Pinballers of New Athens

Hello Dear Reader,

I wrote the following story based on the Fictionistas April Prompt. Thanks to them for hosting “The Great Substack Prompt Celebration”. As the deadline is Sunday 23rd April I am posting outside of my usual schedule. My story is 999 words, 1 under the limit. Enjoy!

The prompt:

In the United States from 1942-1976 pinball was outlawed in most major cities. Write about an illegal underground pinball club.

---

Photo by Senad Palic on Unsplash

I flash my seven league badges to the guy on the door. He’s older than me and his fingers twitch like he’s too long away from a machine. He nods me in, the door slides shut behind me, and I am subject to the low lighting and smoke filled basement of Steven’s Den. He is the last Overseer I need to beat. Then I can challenge the Wizard of New Athens. My dry tongue rakes over my dry lips. Seven Overseers beat, seven badges claimed, but every time my nerves threaten to get the better of me.

‘Seven badges? Cool,’ a pretty girl my age says. A lollipop hangs from one side of her mouth. She hops off a cabinet and lands heavy in her black leather boots laced up to the knee. Red lights dance across her sunglasses, her skin pale as snow.

‘Anyone can get seven, Luce. It ain’t special,’ the guy who let me in says. The cuffs of his leather jacket are flaking.

‘Oh shut up, Will, you barely have one,’ Luce gestures at Will with her lollipop. Will runs the chain through the sliding door and locks it without a word. ‘Yeah, that’s what I thought.’

‘You wanna face Steven?’ A young guy in a baseball cap asks. His eyes are too bright for this place, too hopeful. I look past him and see Steven lounging on a stool, his back to the wall, at the far end surveying his Den, his kingdom. A number of other hopefuls look on from the machines dinging and pinging away. A half dozen balls roll into the drain.

‘Not so fast, Joey. He has to face one of us for the right of it,’ Luce steps ahead of the kid. An eyebrow raised, a hand on her hip, ‘So you think you can handle me?’ Her cropped leather jacket opens enough to reveal her own set of six silver badges.

I should have known it was that Luce. I swallow hard. ‘Easily,’ I try and boost my confidence. It doesn’t work.

Luce smirks and walks up the aisle towards Steven, trailing a finger along the tournament machines. She stops at Jungle, ‘One ball each, highest points. Game?’ Her hand grips the plunger, a glossy black fingernail caresses her palm.

‘Game on,’ I say. The dozen or so pinballers gather round, eager for a competition game.

She smiles again and the ball rockets up the lane and rattles against three mushrooms scoring a point bonus. The digital display ticks up faster and faster. Her fingers dance on the flipper buttons knocking the silver ball round the edge and through a narrow inner lane, doubling her score as it slides across a target. Luce grins and the lollipop stick slides from one corner of her mouth to the other. She rocks back on her heels.

Steven is watching now, his cigarette flares and he locks eyes with me. Three. Four. Five. The triple mushrooms ring out and I break away from the stare. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. The score display climbs higher and higher. My hands go cold, how am I gonna beat that? Why’d she pick Jungle?

‘You watching dreamer?’ Luce doesn’t take her eyes off the ball as it makes a loop around the playfield skimming over two doubles in a row, earning her a triple. The display shows an explosion scattering the numbers over a volcanic scene and reassembles to reveal her seven digit score.

‘Maybe you should take Steven on,’ I say.

She snickers and side-eyes me behind her sunglasses. ‘How’d you get seven badges anyway? You look ready to bolt.’

‘Luck,’ I lie.

‘Yeah right,’ her ball hits a slingshot and crashes into the drain. Final score: 1’522’760. ‘Bad manners to distract your opponent,’ she stands upright, an eyebrow peeks above the frame of her shades.

‘You shouldn’t show off so much,’ I approach the machine.

‘She can’t help it,’ Steven says from his throne. He smothers the cigarette against a black scar on the stool leg. ‘Let’s see if you’ve got what it takes.’

I take a second to orient myself to the playfield. I press each button to check resistant, they’re still warm from Luce’s fingers. I pull the plunger down to max and let her rip. The little silver orb blasts off and round striking the same three mushrooms in a row as Luce’s did but in reverse. The ball ricochets off the top bumper and straight down missing all the targets. I flick it back with a firm right flipper. The ball spins along the left side of the playfield but misses the narrow lane with the double and bounces off the bumper and into the slingshot. The machine dings thrice and the ball sputters towards the left flipper. I punch it and send the ball up the middle and hitting a popper which launches it to a downward ramp curling to the top of the playfield. The three mushrooms ding again as my ball ricochets off each and then slips down the left inner lane activating the double target. I am still far, far behind.

‘I don’t think he’s got it,’ Joey whispers.

‘No fire in his fingers,’ Will whispers back.

‘Like you’d know,’ Luce says. She stands with her arms folded, the leather of her boots creaks as she rocks back and forth.

A bead of sweat rolls down my nose. The ball ricochets off a bumper, misses a flashing mushroom, and lands straight in the drain. I’m out and it wasn’t even close. My arms hang limp at my sides and I feel a hand on my shoulder, nails painted black. ‘Don’t feel bad, this is the hardest Den in town,’ Luce smiles seductively.

‘Better luck next time kid,’ Will unchains the door.

‘What’s your name?’ Luce asks.

‘Gio,’ I slip out the door.

‘See you soon, Gio,’ Luce calls. The door slams shut and cuts her off. Next time.

---

Thanks for reading!

Looking for more? Check this out:

The Dread and The Saint