Madness at the Movies, Part 2

[If you missed Part 1 last week, you might want to go back and read that first.  Enjoy!]

That evening, Jack and his friends returned to the theater, armed with some special supplies.  As they were on their way back, they went over their plan of action for the evening.

“That way, we won’t attract any attention,” said Jack.

“It sounds good,” said Robbie.  “What theaters are we assigned to again?”

“Theaters 4 and 5, both of which are showing Phil 2,” responded Jack.

“Great!” said Kurt.  “We don’t even have to pay to get in!”  As the boys were helping out with the mystery, Grissom had given them free passes.

“What’s Phil 2 about?” asked Emma, who was on her way back.

“You’ll see,” said Jack.  “Since we’re covering two theaters, we’ll have to split up.  Two of us will take 4, and two of us will take 5.”

“Why don’t you and Emma take 4?” said Kurt.

“Alright,” said Jack.  On the one hand, he would have preferred Kurt or Robbie.  On the other hand, it was his job to make sure Emma was alright.

“Well, here we are,” said Jack.  “Does everyone have everything?”

Everyone did, and the entered the theater.  Quickly, they split up, with Jack and Emma getting in line for Theater 4.

“Remember,” said Jack, “not a word about this unless I bring it up.”

“About what?” asked Emma, smiling up at her brother.  Jack started to reply, then stopped as he realized Emma was only pretending to forget about their mission.  He smiled at her.

“Hey, is this the line for Squid Man?” someone behind Jack asked.

Jack turned around.  “No, Squid Man is in Theater 2.  This is 4.”

“Oh, okay.”  The speaker, a long-haired man clad in a squid shirt, turned and left.  “He must really be into that movie,” Jack thought to himself.  Then it was his turn in line, and he showed the person at the door his ticket.

“Emma, do you have yours?”

“It’s somewhere,” said Emma, rummaging through her purse.  Jack wasn’t sure why, at seven years old, Emma already had a purse, but she did.  Already, she was an expert at losing things in it.  But she finally found the ticket, and they went in.

The theater was dark, just as Jack had expected it to be.  Ads for new movies were playing, but they didn’t do much to light up the room.  Everyone was staring at the front, anyway.  Thus, no one really noticed when Jack and Emma slipped onto the back row.  They made their way to the center of the theater until they were just under the projector.

“Well, here goes!” Jack thought to himself, turning to face the hole that led to the projector room.  It was then that he discovered a problem.  He had planned to slip into the theater and climb through the window along with Emma so that they could spy on anyone who came in.  Unfortunately, the window was too high off the ground.  There was no way Jack could climb into it.

“Phooey!” thought Jack, staring up at the window just out of his reach.  He thought about what to do.  Then—

“Emma!” he whispered.  “We won’t be able to climb through that window, so I’m going to boost you through.”

“Oh, boy!” whispered Emma back.

“Once you’re in there, though, be careful.  Hide, and if anyone comes in, DON’T let them see you.  Just signal the rest of us, the way I told you.  Got it?”

Emma nodded, a big grin on her face.  Jack wished he could rely on her to stay out of trouble.  At the moment, though, she was the only one of them who could get into the room.  Emma wasn’t strong enough to hoist Jack up.

Looking around to make sure he wasn’t attracting attention, Jack picked up his sister, who stood on his shoulders and grabbed the side of the window.  Then, she pulled herself up.  One leg, then both, went over, and she was in.  She gave Jack a thumbs up and disappeared from view.

Jack sat down and prayed that she would be alright.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“You’ve failed at your assignment, disgraced the reputation of this business, and caused more problems than we’ll ever be able to solve.  No one, I repeat, no one, in the history of the world has done this job as badly as you just did!  I’ve never seen a sorrier excuse for a human being than you.  What have you got to say for yourself?”

“Does Tom own a John Deere or Husqvarna lawnmower?’

Everyone in the theater laughed, including Jack and Emma.  The film was nearing its halfway point, and it was just as good as advertised.  Phil, the main character, was doing what he did best: getting into trouble.  In the scene in question, he was about to be fired from his third job.

So far, there had been no issues with the projector.  Emma sat in the projector room, waiting.  There was only one drawback with her hiding place.  It was right under the projector, between the large machine and the wall, and Emma couldn’t see the movie from where she was.  Every now and then, there were scenes where not much was said, but the audience kept laughing.  Fortunately, the movie was fairly dialogue-heavy.

“OUT! OUT! OUT! OUT! OUT! OUT!” shouted Phil’s angry ex-boss, pitching the star character out of his office.  Just then, someone came in.  Not into the office on the screen, but into the projector room.  Emma stiffened.

Peering around the machine, she vaguely made out a silhouette before whoever had entered closed the door.  Footsteps sounded as he neared the machine.  Suddenly—

“Don’t touch that!”

“Why, what’s wrong with it?”

“It’s a priceless decanter dating back to fifteenth-century England.”

“Oh, well then it must be invulnerable—CRASH—I stand corrected.”

Screams erupted from the screen as Phil got himself in trouble once again, but Emma was focused on the person in the room.  She saw him start to fiddle with the machine.  Quickly, she pulled out a walkie-talkie and squeezed it.  She didn’t say anything, but that device would make Jack’s, Kurt’s, and Robbie’s all beep.

The screen now showed Phil at dinner at a fancy restaurant with his girlfriend, Margie.  (The assumption was that Phil and Margie would get married by the end of the movie.)  They sat in silence, gazing at each other until Phil broke the spell.

“Sometimes, I imagine this giant gorilla creature, rising up out of nowhere to devour us all.”

At that moment, the focus went out!  Angry shouts erupted from below.  Emma couldn’t see what had happened, but she guessed it alright.  She smiled, knowing that the trickster would soon be apprehended.  She heard footsteps again and assumed the mysterious intruder must be leaving when she realized the footsteps were approaching her hiding place!

Then, a shadowy figure appeared around the side!  It stopped when it saw her!

The darkness was too thick for Emma to make out who it was, but she screamed and sprung to her feet.  Immediately, mass chaos erupted below!  Screams, shouts, and hollers resonated throughout the room as people stampeded out of the theater.

Just then, the room was bathed in light.  “Alright, we’ve got you cornered!  Come out, wherever you are!”

It was Kurt, Robbie, Mr. Grissom, and three workers.  Emma quickly ran out from behind the machine.  “He’s back there!” she said.

“We’ll get him!” yelled Mr. Grissom, leading the charge.  The party at the door ran to the front of the room—

Only to find no suspect!

“Where is he—”

“Got him!” called Jack from below.  “He tried to jump down and make his escape through the theater, but I tackled him.  I think he’s unconscious.”

“Good work!” said Mr. Grissom, before rushing down to see who had been caught.

The lights were soon turned on in Theater 3.  No one minded, as the whole audience had left, except for Jack and the prankster, who was—

“Marv Willis!” exclaimed Grissom.  “He owns TTKN Theaters!  I never suspected him of doing anything like this!  Why did you do it, Marv?”

Marv had come to but was holding his head and didn’t look like he felt like going anywhere.  “I had to,” he muttered.  “My theater’s not doing well.  All my regulars keep going to yours.”

“Marv, my theater’s not doing well!” said Mr. Grissom.  “I didn’t try to sabotage you or Garman, though.  If your theater wasn’t doing well, you should have realized how I would feel if mine started struggling.”

“I knew Mr. Grissom was too trusting,” thought Jack.

“Hey, isn’t the movie still going on?” asked Kurt.  “Where is everybody?”

At that, Jack started laughing, and took him a few seconds before he could explain what had happened.  “Did you catch the line about the gorilla?” he asked between chuckles.

Kurt and Robbie shook their heads.  Jack repeated the line and continued, “Right after that, Emma screamed.  Then, when she stood up, she was in front of the projector, and a giant head was silhouetted on the screen.”

Everyone burst out laughing.  “So that’s what it was!” said Grissom.  “I was wondering where everyone went.  Don’t worry, Miss Barnes.  For catching the suspect, you’re forgiven.”

“And you’ll never drink lemonade again,” came a voice from the still-playing movie.