Trent Reedy - Stealing Air

“Finding that much helium may pose a problem.” Max leaned over the diagram, looking from the picture to the flyer. “Otherwise, I think this is an excellent plan. It may interest you to know that the first space shuttle, named Enterprise after the ship from Star Trek , did not first take off under its own power. It was taken up on top of a 747 and launched in atmospheric flight tests from there.”

“Wow, more lame Star Trek stuff,” said Alex. He chugged down the rest of his soda and tapped Brian’s drawing. “Dude, this is really cool, but if this is the plan, flying under a giant pig, we better finish putting the engine back together.”

The week dragged on. Every day one of them read an article or watched a video online about eating contests. How much to eat. How much to drink. By Saturday, Brian felt as though he knew everything about how to eat a lot of food as quickly as possible.

That evening, Alex and Brian left Max in the Eagle’s Nest and went down to Piggly’s for the Pig-Out Contest. Brian breathed deeply, taking in the amazing smells of the place. He leaned toward Alex. “I’m ready to win.”

Alex spoke quietly. “Win or lose, so many people are betting on this contest that I’m still going to make a ton of money.”

“Good evening, boys!” Mr. Pineeda greeted them. “Young Mr. Mackenzie, and… Mr. Roberts, right?”

“Right,” Brian answered.

“Ha! I knew it! I knew it! Just you two tonight? Coming for a taste of the truly extraordinary for dinner, or for the frozen dee-light, the treat that that can’t be beat, Piggly’s ice cream?”

Brian looked over to the tables in the dining area. A whole section of the room had been roped off, with a big pink sign advertising the Pig-Out Contest standing nearby. A couple of high school guys were already sitting at one of the tables, talking, laughing, and drinking sodas. Could he really out-eat high schoolers like that?

Alex elbowed him. Brian nodded and took his hands out of his pockets, his shoulders squared back. “I’m here to win the Pig-Out Contest,” he said. “I want Mr. Piggly.”

“That’s the spirit!” Mr. Pineeda clapped his hands. “We need more big eaters like you in this town.” He put his hand behind Brian’s back and led him to the dining area. Alex followed. Mr. Pineeda unhooked the thick rope and motioned them through with his other hand. “Right this way, gentlemen. Take any seat you like. The contest begins in about twenty minutes. Miss Kendra Hanson will be around in a bit to take your drink orders.”

Brian and Alex took the table farthest from the high school guys. One of them gave a nod, but the rest just ignored them.

“Remember what Max said about the stuff he looked up online,” Alex said quietly. “Water only. No soda. The carbonation will only make you feel more full. You need to chew quickly, but really chew.”

“I know,” Brian said. “Chew the food up a lot so it’s all compacted into a paste in my mouth before swallowing. That way it will take up less stomach space.”

“A Big Porker is over a pound of food,” Alex said. “The winner may be whoever can finish first, but the guys who stuff the food as fast as they can are going to feel too full to keep going.”

Kendra the waitress approached the table. She put her hand on her hip and glanced back at the high school guys. “Want drinks?”

Alex’s eyes traced her from her shoes all the way to the pig snout on her nose and the pink bow in her hair. He smiled at Kendra. “What happened to the nice greeting I’ve come to expect here at—”

“You want a soda or not?” She still didn’t look at them. One of the high school guys had noticed her and made a snorting sound like a pig, then they all laughed and acted like they hadn’t done anything. Her cheeks reddened.

“Don’t pay attention to those guys,” Alex said.

She glared at him. “Last chance. What do you want to drink?”

“Mountain Dew,” said Alex. “Brian will just have water.”

“Fine.” She spun away so fast that her sandy brown hair flew back.

“And no Pig-Out Contest for me. I’ll just have the Piglet Dinner.”

She stopped and faced him. “Anything else?”

Alex shook his head. When she started toward the kitchen again, he elbowed Brian. “Check this out,” he whispered. “Oh, and Kendra?” he said in a normal voice.

“What?” Kendra said impatiently.

“You have to be the only girl in the universe who can look pretty while being forced to wear that stupid pig nose.”

She rolled her eyes. “Children,” she said. But before she went away, Brian could see the hint of a smile on her face. Did Alex’s line actually work? On a high school girl?

“Did you see that?” Alex said. “She totally likes me.”

Maybe she did and maybe she didn’t, but Brian never would have had the guts to do that. “Isn’t she a little old for you?”

Alex shrugged. “She’ll be a senior when we’re freshmen. It could work. The secret to girls is confidence. That may be the secret to eating contests too.”

Brian nodded. Why couldn’t he have Alex’s confidence? Why couldn’t he always know the right thing to do? Instead, he always felt like he was making it up as he went along.

More people were coming in now. The tables in the contest section filled up mostly with kids, but there was also one guy who looked to be in his thirties. David and Red from their class sat down at their table, and so did Big Aaron Pineeda. “Dad said I could be in the contest, but if I win, the balloon will go to the second-place guy,” said B.A. “He wants to get rid of it. It’s getting old. A few weeks ago, one of the little metal rings that connects to the tie-down ropes actually broke. Mr. Piggly almost rolled right off the roof.”

Brian thought it was good that B.A. couldn’t win the balloon. Judging from his size, he would be tough to beat.

Jason Cooper showed up next. “I took money out of my car fund for this. If I win the pig balloon, I’m going to sell it on eBay. Probably enough to buy a whole set of tires, depending on what kind of car I get.”

“Yeah, right, Cooper!” Frankie stepped over the rope into the contest area. “You’ll be riding your sister’s bike until you’re twenty-five, because I’m going to win this contest tonight!”

Great , Brian thought. Just when he had a chance to hang out and have fun, here came the meanest tough guy in America to mess it all up.

Frankie caught sight of him. “Ah, the new boy is here. Good. I can beat him in something else.”

Mr. Pineeda joined them. Kendra was right behind him, along with a man wearing a stained apron. They all carried big plastic trays filled with Big Porker Specials. “Okay, gentlemen, here’s how the Pig-Out Contest works,” Mr. Pineeda said. “Nobody can touch his plate until I say ‘Go.’ After that, the rules are simple. The first contestant to eat the entire one-pound dee-licious Big Porker sandwich” — Red raised his hand. Mr. Pineeda pointed at him — “bun included” — Red put his hand back down — “and finish all of his Pig Tails, will be the next proud owner of Mr. Piggly. He’s twenty-five feet from snout to tail. Twenty feet across his midsection. Good for a parade or something, eh, boys?” Mr. Pineeda laughed.

Kendra and the cook began placing a plate in front of each contestant. She also put a plate with a much smaller sandwich in front of Alex. He might have said something flirty to her again, but Brian wasn’t paying attention. He saw only the platter in front of him. The Big Porker looked as big around as a basketball and at least five inches high from bun to bun. Just the pile of shredded meat inside was probably as big as Alex’s entire little Piglet. Could he even pick the sandwich up? How could he take a bite? The mountain of golden, steaming Pig Tails stood almost as high as the sandwich itself. How would he ever finish all of that?