“There’s an outbreak of amoebic dysentery associated with the fair. Haven’t you heard about it? It’s been on the radio for weeks,” I answered, looking out the window as city streets blurred below me. The train was moving fast, but the ride to the fairgrounds seemed painfully slow thanks to my company.

“I haven’t,” Gladys replied. “What does amoebic mean?” She was worried now, but I didn’t care to lessen her concern.

“It means caused by amoebas, you know, parasites, those wily little fuckers who invade your intestines if you drink water laced with shit or someone serves you a hot dog with a dirty hand.”

Maksim laughed, earning him a stern “humph” from Ingrid, while Igor reached over my seat to give the back of my shoulder a warning squeeze.

“Vik, we’re trying to have a nice day,” my brother chided, pressing my nerves more than my muscles. He was lucky I was tired and didn’t have the energy to turn around and knock him out. The recreant rat who tricked me into a date. What bushwa!

“And these amoebas are at the fair?” Gladys asked.

“Yeah, they’re not sure of the source, but if you get infected, you’ll have abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Worst comes to worst, the amoebas perforate your intestines and get into your bloodstream, where they can worm their way into other soft organs and fuck things up,” I explained.

Gladys cringed, growing more repulsed with each word I uttered.

“Can we avoid the amoebas if we don’t eat or drink anything?”

I nodded, not entirely sure. “Hopefully.” At least I didn’t have to waste a dime on feeding her.

As expected, my afternoon at the fair left much to be desired. It was odd to watch hordes of people ooh and aah over dream cars and homes of the future when they most likely struggled to maintain their quality of life. Walking through the rainbow lit buildings, I was taken by the frivolous expenditures and considered what the pot of gold that had paid for the fair could have gone toward instead.

My stomach dropped when I saw Cal and Rosie walking among the crowd. It shouldn’t have surprised me they would attend, after all, Cal prided himself on being an innovator, growing more invested in his makeshift moonshine meshugas by the day.