Content Warnings: Violence, Racism, light body horror
Welcome to your update of The Midwest Decapolis. I’m Dave Perkins, here with my cohost and two-time Midwest Decapolis Champion, Billy Bolter. Say hello to our listeners, Billy.
Hey there, everyone.
Before we get into today’s event in Milwaukee, here’s a recap of the first six stops of this 10-city tour.
In case anyone’s been living under a rock.
Exactly. The first two cities, Rob Lewis took an early lead, setting a new league record by landing the first kill of the tour within one hour and twenty-six minutes in Omaha, and then snagged another win in Kansas City with a whopping 35 points.
Insane!
Right? But you can never predict what might happen in the next city. In St Louis, Justin Lar—
Carl tuned them out as Sofia came in the control room. “Hey, Sof. Working late?”
“Someone on the night shift was sick all over the men’s bathrooms. Took ages to clean. Just popping in to grab the trash.” She smiled and a thrill ran through him. Talking to her was the highlight of his day. She never seemed to notice he was always early.
Her dark curls fell over her face as she grabbed the trash can. He imagined running his fingers through her hair—
“See you tomorrow.” She left, altogether unaware of how much he thought about her.
With a sigh, he put his headphones on once more and turned back to the mixing board.
Hello, hello, listeners. You’re back with Dave Perkins and Billy Bolter, talking about The Midwest Decapolis. Milwaukee was exciting. We saw Rob Lewis finally move back into the lead with his third win of the tour. He racked up six kills.
Dave, most people think that Lewis clinched the victory with that kill last week. However, we still have two more stops on this tour, and there are three other competitors with one win. Don’t count out Micah Randall, who picked up wins in Indianapolis and Cincinnati. This field is still wide open.
Yeah, Billy, and I think today will prove to be a challenge. Chicago is a different ballgame because of the L.
Traditionally, it’s been viewed as an advantage to the bounties because they can move around the city, evading competitors. But it also exposes them to a lot of people who could tip off their Decapolis favorite.
We’ll talk more about that after these messages from the Midwest Decapolis sponsors.
Flicking a switch, Carl shut off the On Air light over the door. He hit the intercom for the studio. “Great job, guys. Four minutes until we’re back. Coffee?”
Billy called back, “One cream, no sugar.”
Carl hurried to the lobby coffee shop. There she was, mopping the lobby floor. He quickly got a coffee for himself and Billy, and on a whim, added a horchata cold brew.
Careful of the wet floor, Carl approached Sofia—heart racing as he held the drink out to her. She looked up at him. “Thought you might like this.”
Her dark brown eyes lit up at the first sip. “Horchata! My favorite. How did you know?”
His cheeks warmed. “I think you mentioned it.”
“That’s sweet. Thank you.”
“Any plans this weekend?”
“I’m leaving tomorrow to spend a week with my mom.”
He ignored the disappointment that flooded him. “Oh, fun. Well, gotta get back. Enjoy your vacation.”
It’s the finale, listeners! After Micah Randall secured the win last week in Chicago, it all comes down to today, right here in our very own Minneapolis. Billy, what happens if someone other than Lewis or Randall wins today?
Great question, Dave. If there’s a tie, whichever competitor has more points, wins the whole title.
That’s right, Minneapolis, by the end of the day, we’ll crown the next Midwest Decapolis Champion. We just got the bounty list. Remember, these names are randomly selected from each city’s registered immigrant list. Want to read the names for the fans, Billy?
Absolutely! Minneapolis’s bounties are Felipe Luis Gonzalez (Mexican, 63), Ahmed Ali Hassan (Somali, 26), Nguyen Thi Linh (Vietnamese, 18), Alejandro Jorge Martinez (Mexican, 6)—
Carl tossed his headphones to his assistant to take over for him for a pee break. He jogged to the men’s room to do his business. As he was washing his hands, the door burst open and Sofia rushed in, nearly colliding with him.
“Sofia? Why aren’t you on vacation?”
“Carl, please help us!” Her voice cracked.
He noticed the boy clutching to her leg. This must be her son, Alex.
“What’s wrong?”
“I tried to get him out of town before the Decapolis, but the car died, and I’ve got no money. Then I saw the list—I don’t know where else to turn.” Her words were interspersed with shuddering gasps.
“Sof, slow down. What happened?”
“My son’s on the bounty list.”
Carl’s mind reeled. She was so fair-skinned, he assumed she was white. “Your last name’s Martin.”
“I changed it from Martinez. Please, that guy everyone’s talking about, he’s here!” She thrust a plastic baggie out to him.
He jerked back from the dismembered hand inside. “Where’d you get that?”
“I bought it. You could give it to him, tell him that you killed Alejandro. Tell him he’s your favorite and you wanted to help him win. People do it all the time.”
“They take DNA samples and fingerprints for proof of death. They’ll know.”
“No…no, they can’t kill my baby.”
Alejandro looked up at him, fear in those deep brown eyes so like his mother’s. How could he say no? “I have an idea, but you won’t like it.”
“Anything. Please.”
He took a deep breath. “I’ll be right back.”
He returned with the fire axe from the hallway. “Put his arm over the sink, and get ready to wrap it up.”
“I’m sorry, mijo,” Sofia whimpered, clamping a hand over Alejandro’s mouth. She looked away as Carl lifted the axe. He brought it down swiftly and the boy’s hand fell into the sink.