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Phoenix grimaced as Maya pulled him through the bustling crowd of carnival goers. He had begged her to wait until the end of the week when it wouldn’t be so busy, but Maya had refused. She loved the crowds, she said, and besides, she wanted to go before all the good prizes were won at the games.
The thing was, Maya wasn’t good at carnival games. It wasn’t her fault, they were rigged after all. But Phoenix had a knack for them, mostly due to the fact that Larry had once worked as a carny and had divulged all the tricks to Phoenix one night while out drinking. The next year when the carnival came around again, he’d remembered the things Larry had told him, and before they knew it, he was winning all sorts of prizes for Maya and Pearl.
And despite being almost 21 years old, Maya was still a sucker for stuffed animals, especially big ones. Every year since, Maya dragged him to the carnival and used him as her personal Prize Winner, not to mention her personal ATM. But as much as Phoenix complained, seeing her go home with an armful of giant teddy bears and other assorted prizes made him happy, so he continued to do it, however begrudgingly.
This year Maya had convinced him to go without Pearl, at least for one day. He felt a little bad leaving the younger girl out, but he could make it up to her another day. Maya clearly wanted this day to be about her, and besides, Pearl preferred the rides. He knew today would be all about the games.
They made their way around the carnival grounds once, stopping periodically to watch other people playing the different games available, just to see where the best prizes were and which games would be the easiest to win. After they’d scoped the place out, Maya dragged him back to one of her favourites: the balloon dart game.
It was one of the easiest to beat. Larry had told him that the carnival workers would only inflate some of the balloons a small amount, which made it much harder for the dart to pierce them. Phoenix knew to look for the most inflated ones, they were always the thinnest.
There was a large Steel Samurai plush hanging from the prize rack. Maya pointed at it wordlessly, and Phoenix stepped up to the counter. He slapped down a five dollar bill and was given his darts.
It had taken a few tries, after all the game still relied on having accurate aim and Phoenix wasn’t perfect, but eventually he’d popped enough balloons for the worker to exclaim that he’d done it! The Steel Samurai prize was his.
Maya grabbed the plush from the worker’s hands and hugged it to her chest. “Thank you, Nick!” she said, grinning at him.
The worker looked between them, eyes lighting up. “Aw! Is she your little sister?” she asked.
Phoenix couldn’t help the snort of amusement that left him. Maya glanced up at him, eyebrow quirked. “No, she’s definitely not my sister,” he said.
“Oh, sorry,” the worker said. “I see a lot of older brothers and fathers spend so much money trying to win their sisters or daughters a prize. It’s always nice to see. I just assumed.”
“You know what they say about assuming,” Phoenix muttered.
“Nick, don’t be rude! Besides, I’m an amazing sister. You should be proud that someone mistook you for my brother.”
“I would never want to be your brother, Maya,” he said. Maya looked hurt for a moment, then annoyed. She turned and started to stomp away, back into the crowd of other carnival goers, her Steel Samurai plush dangling from her hand. Phoenix shrugged at the worker, who was now looking sorry that she’d ever brought up the possibility of the two of them being siblings, and followed Maya, keeping an eye on her topknot so as not to lose her in the crowd. He wasn’t sure why she was so mad.
Phoenix followed her to the area where all the food stalls were. Maya got in line for a hamburger with fries, and Phoenix took a seat at an empty picnic table to wait for her. Once Maya had received her food, she scanned the crowd, knowing he would have followed her. She joined him at the table once she’d spotted him, though made a point not to talk to him. She set her Steel Samurai plush beside her on the bench.
They sat in silence while Maya ate. She took her time, dragging out the awkward silence, but Phoenix knew better than to bother her when she was angry and eating. When she’d finished her final French fry, she pushed her tray away from her slowly. She stared at him a few seconds longer, and then finally crossed her arms over her chest.
“So why wouldn’t you want me to be your sister, Nick?” she asked. “Are you saying I wouldn’t be a good one? I was a good one, you know, before my sister died, and I like to think I was a good big sister to Pearly all these years, too.”
Phoenix was surprised at this outburst. He hadn’t even thought about Mia or Pearl, or that Maya’s feelings would be hurt by him saying he wouldn’t want her as a sibling.
He got up from his side of the picnic table and moved around it to sit down beside her. He moved her Steel Samurai plush to the table top and scootched in close to her so she could hear him better over the hustle and bustle of the carnival. “Maya, I know how great of a sister you were to Mia, and are for Pearls. I would never doubt that.”
Maya pouted. “Then why wouldn’t you ever want me as your sister?”
He looked at her incredulously. He thought the answer would have been pretty obvious, but apparently for Maya, it was not.
“We have sex on the regular, Maya,” he deadpanned, his voice low. He leaned in even closer, mouth just inches from her ear. “I mean, just last night you were telling me to spank you harder while I was behind you, begging me to pull your hair and everything else.” Maya shivered, feeling his breath against her ear, the memory of the night before making her squeeze her legs together under the table. “Of course I would never want you as my sister,” he continued. “I wouldn’t be able to fuck you like that if you were my sister.”
Goosebumps had risen on her skin by the time he was finished talking. “Oh,” she said. “Oh yeah, that’s right.” She grinned suddenly. “Then I guess I’m glad you’re not my brother, too, Nick.”
Phoenix sighed and pulled away from her. “Good. Glad we got that cleared up. Now let’s go win you some more prizes.”
Maya jumped out of her seat, grabbing her Steel Samurai plush in one hand and threading her arm through Phoenix’s with the other. As they walked back into the crowd, she stood on her tiptoes to whisper to him.
“If you win me three more prizes, I’ll give you a different sort of prize tonight.”