21 Trouble 6 (1/2)

”You lost.” Baldy and friends smirked and laughed. ”We'll be taking that.” He snatched the money clutched in Noah's hand, then the four of them turned and disappeared back into The Arcade area.

I held the pieces of my bat, facing Noah, scared he might yell at me.

Noah frowned at the retreating four. ”Damn. We would have won! Those cheapskates.” He sighed, looking at me. ”This isn't good.”

I gulped.

”Let go see what the owner has to say. Remember, it's always best to be on the offense. Just follow my lead.” He held his head high and led the way back to The Arcade.

I closely followed, feeling depressed.

We marched back into the shop and rental area. Noah didn't hesitate and walked right up to the counter and flat out told the lady, ”I would like to lodge a complaint. You guys let us borrow faulty equipment.”

The lady's eyebrows shot up as she peered down at us. ”What did you break?”

”We didn't break anything.” Noah refuted. ”That so-called 'superior' bat that you loaned us for ten dollars, fell apart in my friends hand as he was batting. He's lucky it didn't cut him up or anything. I'm sorry to say, I'm going to need my ten dollars back.”

My jaw dropped, stunned at his approach. Is this what he meant by being on the offense? Instead of us paying them back for breaking their bat, he's going to demand that they pay him. Noah really has no shame. I set the broken pieces on the counter and quickly took a step back, making sure I was standing slightly behind Noah.

The lady frowned at the pieces of wood. ”Where's the rest?”