Page 68 of The Leaves In Autumn
“Wait! Anyone have an idea before he tells us?”
“I do. At least I can guess some of it. But you tell.”
I would never take the moment away from my son. I’m glad he still wants to play family games. I gave it up for awhile in my twenties. But that wasn’t my fault. I almost forgot that.
“It’s TikTok Challenge Night!”
“Awesome!”
“What is that?” Gaston asks Jillian.
“Let me tell!” Teddy calls.
“Well tell then!”
“There will be teams. At first. Until we get to the eliminations. We’re going to draw names.”
Scarlett speaks up.
“Is this the Tortilla Slap Challenge? I know that one!”
She starts clapping with the joy of a child. Wait till the first tortilla lands. I see tears in the future.
Tyler looks at his mother with respect for the fact she has a clue. I saw them. The videos made me laugh, and now that I’m thinking about it, I know a few tips. Don’t overfill your mouth. The element of surprise isn’t always best. If you are paired with a laugher, stretch the time out. Sometimes they just spit it all out before you have to smack them. I’m game.
“For those of you who haven’t see it before, let me show you.”
Grabbing his tablet from the table, he presses the white arrow.
“So, this is it. Angle so everyone sees.”
It takes maybe ten seconds for the laughter to start.
“Oh shit!”
“Stop it! I am not going to slap your grandfather across the face. If we end up team members.”
But the way she saysstopitis suspect. There was a small smile. She loves the idea. Dad sees it too. Van asks the obvious question.
“Oh, but you have no objection to assaulting your children or grandchildren?”
It makes her chuckle.
“None. I hope you’re first.”
Teddy returns to the instructions.
“So as you can see, you take a big swallow of water in your mouth first. Hold it. You stand facing each other and do Rock Paper Scissors. The winner gets to smack the other one across the face as hard as they can! The last one with water still in his or her mouth, wins the Challenge.”
“Get it?” Sam seriously asks, as if we are idiots.
“I think we can decipher the intricacies of the game,” Van says. “This will be epic.”
David interrupts.
“Yeah, yeah. I hope I get you or Uncle Aargon.”
He smiles an evil grin.
