The Hubby Hold (IQ Testing Book 2) Read online

  When I jerk on the leather straps, I am not freed then I become panicked.

  I exhale, closing my eyelashes, trying to forget, this horrible moment. But, my stomach reminds my brain cells, sloshing side to side with seasickness, right back into my mind.

  The wheel rotates into a downward pose. My skull is almost touching the floor.

  The room is dark and silence, making me more fearful that something else is going to pop out of the woodwork, or sneak up on my exposed back muscles.

  I gasp with fear then snort tiny puffs of air molecules, trying to calm my racing heart, sweating palms, and active imagination.

  I hum, thinking how many knives will surround my body. This is a fake throwing show, but a true spinning wheel. The wheel, alone, is making my mind spin, my eyeballs burn, and my face swollen from drooling blood vessels.

  I growl, promising to find out, who is behind Citizenship Day. I can’t believe the rest of the teens allow this to happen to their bodies. Then, I gasp.

  The other teens are smarter than I.

  The Cubby Hole started out with 313 teens inside the auditorium painted in silver tint.

  Now, in the next to last color tone, there are fifteen teens willing to endure the torture of the horrible park place, just to earn their once in a lifetime dream job. If my parents had tattled to me this horrible event, I would have stayed in the orange color tone with Buffo.

  I gasp with the truth.

  Buffo was told of these scary events, before walking into the Cubby Hole. He had been exhibiting and tattling to me some shared knowledge. This explains to me his stationary position inside the orange color tone.

  I snarl at his chicken stew attitude then gurgle with bravery, since I can’t laugh out loud.

  I am going to endure this final park place and win over Buffo, the Cubby Hole, Rincon, Marsilla, and my parents.

  I open my eyelashes, at that moment, staring into Duchie’s scared eyeballs.

  Our wheels meet, at the exact moment, in time and space, inside the dark and quiet room.

  Duchie yelps then gasps. Three knives, at the same time, shoot up from the wood, tenderly rubbing her bicep, foot, and thigh.

  I gasp, seeing numerous knife tips pop up from the wood around Duchie then exhale.

  Yes. I, now, know the total number of knife tips that will surround our bodies. The mirrors told me so. My mirror showed my age in odd numbers. Duchie’s mirror was even numbers. Therefore, I will have a total of seventeen knife tips around my body.

  Duchie will have sixteen knife tips.

  I can see her body, since I’m completing a third rotation.

  So, she should be very close to receiving all sixteen knife tips. The triple number of knives means the tips will pop up from the wood, three at a time.

  Duchie yelps then gasps, when another set of three knife tips rub against her body. She closes her eyelashes, holding back the vile bile from her stomach. She is afraid that the vomit will cause to her choke. She rotates towards the top of the wheel for a fourth time.

  Her guts shift side to side, up and down from the rotating motion. Her fear has left the mind, being replaced with angry at the park place, the Cubby Hole, and Citizenship Day. Her parents didn’t exactly spill the details of the park places, but reminded her to be brave and endure. Now, Duchie understands the word, endure.

  Bravery is easy, when you’re young and naïve.

  She exhales slowly, feeling the leather straps tighten around my rib cage, making her panic into suffocating. She relaxes her limbs, closing her eyelashes. She has lost count of the knife tips, not knowing how many will surround her body, either.

  But, the park place can’t last, forever.

  Duchie yelps then gasps, feeling the knife tips slowly lower down into the wood as they once against tickle and tease her body parts with the sharp blades. The cat suit is enduring the cutting, very well.

  The wheel stops. Her skull points at the wooden floor then the leather straps contract quickly.

  Duchie falls down with the force of gravity, shoving her arms into front of her skull. She rolls forward, like a ball, away from the wheel then lands on her back. She exhales in deep breaths, spread eagle on the wooden floor.

  I rotate towards the floor, seeing with my right eyeball some motion around Duchie. Then, I smirk, as best as I can, with my mouth smashed against the wood.

  Duchie is freed.

  So, I will be free, soon, too.

  I gasp, when two knife tips rub against my foot and my cheekbone. The sharp tip tenderly cuts a tiny gash into my skin.

  I curse, as best as I can, with my lips, kissing the wood.

  Two more knife tips rub against my arm and rib cage. I don’t know the current count of perturbing knives, being more angry than curious, at the moment. My fear has subsided, knowing that I am close to the final number seventeen.

  I gasp, feeling each knife tip drop back into the wood, leaving my mind with holes in my cat suit and cuts on my exposed skin. I gasp then breathe with anticipation of sliding off the wheel.

  The wheel slowly rotates towards the bottom, when the leather straps contract into the wood, too.

  I fall forward from the wheel onto the wooden flooring. I scream, having full control of my lips.

  Duchie stands, after her fake heart attack had passed, then dashes to Ketona. She catches Ketona by the collar bone, assisting her too gently, somewhat, fall onto the floor.

  The girls land on top of each other, twisting and entwining their arms and legs. They exhale and giggle with relieve, completing the blue park place.

  Duchie croaks from the tight throat. “Ya okay?”

  I nod, clearing the mucus from my esophagus, un-wrapping from her body parts. I sit on my fanny, probing my body. “Sorta. Ya alive ?”

  “Angry alive, let’s get out of here,” Duchie wipes the sweat and blood from her mouth, biting her lips.

  I find that my cat suit is fully intact and shiny, keeping my body harmless from the numerous protruding knife tips. However, I can’t say, or think, the same condition for my shaky mental mind. I slam my hands to my face, feeling the dried blood from the slicing knife tip and feeling angry and hate with the Cubby Hole.

  I view Duchie.

  She stands on her knees, examining her cat suit, too, finding the same results, like Ketona. The cat suit is intact, but, not her brain cells. She sits on her kneecaps, exhaling and examining her ponytail. She holds the end of the ponytail in the air and giggles. “The only victim of the knife throwing show, my ponytail has been sliced at an angle, making my ponytail into a short piggy tail. But, that’s okay. I am okay. You are okay. Okay, let’s finish this thing and get back into the Cubby Hole.”

  I view the open archway, seeing the wall of mirrors straight through the room of mirrors. “I hate Citizenship Day.”

  “Stop it! Do not feel angry. I mean, I understand, feeling angry, too. This is a psychology game, Ketona. We’re about to enter the final color chart of gold. You need to calm your emotions down into numbness, or something non-feeling. The Cubby Hole wants you to feel defeat, and your blood. You’re face is blooding on your cheekbone.” Ketona nods, wiping her face. Duchie says. “You can’t allow the Cubby Hole to defeat you, not now. Look, we’re almost there, you and me. We will emerge, next, into the golden circle for the last question, the most important question for our dream job, living in Colfax for the rest of our breathing days. Do not give up, now, Ketona.”

  Duchie grabs Ketona by the collar bone, “Promise me! You will feel nothing and concentrate on the single most difficult academic question of your life…”

  I nod, without words. I exhale with deep breathe, blocking my mind of my deep fear, pain, revenge, and angry, trying to replace with the emotions of gladness, happiness, and joy.

  Duchie smiles and nods, slapping Ketona on the collar bone. “Excellent! Get up and priss, like a teen girl. Time to conquer both our fear and our dream, within the Cubby Hole,” she stands and swings towards the archwa
y. She dances side to side, humming and skipping through the wall of mirrors towards the room of mirrors.

  I struggle to stand, curling my fists into ball, wanting to hit something. I dare not hit the mirrors for fear of blooding my hands. I stomp one foot, first then the second foot, forcing my mind into numbness, like Duchie has wisely advised.

  I stomp, clearing my mind, making my thoughts empty. My mind becomes blank of any emotion for the single most difficult academic question of my life.

  Chapter 19

  Gold

  I glide from the darkness, into the gold-ness of the colored wall, not smiling, wiping the sweat, tears, and blood from my face.

  I feel a great deal of excitement, happiness, contentment, and victory of my advancement into the gold color tone from the blue color tone, but refuse to show the emotions.

  This is the last activity inside the Cubby Hole then Citizenship Day will be completed.

  I exhale, sitting inside my me-chee chair, glowing in blue color.

  The me-chee stands and says. “Do not exit your chair. Stay inside your chair. Do not exit your me-chee chair. All teens are to stay inside the me-chee chairs, or the teen will face the severe consequences.”

  My chair jolts in a different spot, from the previous color tones, making me both curious and confused. I am in the second row, along with other me-chee chairs colored in the blue shield. I struggle side to side then view the rear wall, inside the auditorium.

  The room is filled with me-chees in different shades of color.

  I gasp with shock.

  Now, I understand. All the teens have returned from their particular park place and back into the Cubby Hole. Their respective me-chee chair reflects their current status of color.

  In the rear wall, there are many rows of pink colored shields, covering numerous me-chee chairs. These teens will live, work, and die, quickly and quietly, inside the dangerous and heated radiation pits of the outer township named Tonkey.

  The next color tone shows numerous rows of yellow colored shields of me-chee chairs, where the teens will live, work, and die from natural causes of old age, inside the sewer pools of Dandine.

  Then, there are several rows of orange colored shields of me-chee chairs, where Buffo is seated.

  I narrow my eyelashes, trying to locate Buffo among the many chairs. I can’t find him, but I truly know that he is there, within my sad heart.

  The other colored rows follow the order of the me-chee chart color red then green, and finally blue, where I am lounging, currently. There is, also, another row of blue me-chee chairs, ahead of me.

  I narrow my eyelashes, seeing only the rear ends of the blue glowing metal then view the side row of glowing blue chairs.

  Duchie is beside me, wiggling and smiling with excitement.

  Then, I pick out Lamis inside her blue me-chee chair, further down on my row of glowing blue shields. I smile with delight.

  Lamis has successfully landed inside the golden room, too, for the single most difficult question of her teen life, too, like she had planned.

  I wiggle side to side with excitement, anticipation, and nervousness. I exhale, feeling relieve, gladness, and sadness. My Colfax neighbors did not meet me, inside the golden circle, like we has planned, yesterday. I can’t see the faces, lounging inside the blue me-chee chairs, before me.

  I am in the front position on the second row.

  There are six me-chee chairs sitting in the row ahead of me, but I feel certain the row contains the grinning faces of Rincon, Marsilla, and Nephella, along with some of the other teens that have advanced into the blue color, from the green color tone, before me, also.

  I am late bloomer in this academic competition, getting behind, when I tried then failed to rescue Buffo, within the orange color tone.

  The blue color tone is represented by the outer township of Montag, where people live, who make items, like clothing, shoes, jewelry, purses, cellies, equipment, appliances, food trays, birthday cakes, and other useful and useless fun and necessary merchandise. The merchandise items are sold inside the posh city of Colfax to the Colfaxians.

  I giggle, wondering how to spell the word, Coflaxians and then remember.

  M seventeen birthday party had a big pretty colorful cake, some colorfully ice cream cones, and Buffo. I exhale, feeling sad then wipe him completely from my mental mind.

  I exhale, shaking my feet and hands, focusing on the present, now, the single most difficult question of my teen life, for my dream job, of a medical technician, like my BPs.

  The me-chee says. “Welcome back to the Cubby Hole, teens! This is the gold colored auditorium, representing the final color tone. Each teen, regardless of your current color tone, has the opportunity to advance into the gold color tone. I have mentioned this fact, before you fell down into the pink color tone, very early this morning. Presently, there are 313 schoolers inside 313 me-chee chairs with different shades of color. This is the final activity of Citizenship Day for the graduating schoolers to attend, participate, and finally complete the Cubby Hole, within the gold color tone, for your earned citizenship.

  “The gold color tone allows any schooler to select any work job, at any work building, anywhere in the city of Colfax, or your home town, if desired, for the rest of your work career. This is the purpose of the Cubby Hole. The old rule, in the Cubby Hole, provided and presented several academic questions for a chance of high successful probability, or maybe, just plain old good luck. The new rule, in the Cubby Hole, now, there will be presented only the single most difficult academic question. I must emphasize, here. You will be given one single most difficult question with one single most difficult answer. I will, like always, be the me-chee voicing the single most difficult academic question to you, inside your individual me-chee chair, then you state the correct answer back to me. You must use the following prefix phrase for your selected answer. My answer is…then your answer. I understand, some of you will need to verbally talk out loud through the solution, before quoting out loud, in a clear voice the correct answer. This is part of the mental thought process. This mental process is allowed within the new twenty seconds time limit.

  “If you answer, correctly, you will advance into the gold color tone. If you answer, incorrectly, you will remain inside your current color tone. I suggest, closing your eyelids while concentrating on my sexy voice, easing your anxious emotions, as teens. I will remind, again. Please state, my answer is…then your single answer to the single most difficult academic question, within the Cubby Hole, during the gold color tone activity. I will begin.”

  I close my eyelashes, wiggling with nervousness, anticipation, worry, and excitement. I concentrate better, without viewing the other nervous teens. I exhale, leaning into the soft fabric of my me-chee chair, grinning with nervous energy.

  The me-chee says within my me-chee chair. “Pearlite is a structure composed of alternating layers of ferrite at 88 percent weight and cementite at 12 percent weight. During the slow cooling process of the pearlite, which is formed by a eutectoid reaction, what is the eutectoid temperature in the degrees of Fahrenheit?”

  I gasp with shock.

  The answer is one single number and a contest for the top genius schoolers to compete for the first place finish, like a race. Each schooler, inside the gold color tone, gets their pick of their dream job, living the dream, forever, within Colfax. However, the first place schooler, to correctly answer the question, will get the first pick at the dream job, since there are six genius teens, currently, competing for five dream jobs: medical technician, legal technician, me-chee designer, me-chee technician, and administrator technician.

  Rincon, Marsilla, Nephella, Duchie, Lamis, and I have been alternating our wins between the color tones, throughout Citizenship Day, where Rincon has been dominating, of course. But, there are six teens for five jobs.

  I gasp with more shock.

  The row ahead of me, three me-chee chairs change from blue into gold, within a few milliseconds of ea
ch other. The chairs must be Rincon, Marsilla, and Nephella.

  I shout within my me-chee chair. “My answer is…1,341.”

  My me-chee chair turns into a pretty golden color, highlighting the shield. I smile, wiggling side to side with happiness, touching my golden color cat suit. I did it. I made it into the golden circle. I get to pick my dream job. I giggle and wiggle side to side, again, with extreme joy.

  I exhale, slapping my hands to my heart then my dirty face, closing my eyelashes.

  I blink my eyelashes open then swing and look down at my row of blue chairs, holding both Duchie and Lamis.

  Duchie wiggles side to side, biting her fingernails with worry.

  I whisper. “Come on, Duchie! You have been through too much to fail, now. Calm down! Think it out! It is not a trick question, but a standard temperature.”

  Duchie moves her lips, when her me-chee changes into gold.

  I toss my arms, viewing her.

  Duchie wiggles side to side, smiling and tossing her hands. She gives a thumb ups then a fist bump into the shield, then a number one signal, as I laugh and smile with her.

  The me-chee host stands under the color chart, without emotions or movement.

  I exhale, slapping my chest, studying Lamis. I narrow my eyelashes, since she is further away from me.

  Lamis wiggles side to side, biting her lips, ringing her hands. She opens her eyelashes, staring at the far wall, whispering to her brain cells.

  Duchie narrows her eyelashes at Ketona then swings her face down the row of blue. She picks out Lamis then gasps with worry.

  Lamis wiggles side to side, ringing her hands, staring at the wall.

  The room is silence.

  The me-chee chairs contain, very well, the grunts, shouts, and screams of any schooler, being annoying or bored, right now, inside the Cubby Hole.

  I exhale, studying Lamis.

  The twenty seconds of time is ticking away, swiftly.

  I gasp with panic, studying Lamis. The question is too easy, if you know the answer. It is a one single number answer. The me-chee had provided the condition of the degree method. There is no formula, or equation, or theorem, or puzzle, or nothing to calculate with any math numbers.