Page 27 of Demon Hunger
The girl resumed eating, but by now, Joey Flint was ahead by two hot dogs. When I checked on Kody next, I was surprised to find that he was also ahead of the girl by one hot dog. He had paced himself the entire time, and it seemed to be the perfect strategy.
Suddenly, the champ made a pained sound, as if somebody had punched him in the gut. Face pinched, he bent over and ran to the back of the stage. He had succumbed, all his efforts canceled out by the awful retching that sent the crowd cheering and booing at the same time.
Now in first place, Kody cast furtive glances toward his close second, who seemed to be barely holding it together. He also glanced back at the clock as it ticked down the final seconds.
The buzzer went off at last.
Behind me, Jenna excelled in relief. “Oh, thank God.”
The people with the counters walked off stage, then the announcer walked on, carrying a microphone in one hand and a trophy in the other. He made a beeline for Kody.
“Kody Jeong takes the first prize, which includes a lifetime supply of Beltman’s Frankfurters, this trophy, and a check for eight hundred dollars. But most importantly, bragging rights as the Staten Island champion.”
Eight hundred dollars? That’s it?
It hardly seemed worth it.
“I guess he’s not saving his mother from cancer,” Benjamin said, looking put out.
“Tell us, Kody, how do you feel about winning?” The announcer asked.
Kody held up his trophy, a huge smile on his face. “It’s amazing,” he shouted cheerfully. “I could have kept on eating for another hour.”
The crowd cheered as if he was the Giants’ quarterback who’d just scored five touchdowns in a row. His smile grew bigger still. He raised the trophy higher and started doing a silly dance.Eye of the Tigerby Survivor came on the speakers, and Kody started bouncing on the balls of his feet, throwing punches at the air.
The announcer patted him on the back, then walked off the stage, taking the microphone with him. Following his cue, the crowd started dispersing. As it thinned, Kody watched, his enthusiasm decreasing, his dancing moves and punches growing slow until they finally stopped. His face fell so dramatically that it was impossible not to notice his change in attitude. Shoulders slumped, he walked off the stage.
“Let’s go.” I grabbed Jenna’s wrist and dragged her through the retreating crowd. As we went, I couldn’t help but glance toward the sky for celestial threads.
—You have nothing to worry about. I got your back, Drevan spoke in my mind, startling me. He hadn’t done that in a while, and I couldn’t say I missed it. It was too immediate, too intimate.
For the first time, I realized that all along he’d had this ability at his fingertips and hadn’t used it to try to talk to me and force his apology and explanations on me.
He respects you and your wishes, a very traitorous side of me piped up.How many of the guys you ever dated did that?
Oh, yeah?my logical brain shot back.Was he respecting you when he was telling you all those lies?
I shook my head and focused on the path ahead.
“You don’t think he’ll throw up on us?” Jenna asked. “Let’s not get too close.”
If only that was my only concern in the world.
We found Kody behind the stage, patting his face with a wet towel. I stopped abruptly, and Jenna ran into me. We watched him for a moment.
“What do we do?” I whispered.
“Umm.” She thought for a moment. “Got it. Follow my lead.” She pulled out her phone, held it in front of her, and approached.
“Hello! We wanted to congratulate you.” She stopped several paces away from him, looking doubtful, as if she thought he would start blowing hot dog chunks in her direction at any minute.
Kody’s face immediately lit up. “Thank you. It’s an honor.”
“We work for the LDH Magazine. It’s an online publication.”
The what?
“Would you mind if we interview you?”
