“I don’t want to go to Sun Bluff or Waterton,” I said, my mouth full of pepperoni pizza. “I don’t even think they’re real towns.”

My father rubbed his forehead, thinking.

“I don’t want to go too,” Kaylee added.

“You can stay with your Aunt Ellen if you want,” my dad said. “I just thought it would be nice if we stayed together.”

“I don’t want Aunt Ellen,” Kaylee said.

“Just eat your pizza.”

My nerves wore away with each grating sound of my sister’s open-mouth chewing. Even at four, she had the annoyance of an adult.

I took one big bite of my slice and looked over my shoulder at the pinball machine. The graphics had a space warrior wearing a cowboy hat and roping a green space vixen with a laser lasso.

“Can I have fifty cents?”

My dad rummaged in his pockets. The change clanked around, so I knew he had quarters. He held out the pile in his palm, and I picked out two.

“Take more,” he said. And I did. All the quarters in his hand.

“I want to play,” Kaylee whined.

“You don’t know how.”

“Just go and watch your brother,” my dad said.

The quarters plunked to the bottom of the machine. Lights bounced all over as the music cascaded about the corner of the room. I was the space warrior.

I stretched the spring back as far as it could. The steely ball glinted with the red and green glow of the machine’s lights. And I let her rip. Plink, plank, chunk, chunk. Flip-flip-flip-flip. Ka-chunk. Right down the middle, and gone.

Second ball. Not so much power this time. I pulled the spring back half way and volleyed the ball into play. Plink-plink-plink, ga-dunk-ga-dunk-ga-dunk. Flip-flip-flip. Ka-chunk. Down the middle and gone.

This went on for that game and all the rest, until I exhausted all the quarters. So much for space vixens.

“How did you do?” my dad asked as we returned to the table.

“Sucked. I think it’s broken.”

“And you still want to stay here?”

I laughed, peeling up a slice of pizza from the elevated pan between us. I took a huge bite, chewing and savoring. My dad’s eyes were tired.

“Food’s good. So long as Aunt Ellen lets us out of the basement.”

My father nearly spit out his food. All his seriousness disappeared, as the glint of Space Warrior beaming into his pupils. “I won’t be long,” he said, “I promise.”

“Can I have more quarters?”