Over the Rainbow - Book One - 'The Gathering Place' Read Free Page A

visible through the mesh, almost as if
mocking Chris. Dan sighed with a barely restrained superiority and
reached into the pocket, crisply plucking out the ball and holding
the shiny black sphere before his face a la Hamlet with Yorick’s
skull.
    “ And what
do you have to
say, o' magical eight ball?” The ball remained mute, and Dan shook
it slightly, peering intently at its inky surface. And then his
eyes lit up with feigned revelation, his voice grating with
nails-on-chalkboard abrasiveness as he crowed, “Well, what a
coincidence, it agrees! It says- ‘Loser!’” Dan laughed hollowly at
his own joke as several others in the room laughed with
him.
    Grandly gesturing with the ball,
Dan now played to the crowd. “And so it is written- 'Loser'.
Destined for a desk job in corporate America, just another stuffed
shirt for the offices of Matthews, Incorporated…” Dan paused, a
quick dramatic beat, reigning in his audience, and then continued,
“Could have had it all- the corner office, the staff... but alas-
no. His future, squandered, cast into the wind, just another sad
casualty of the 'Slacker Youth Syndrome'.” Dan sighed gustily, a
smirk of mocking irony creasing his face. “I hear you're starting
off your brand new career as a shipping magnate in the mail room.”
Dan gaped at Chris in feigned astonishment and sputtered, “The mail
room? Are you kidding? Just a tad cliché, don’t you think? Better
get FedEx.” Dan laughed again at his own self-perceived witty
retort and continued, this time waving the ball tauntingly in
Chris’ face. “You're sort of behind the eight ball my friend, not
exactly the place for the heir
apparent to be, now is it?”
    Chris roughly snatched the ball
from Dan’s grasp and raised it like a weapon. “Enough with the
'Heir Apparent' bullshit, okay!? I didn't choose to be born to this- and
neither did you .
Things just- are. And because of what? Fate? Destiny? Random
chance? What-fucking-ever. We just… are.” Chris suddenly paused in
his tirade as a thought washed away his anger and brought a tiny
smile to his face, a slight crease of dimples cratering his cheeks.
“Okay, jerk-wad, I'll tell you what…” Chris pulled out his wallet
and produced a bulging sheaf of bills encased in a delicately
engraved money clip. He fanned them tauntingly in Dan's face and
said defiantly, “I've got a thousand bucks that says this 'Loser'
can kick your arrogant ass.”
    Dan sneered in disgust as he stared at the bills
below his nose, “For a measly grand? No way.”
    Chris shrugged and again reached
into his wallet. This time he pulled out a flashy trust fund credit
card and dropped it casually into an empty glass on the edge of the
table. “Fine,” he said, “I'll add a zero.” He gestured idly to the glass, where the
card glittered softly in the light refracting through its crystal
facets and stated grandly, “Your card sir.” As Dan grudgingly
complied with a matching card, Chris smiled again, the dimples
deepening further, and said, “Rack 'em up.”
    Dan aggressively racked the balls, his movements
swift and precise, and then viciously flung the cue ball to Chris,
who snagged it coolly without flinching. “You break,” said Dan with
oily menace.
    Chris took the hand of one of the girls he had
previously discarded and pulled her roughly to him. Quickly,
forcefully, he kissed her, long and hard. The girl stiffened,
struggling just a bit, and then relaxed slightly, giving in to the
kiss. Chris just as suddenly released her, again discarding her,
almost contemptuously. The girl moved away, startled, resisting the
urge to wipe her lips.
    Chris winked at the befuddled girl.
    “ For luck,” he said.
    This just confused her further.
    Squaring the mortar-board rakishly across his head,
Chris leaned in and violently struck the cue ball, blasting it into
the colorful triangle and causing an explosion of balls that
scattered in all directions. He watched with hands on hips as