Mixtape For The End of the World

34. Sexy Stranger #4 shows Gabe a looping water slide.

34. Sexy Stranger #4 shows Gabe a looping water slide.

While Gabe was away for the weekend, Mikey and I got a chance to talk about his next vision. "A looping water slide?" I said to Mikey. "That's not possible, right?"

Mikey paused and then said, "There's one at Action Park."

"Mikey, you have got to be messing with me," I said.

"Why would I lie to you, Pete?" Mikey said.

"What's Action Park anyways?" I asked.

"It's an amusement park not too far from here," Mikey said. "They have a looping water slide. It's called the Cannonball Loop, and Gerard and I went on it last summer. I thought I told you about this in one of my letters."

"I remember you were complaining about a back ache last summer," I said.

"That was from going to Action Park.," Mikey said.

"I don't believe you," I said. "There's no way that anyone would be stupid enough to build a looping water slide."

"I promise you that it's real," Mikey said. "Anyways, I think our plan is obvious. We just won't go to Action Park, and then there will be no way that I can possibly show Gabe a looping water slide. As far as I know, the one at Action Park is the only looping water slide out there."

Mikey seemed to know what he was talking about, so I agreed to his plan, even if I still thought that looping water slides were as imaginary as unicorns. For a few days, the plan worked. Mikey and I spent most of our time hanging out with Ray and Brendon, with Gerard and Frank occasionally joining in.

Gabe returned to Belleville on Monday, and during breakfast, we all talked about our plans for the day. "Now that Gabe's back, we should do something special," Brendon said.

"I don't know what we'd do," Mikey said. "There's nothing to do in New Jersey. I can't wait to get out of here someday."

"There has to be something that we can do," I said. "Are there any good movies playing?"

"We could go see the new Friday the 13th movie," Mikey suggested.

"No way," Gabe said. "I'm not watching any more horror movies with you guys."

"You're such a chicken," Brendon said.

"Nobody calls me chicken!" Gabe exclaimed.

All of a sudden, Gerard walked into the room. "What's going on?" he asked.

"We're trying to decide what to do today," Mikey explained.

"I thought we were going to Action Park," Gerard said. "I know that Frank and I had plans to go, and you and Ray said that you wanted to tag along last week."

Brendon suddenly perked up. "Action Park?" he said.

"Yeah, it's an amusement park near here," Gerard said. He then sang the jingle, "The action never stops at Action Park!" He laughed and asked, "So are you coming?"

"Yes!" Brendon exclaimed.

"I want to go too!" Gabe said. "This sounds like so much fun!"

"Yeah, let's go to Action Park!" I exclaimed.

"Gerard, you broke your nose last time we went to Action Park, and the time before that, you sprained your ankle," Mikey said. "Why are you even thinking about going there again?"

"It's like a rite of passage. Action Park is the best amusement park in all of New Jersey," Gerard said.

Even Mikey couldn't argue with that, if only because there weren't very many other amusement parks in New Jersey. "I still don't want to go," Mikey said.