The Carnival at Bray Read Free Page A

night. All the windows were rolled down and the speakers hissed and crackled, threatening at any second to blow out completely. A cyclone of ash gusted around the car, settling in Maggie’s hair and in the lap of her black jeans. The music and the wind made it too loud for talking, so she just sat and looked out the window at the city rushing by while Jeremy and Rockhead smoked their weed, until they reached Clark Street and the traffic came to an abrupt standstill.
    â€œWhat a shitshow,” Rockhead said, leaning out the window and flicking away the cashed end of the joint. A line of concertgoers in T-shirts and torn jeans and see-through tops snaked from the entrance of the Metro all the way down Clark for nearly half a mile.
    â€œWhere the fuck are we gonna park?” Taco asked. “I
told
you we should’ve taken the bus. I can’t walk that far!” He turned in his seat to look at Maggie. “Football injury.”
    â€œDon’t believe him, Maggie,” Jeremy confided. “He’s always making excuses to cover for his morbid obesity.”
    â€œExcuse me, asshole, but most of this is muscle mass.” Taco reached into the backseat and presented them with a flexed, beefyforearm. “Touch my arm, Maggie! Pure solid muscle.”
    â€œDo
not
touch his arm,” Kevin instructed from the front seat as he scanned the street for a parking spot.
    â€œThe problem with you, Jeremy,” Taco continued, withdrawing his arm, “is that you don’t know shit about physiology. It’s not weight that matters, but
body fat percentage.”
    Before Jeremy could respond, Kevin slammed on the brakes, yanked AG BULLT into reverse, and swung the car into an open spot directly in front of a fire hydrant.
    â€œDude, you can’t park there,” said Jeremy. “They’ll tow your ass.”
    Kevin thrust the parking brake into place.
    â€œOne has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws,” he declared, turning off the ignition.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThat’s Martin Luther King, ignoramuses. ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail.’ ”
    â€œCan someone please explain to me what’s
unjust
about
not
parking in front of a fucking fire hydrant?” Taco sighed. “If this shit gets towed, I am
not
paying for you to get it untowed.”
    Kevin got out of the car and winked at Maggie.
    â€œLet’s go,” he said.
    The huge, epic, life-altering show was none other than the Smashing Pumpkins, playing at their favorite hometown venue, just weeks after the release of
Siamese Dream.
After being patted down by security, Maggie reminded herself not to freak out at these facts, at least not visibly, as she followed Kevin and his friends up the curving linoleum staircase that was crammed from rail to rail with sweaty fans.
    â€œSo, do we have good seats?” she asked, scrutinizing the ticket stub that she already knew would be a keepsake for the rest of her life.
    â€œSeats?”
Taco laughed. “What do you think this is—the goddamn opera?”
    â€œLeave the girl alone, jagoff,” Jeremy defended her, slipping a hand around her waist. “She’s only, what, like eighteen?”
    â€œSixteen,” Maggie blushed, feeling the clammy pressure of Jeremy’s fingers on the curve of her waist.
    â€œYeah—as in too young for you,” said Rockhead.
    â€œDamn if she don’t look full-grown to me.”
    Kevin, who was just ahead of them on the stairs, turned and looked down.
    â€œGet your hand off my niece,” he said, “or I will cut your fucking dick off.” Jeremy’s hand slithered away, and Taco and Rockhead, cowed, averted their eyes and rummaged their pockets for beer money.
    At the top of the stairs, the crowd piled toward the stage, slurping beer from plastic cups and holding their cigarettes aloft while the sound check filled the auditorium with screeches and drum trills. And then all