goofy faces. I knew Curt was out to kill
them, so I just ignored them until they went away.
Curt came by with his two best friends, Harris and
Wesley. He usually referred to them as his “wingmen” but I just called
them his “wingnuts.” They were dorky athletic guys who shared the
same brain. Unfortunately, that brain was Curt’s.
“We’re thinking about having a party at the house,”
Curt said. “Think you could go stay at a friend’s house?”
“That would be impossible, since I don’t have any
friends.”
“What about that Gina chick?” asked Curt,
referring to the infamous Gina Kenickie. She was a girl from
school who always sat next to me, but I can’t really say she was a
friend. She was more like a curse. She always wore weird
clothes and had colored hair that looked like a tortured Muppet.
Kids avoided her—and me, because I couldn’t get rid of her—like the
plague.
“She always gets on my case about every little
thing,” I told him. “If I even think about inviting myself to her
house, she’ll give me a black eye.”
“Well I suppose you can stay home, then. Just
don’t tell Mom and Dad I had a party when they get home.”
“Who’s going to be there?”
“Just some of the guys from the team, and a few of
Kathy’s friends.”
“The cheerleaders,” Wesley made to sure to say.
“Sounds thrilling,” I said. “What are you
going to do?”
“Get drunk, maybe have an orgy if we’re lucky,” said
Curt.
“That’s thoroughly disgusting. I think I’ll
rent a couple videos and stay in my room tonight.”
“Well, do what you want. We’ll see you later.”
“See ya.”
I took a sip of my soft drink and watched them
mingle back into the crowd. For some reason, the idea of Curt and
his friends having a party didn’t’ sound quite as exciting as having
one with Casey and his friends. I wondered if they would try to
crash it.
It started to rain for a little while, so I got on
my ten-speed and rode home. When I got there, I made myself some
tacos and sacked out on the couch to watch television. There were
a couple comedians on that were about as funny as a terminal disease,
so I changed the channel and watched a Japanese monster movie instead.
Curt and his girlfriend came by a little
later. He tossed a bunch of videos on the couch next to me.
“You’ve probably seen all of these before, but you can watch them if
you want.”
“Thanks!” I began to read off the titles: “Revenge of the Ninja Zombies, The Planet
that Coughed Up Blood, and I
Was a Teenaged Space Cadet. Real classics!”
I grabbed a couple of them and walked down the hall
to my room. Curt and Katz were already making out on the kitchen
counter.
Curt’s friends arrived about an hour later, and I
could hear them bringing in a few cases of beer. I just stayed in
my room and watched the low-budget movies Curt picked out.
Eventually I got bored with them and put some music on my little ghetto
blaster. Since I was the biggest Pat Benatar freak in the whole
galaxy, I had all her tapes. I took my creative writing notebook
out of my bookbag and started flipping through the pages of my latest
epic, The Zipper in the Fabric of
Space and Time.
The Zipper
is sort of an alternate universe story in which three of the characters
I made up for other stories manage to slip through a hole between the
universes and enter the one I actually inhabit. The first two
characters are Captain Cosmos and the Satellite Kid, who are basically
a sci-fi Batman and Robin rip-off with liberal doses of mental
retardation thrown in for fun. The third character is Cassandra
Goldstar, who is your run-of-the-mill, lone-wolf, blonde-haired,
blue-eyed, take-no-bullshit heroine who wears nothing but black leather
and flies around in a spaceship blasting everything in sight. In
other words, she’s what I would be if I had my way and puberty kicked
in overnight.
In this story I meet up with Cassandra Goldstar and
help her catch up to Captain Cosmos and the Satellite Kid.
Although I hadn’t figured out the ending yet, I was sure it would be
the greatest novel of all time and make me millions of dollars.
Of course, eventually I would have to type it all up because at the
time it was only written in pencil on notebook paper.
I opened up to a blank page and thought about
writing a few pages, but for some reason, I couldn’t think of anything
to write about. Ever since I met Casey Winslow and his gang, I
had a hard time thinking about anything other than the real
world. This was something new for me.
I closed up my creative writing notebook and sat
next to my window, staring into the night. Somewhere at there
were Casey and his gang of dope-smoking demons, laughing their heads
off and cruising around without a care in the world. Even though
my brother Curt hated their guts, I wanted more than anything to be out
there with them. Maybe it was because Curt hated their guts that
I wanted to be out there with them. Whatever the case, hanging
out in my bedroom on a Saturday night watching sci-fi flicks was
definitely not my idea of a good time anymore.
