(eng) Mike Resnick - Galactic Midway 01 by Sideshow

Author:Sideshow [Sideshow]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 10

At three o'clock the next morning Dapper Dan tried to kill himself.

Big Alvin pounded on the door to the trailer until he finally woke us up. He was standing there in only his T-shirt and jeans, totally oblivious to the snow and wind, and screaming that Thaddeus had to get over to the dormitory tent right away.

As always when there was an emergency concerning the carnival, Thaddeus was up and dressed and reasonably wide awake in less than a minute. I can't move as fast as most people, and it took me about three minutes just to get out of my pajamas and into my clothes, and another minute or so to reach the tent. When I entered it Thaddeus was already working on the Missing Link, who was weakly trying to push him away. “Mustard!” he snapped at Alvin. The big guy just stood there with an uncomprehending look on his face. “Dammit, Alvin! Get me a jar of mustard!”

“Any particular kind?” asked Big Alvin.

“Just get it, you dumb son of a bitch!” bellowed Thaddeus.

Alvin shrugged and went out the door, obviously on his way to one of the concession stands. I walked over to Queenie's kitchen, found a bottle of yellow mustard, and brought it to Thaddeus.

He took it from me without a word and poured half its contents into Dapper Dan's mouth. The Missing Link fought against it, but finally swallowed the stuff.

“Stand back!” Thaddeus ordered the other aliens, who had all crowded around. “Give him air!”

A moment later Dapper Dan clutched his belly, and a few seconds after that he began vomiting. Thaddeus, a disgusted look on his face, held the apeman's head until he was finished.

“Don't just stand there, Treetop!” he hollered. “Get something to clean this up with.”

He turned to me. “Do you know what that bastard did? He took a whole bottle of Four-Eye's sodium pills. Swallowed every last one of them.” He put a hand on Dapper's shoulder and looked down at him. “You poor dumb monkeyman. If you want to kill yourself, you don't announce that you've taken the pills until they've had time to get into your system. Now all you're gonna have is one hell of a bellyache.” He took the edge off his voice. “Are you feeling any better?”

Dapper Dan made no answer.

“Would the sodium have killed him?” I asked dubiously.

“Who knows?” responded Thaddeus wearily. “I think fresh air and sunshine would kill half of them. For all I know his standard diet is bird shit.”

“I will try again,” said Dapper Dan softly.

“I don't doubt it,” said Thaddeus.

Dapper Dan looked up at him. “Why couldn't you let me die?”

“Maybe next time I will,” said Thaddeus.

“I hope so,” said Dapper Dan.

“Jesus Christ, what the hell's the matter with you?” snapped Thaddeus. “You're getting fed, you're not being beaten, there's always a chance that Romany will find you. What the hell do you want to die for?”

“Leave him alone, Thaddeus,” I said.

“Let me tell you something, Tarzan,” he continued, ignoring me completely.

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