Scott could tell Sherry was a tough one to get through to. She only talked about the game and they had been at this for days. Was it even possible to get a hardened child like her to trust him?
He had to try. If Richie could earn Scott's trust after everything that happened to him, anything was possible.
It took over a week for Sherry to beat Galaga and he was worried that she wouldn't want to talk to him anymore after that but she surprised him by offering to show him how to always win at claw games. That was something he had never figured out how to do. He thought they were rigged.
"They are rigged," Sherry explained. "But I know how to get around it!"
Scott had no use for winning items from claw machines but if it was going to keep her talking, that was good enough for him. "Alright. Show me how it's done, Claw Master."
She laughed and told him to watch what she was doing very carefully as she explained it. She said it was all about the timing and the angle. You couldn't go for just any prize and actually get it.
Sherry was a real pro. She managed to bag a banana plushie that she sniffed before smiling in delight and hugging it to her chest. He hadn't realized these things were scented.
Maybe Scott could use this as a segue to get her to open up. "You're amazing at this! Who taught you how to master claw machines?"
"My dad," she admitted.
Hmm. She never said anything about a dad before. Was he not around anymore? If he was, he would probably be able to do the shopping himself instead of leaving it to his young daughter who couldn't even carry all of the bags by herself.
Scott was willing to bet there was something going on with her dad that led to her current situation. But what was he supposed to say to get more information out of her?
"I should get going now," Sherry said. "Bye, Scott."
Great. She left before he managed to figure out what to do next. Just what he needed!
===
Cherry cursed herself for getting further involved with Scott Harkin but what was she supposed to do when he kept showing up at the arcade? She really did want to figure out how to beat Galaga and it wasn't like he was on to her.
Her cover was safe. Getting a few pointers wouldn't hurt.
She didn't know why he suddenly decided to hang out at the arcade but supposed he had liked them in the past enough to be ridiculously talented at old-school games. Maybe he was in the mood for it again.
Since he helped her beat Galaga, she decided to teach him her trick about how to beat claw machines. Everything was fine until he asked her who taught her how to do it and she told the truth since she couldn't think of anything else off the top of her head.
It was normal for a kid to learn things from their dad, wasn't it? But he was being nosy again. Maybe she needed to avoid the arcade for a while to see if he would stop showing up.
There were other things she could do. She liked bowling too but it wasn't as fun to bowl by yourself as it was to bowl with others. She used to go bowling a fair amount in middle and high school before she dropped out.
Arcades were much better solitary ventures but they weren't the only place she could go to have fun in the afternoons. She could always go earlier in the day too and leave before Scott usually arrived if she really wanted to go. Changing up her schedule wouldn't be a big deal at all.
He owned a nightclub. He stayed up way later than she did and probably slept most of the day.
So that was exactly what Cherry did. She went to the arcade and did all of her errands before 3 PM to lessen the chances of running into him. She went bowling a few times too just for the heck of it though she did wish she had someone else to go with.
Friends were for normal people. Not chameleons.
That was what Cherry was. She lived so many lives in a week it was hard to keep track of them all. That was why she took pictures of all of her looks and captioned them with the name she had used that particular day.
It was hard coming up with so many names all the time. She checked countless baby name websites to prevent herself from reusing them because that might give her away.
Nobody even knew who Cherry Radcliffe was anymore. She had essentially fallen off the face of the earth once she quit her last job a few years ago.
She didn't even have an emergency contact. If something happened to her, she was screwed. That was one of the many, many reasons she had to be careful. No one would be there to help her if she ever truly needed it.
Cherry sighed as she brushed out her newest doll's hair and enjoyed the scent of mocha coming off of it. Her only friends were these dolls and the scented plushies she had all over her bed.
That was really sad. If things were different, she would have been able to have friends. She had plenty in school but they were all superficial. None of them bothered to reach out when things got bad for her family. No one cared when she dropped out.
The only one who kind of cared about what happened to her now was Scott and he didn't even know her. He was only looking out for her in any capacity because he thought it was his job as an adult to look out for kids in need.
Cherry wasn't a kid. She was a grown woman who just so happened to have some childish interests.
What was so wrong with that? Her dolls and plushies weren't hurting anybody. But she knew if other adults could see them that they would think she was weird.
She had stopped caring about anyone's opinion a long time ago. She did her own thing regardless of anyone else. No one would ever accept her as she was. She had accepted that a long time ago.