Florence: Where It All Began

Chapter 42

A few hours later, you're sitting on the couch reading a magazine and you see an ad for an arcade that has the usual arcade games but also has a bowling alley. You've been wanting to get out and do something fun and this looks like the perfect opportunity.

"Hey, Tony?"

"Yea?"

"We should go bowling."

"Bowling?"

"Yes, bowling. You know the game where you have to knock the 10 pins down with the ball?"

"I know what bowling is. I just didn't think Florence would have a place like that."

"Well they do and we should go."

"You really want to?"

"Yea! It's not like we have anything else to do. We don't have to play all night, just a game or two. What do ya say?"

"Why are you so interested in bowling all of a sudden? I haven't heard you talk about it once."

"I'm not so interested in it. It just looks fun and I wanna go with you. We haven't done anything like this together yet. come on, it'll be fun!"

"I really don't want to."

"We aren't going to be able to do things like this when we get back to the States so we should do it now. Please?"

He sits there and stares at you, trying to decide what to do. You make puppy dog eyes and a pouty face, hoping that will convince him. He looks at you, half annoyed and half amused before covering his face with his hand. You walk over to him and sit down on his lap, removing his hand from his face and stare at him with the same face.

"Pwease?"

He looks up at you and smiles.

"That's an awful trick. How can I resist saying yes to that?"

"Does that mean we can go??"

He rolls his eyes and sighs.

"Yes."

"Woohoooo!!!"

You get up and start dancing around.

"My God, you're just like a child. I've never seen anything like it."

"You haven't seen anything yet!"

An hour and a half later, you arrive at the arcade. Tony is very on edge, almost cranky and you're considering giving into his mood and just forgetting the whole thing.

"Come on."

He grabs your hand and pulls you with him as you walk inside, but he tugs on your hand so hard he almost pulls you over.

"Geesh, take it easy. I'd like to keep my arm in it's socket."

"Sorry."

He rushes you inside and stops before he gets up to the counter, nervously rubbing the back of his neck and chewing on his lip.

"What do you want to do?" He asks.

"Just start with one game for now. Do you know your shoe size?"

"My shoe size? Well yes, I think so."

"Okay, well mine is an 8 ½."

"I don't know why you're telling me this."

He snaps at you and you can tell he's not happy so you take the lead and pay for the game. You tell the man your shoe sizes and hand Tony his pair.

"You two will be on lane number 1, all the way at the end." The man says.

"Thank you."

You grab Tony's hand and start leading him down to your lane. You set your shoes down and take your jackets off, all the while, Tony is looking very lost.

"Are you alright?" You ask.

"Yea."

He's got such a frown on his face and you are regretting coming here.

"Do you want to leave?"

"No, we're here, we can stay."

"Well I don't want to play with you if you're going to be like this."

"Let's just do it, I'm fine!"

"Okay. Let's go choose our ball."

"You walk up to the ball rack and find one for you and out of the corner of your eye you see Tony pacing back and forth looking overwhelmed at all the choices.

"Are you finding one?"

"Yes."

He looks for a few more seconds and then bends down and picks up a green one.

"Are you sure you want that one?"

"Yea, why not?"

"Well, it's a pretty light ball for one and the finger holes don't look big enough for you."

You set your ball back on top of the rack and help him try to see if the holes will fit the fingers.

"Too small. You have big hands, you're super strong, so let's try.... Let's try this one."

You reach down and pick up a big 15 pound black ball that looks to have larger holes.

"Try this one."

He tries it and it's a perfect fit.

"There ya go, that one's perfect for you."

"Okay, thank you."

You go back and sit on the chairs in your lane to put on your bowling shoes. Tony is being very quiet, almost too quiet and you think you know what's wrong.

"You've never been bowling before, have you?"