The Trouble in Me by Jack Gantos Page B

about fifty yards of heavy yellow boat rope. She rolled it down the driveway, and Frankie and I helped her push it across the grass.
    Once Gary was on the ground he hung the saw by its handle on the lowest peg. He peered up at the naked tree, which looked like a stubby toothpick.
    We peered up at it, too.
    â€œSo, Olympic athletes, here is what we are going to do,” he announced. “I will tie the rope onto the top of the tree, supertight, and then one of you will climb to the top and hang on to the tree like a koala bear. I will take the loose end of the rope and tighten it around the winch on the tow truck, and when the tree is bent backward—having been aimed toward a certain valuable target—I will let the rope go and the tree will snap forward. You must time your release from the treetop in order to hit your target destination.
    â€œHere are some tips. If you release too soon, you will shoot straight up into the air and come straight down. If you hang on too long and the tree snaps way forward, it will fling you facedown on the ground. So consider the geometry and timing that may shape, or misshape, your future.”
    I tried to keep my expression blank so as not to show any fear.
    â€œFinally, I must tell you. There are only three targets and you have to pick one. There is an easy one, a harder one, and an insanely deadly one. You got that?”
    I sort of did. “What are the targets?” I asked.
    â€œAsking a question,” Gary said, “is against game rules—thus you will have to go first. So, big mouth, here are your choices: A, I will catapult you over the roof of our crappy little house and you will hope to land alive in the swimming pool. B, the kiddie pool near the tree in the side yard is full of water and those Korean death fish, and you will have to land dead-center in that to avoid breaking your face. And C, looking toward the other side of the yard is a very friendly southern oak tree with lots of soft Spanish moss covering the branches. This is the easy one. I shoot you in there, and all you have to do is grab a branch and hang on.”
    I raised my hand. “Can I ask another question?”
    He groaned. “If I lived with you I’d smother you in your sleep.”
    â€œSince each target is so different,” I continued, “are the rewards or prizes better for the harder ones?”
    â€œIndeed,” he said, and smiled appreciatively. “I’ve built that into the game. Each target has a prize that is calibrated to please one exact person. So if you are shot blindly over the house and land in the pool, then at a very future date you can join me and my friends at a special private juvie-reunion party where all sorts of fun may just be lurking about. Or, if you land in the Korean killer-fish pool, you can have my brass knuckles. Or, if you land in the oak tree, you can have my plush, three-foot-high pink teddy bear and I promise I will remove my ex’s name from the bear’s rear end because I will never have anything to do with Tomi and her lying ways in the future.”
    He took the end of the rope and quickly climbed the tree and tied it to the top, then returned with the other end of the rope and yanked it to the tow truck and got it hooked to the winch cable.
    Since I had first choice, I couldn’t resist trying to win an invite to the juvie-reunion party. Even though I was a little jealous of his outlawed friends I was thrilled he would give me a chance to meet them.
    â€œI go for the swimming pool,” I announced.
    Frankie snorted through his nose. “I better call an ambulance now,” he said gleefully. “Or a hearse.”
    I trotted toward the tree as Gary backed the tow truck into position so that it was in a straight line with the roof and pool. It was easy to climb the tree, and as I made my way up I could feel that the trunk was very strong and yet very springy. It was also pretty tall, and I figured my