“Viv, watch him carefully!” I call out. My feet continue to dangle over the pitch-black hole, but I can see it in the dark crinkle between his eyebrows. Even with the pain, he’s plotting his final move.
“Exactly… just like that,” Viv says, nine iron arched above her shoulder. “Now pull him up.”
Janos doesn’t move. He’s clutching my wrist and keeping me afloat, but only because I’ve got his ear.
“Did you hear what I said?” Viv asks.
He still doesn’t budge. Even though he’s supporting most of my weight, he can’t support all of it. I keep up the pressure on his ear. His cheek is close to the concrete, and his head is cocked awkwardly toward the hole. His face is an even deeper shade of red than before. Janos is holding me, but the pain’s starting to burn. Closing his eyes, he presses his lips together, then breathes through his nose. The crinkle between his eyebrows fades, but not by much.
“Janos…”
“Drop the club,” Janos barks.
“Pardon?” Viv asks. In her mind, he’s in no position to make demands.
“Drop the golf club,” he repeats. “No fucking around, Vivian. Put it down, or I let Harris go.”
“Don’t listen to him!” I shout.
Viv stares downward, trying to get a better read.
“You’ll hear him scream the whole way down,” Janos says. “Think you can handle that?”
Her mouth opens slightly. For anyone, this is tough. For a seventeen-year-old…
“You think I’m joking?” Janos asks. He digs his fingers back into my wrist.
I scream out in pain.
“Harris…!” Viv shouts.
Janos lets up, once again just holding my wrist.
“Harris, you okay?” Viv asks.
“T-Take his head off,” I tell her. “Swing away.”
“Do it and I drop him!” Janos warns.
“He’s gonna drop me anyway,” I add.
“That’s not true,” she says, refusing to believe it. “Just bring him up!” she yells at Janos. “I want Harris up here now!”
In spite of the pain that comes along with it, Janos slowly shakes his head side to side. He’s done negotiating. I don’t blame him. The instant I’m back on level ground, he risks getting kicked into the hole himself. Not only that, but it’s back to two against one.
Dangling by my arm, I feel reality settling in. There’s no way he’s bringing me up — which makes my decision that much easier.
“Viv, listen to me!” I shout. “Hit him now while you have the chance!”
“Not so smart, Vivian,” Janos warns, his voice unflinchingly calm. “You do that and Harris plummets with me.”
“Viv, don’t let him get into your head!”
Too late. She’s studying him, not me.
“I need you to focus! Are you focusing?” I shout. She turns my way, but her stare is vacant. She’s frozen by the choice. “Viv, are you focusing?!”
She finally nods.
“Good… then I need you to comprehend one thing. No matter what you do, I go down in the end. Either Janos drops me on his own, or you smash him, and Janos and I go down together. Do you understand? I go down either way.”
My voice cracks as I say the words. She knows it’s true — and she’s smart enough to catch the consequences: She’s seen how fast Janos moves. If she doesn’t take him out now, he’ll be all over her in an instant.
I feel Janos’s grip tightening around my wrist. He’s ready to dump me and make a jump for Viv.
“Do it now!” I shout.
“C’mon, Vivian — you really ready to kill your friend?” Janos asks.
With the nine iron poised in the air, Viv stares down — her eyes dancing from Janos to me, then back to Janos. She’s only got a few seconds to decide. She pulls the club back. Her hands begin to shake, and the tears roll down her cheeks. She doesn’t want to do it, but the longer she stands there, the more she realizes there’s no other choice.
81
“Hit him, viv! Hit him now!” I shout.
Viv’s got the club up in the air. She still doesn’t swing.
“Be smart, Vivian,” Janos adds. “Regret is the worst burden to bear.”
“Harris, you sure?” she asks one last time.
Before I can answer, Janos squeezes my wrist, trying to break my grip. I can’t hold on to his ear any longer.
“D-Do it!” I demand.
With his back to Viv, Janos stays focused on my wrist, digging his fingers in deep. He doesn’t even bother looking back at her. Like all gamblers, he’s playing the odds. If Viv didn’t swing by now, she’s not swinging at all.
“Viv, please…!” I beg.
Her whole body’s shaking as the tears come even faster… She starts to sob, completely overwhelmed — but the golf club’s still up over her head.
“Harris…” she calls out. “I don’t want to-”
“You can do it,” I tell her. “It’s okay.”
“A-Are you…?”
“I swear, Viv — it’s okay… I promise…”
With one last stab, Janos jams his finger into my wrist. My grip pops open — but just as I slip, sliding down into the hole, he doesn’t let me fall. Instead, he grabs my fingers, crushing them together. A wide smile takes his face. He likes being in control… especially when he can use it to his advantage.
I dangle by my arm, watching Viv carefully. “Please… please do it!” I beg.
Viv swallows hard, barely able to speak. “J-Just… God forgive me,” she adds.
Janos stops. He hears something in her voice. Twisting slightly, he turns toward her.
Their eyes lock, and Janos checks again for himself. The rise and fall of her chest… the way she keeps readjusting her grip… even the way she keeps licking her bottom lip. In the end, Janos lets out a small, almost inaudible laugh. He doesn’t think she has it in her.
He’s wrong.
I nod at Viv. She sniffles up a final noseful of tears and mouths the word Bye. Turning back to Janos, she plants her feet.
C’mon, Viv — it’s him or you…
Viv pulls the club back. Janos again laughs to himself. And all around us, the air-handlers continue to chug. It’s a frozen moment. And then… as a drop of sweat leaves her nose… Viv puts all her weight behind the club and swings away. Janos immediately lets go of my hand and turns to pounce on her.
Janos expects me to fall back and drop to my death. But he doesn’t see the tiny foothold I’ve been balancing on for the past few minutes — a manmade divot that’s dug into the interior wall of the hole. The tip of my shoe grips the two-inch ledge. I flex my leg. And before either of them realizes what’s happening, I leap upward just enough to grab Janos by the back of his shirt. Lunging at Viv, he’s totally off balance. That’s his mistake — and the last one he’ll make in our little chess match. In any sport, especially politics, nothing works better than a good distraction. Barely able to hold the edge of the hole with my right hand, I yank him backwards with my left. He has no idea what’s happening. I give him a sharp tug toward the hole, duck down, and let gravity do the rest.
“What’re you — ?!” He never gets the words out. Tumbling out of control, Janos plummets backwards into the mouth of the hole. As he passes, he clutches at my shoulders… my waist… my legs… even the sides of my shoes. He’s moving too fast to get a handhold.
“Nooo…!” he screams, his final word echoing upward as he plunges and disappears in the darkness. I hear him bounce off one of the interior walls… then another. There’s a raw, scraping sound as he ping-pongs back and forth the whole way down. The screaming never stops. Not until the muted thud at the bottom.
A second later, a shrill siren wails from the depth of the hole. I’m not surprised. It’s the air intake system for the entire Capitol. Of course it’s alarmed. Capitol police won’t be far behind.