The Organ Games

Chapter 3

With six-inch heels and the sun blazing directly on her head, Acer was dripping wet as she navigated the tall grass. Her legs were killing her as she began regretting not wearing her sneakers. 

She was in the most rural parts of Texas, heading to the farm of someone on her list. She stopped and stared at the map, making sure that she was on the right farm. She wanted to make sure that she was at 30-year-old Berth's house, her last recruit on the list. She was so exhausted that all she wanted was to go home and relax in her bathtub, listening to her favorite music. 

 However that dream was far from her reach. She only got ten acceptances from willing participants out of the 50 total participants from the 50 states of the country. 

If the rest were not going to accept the invitation, she was supposed to go back to the other 40 states and recruit all over again. 

The United States of America had fifty states, and her employers wanted one player to represent each state. Only ten states desperately agreed without questions. Pennsylvania, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Idaho, Maryland, Arizona, Colorado, and Kansas were among the states represented.

She was still waiting for replies from other contestants. They all had up to noon to reply, or else she was going to start recruiting all over again, which was very stressful. Getting on a plane every four hours was like taking a tire on her, plus she hated some states.

She had to make the last stop, Berth, whose daughter needed a facial transplant. With good coercion, she was optimistic the woman was going to join the game. 

Looking at the file in her hands, she gagged at the girl's disfigured face. She looked like a mini-Frankenstein. Any mother would do anything to get into the game and give her a facial transplant. She would if that was her daughter. She could only hold her fingers crossed. She walked up to the house, her serious facial expressions set.

 She knocked twice but did not receive any response. She was quite aware that the mother and daughter were inside. 

Ever since the accident, Berth always stayed locked up inside the house. Unless she had some work to do on the farm or had to buy groceries.

She knocked again, receiving no response. It was very clear the woman was deliberately ignoring her, but she was not going to give up. She put her handbag on the ground and began hitting the door like a crazy woman. 

Suddenly, the door opened and Berth walked out, pointing her handgun straight at her face. 

"Finally, my legs were itching out here," Acer said, unconcerned with the handgun aimed at her.

"Who the fuck are you?" Berth yelled, pointing a gun directly at her head.

 The woman in front of her was not phased. She looked tired but not scared, and Berth could tell she was not from around Texas.

"I have come to make you an offer," Acer replied.

I'm not interested. Take whatever you are selling to wherever you came from! " Berth replied, and shut the door in the face of the new visitor.

Acer was left in disbelief. Even though she liked challenges, she was not in the mood. She was so tired and just wanted to sleep, so she went straight to the point.

"The company I work for is willing to pay for your child's facial reconstruction if you play a simple game." She yelled at the top of her voice. 

She was very sure she was loud enough for the woman inside the house. There was silence. She placed her ears next to the door and waited. In seconds, she heard footsteps marching towards the door, and she quickly moved away from the door. 

The door opened, and this time the woman was not pointing a handgun at her.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Berth asked, annoyed. She was a straightforward woman who never tolerated nonsense.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Acer replied in her usual tone, her face difficult to make out because of the dark shades she was wearing. 

Berth stared at her with folded arms, taking in everything visible to her in every detail.

"The rich people being on top of the donor list is not a secret. What if rich, sick psychos created a game to give poor people who can't afford it a chance to play a series of silly games in order to win a spot at the top of the donor list? " She asked.

Berth began regretting opening the door for the second time. She was about to turn when Acer pushed herself inside the house, nearly tipping her down to the ground. Berth could not believe the audacity. She turned and stared at the weird woman. 

"The game is free. See it as an opportunity to give back what you stole from your daughter," Acer added.

"Get out!" Berth yelled.

"You caused the accident that horribly left your daughter with that face, didn't you?" 

Out of anger, Berth grabbed the gun she had placed on the corner of her door and pointed it again at the bitchy stranger without manners.

"It was an accident, it was a stupid accident," she cried out...

"I know, that's why we selected you for the game," Acer replied, swaying her hands and unconcerned about the gun pointed at her face.

She went on to explain how the game worked and what her job was in the arrangement. All the while, Berth had a gun pointed at her. She had no idea whether to believe the shit coming out of the woman's mouth or not. Acer played her videos of herself playing the games in order to authenticate the game. 

"So are you in or out?" She asked.

"This is all bullshit!"

"Bullshit, that will give your daughter a chance at a new life," Acer replied.

"You expect me to believe that if I run naked in a shopping mall, these rich fools will pay for my daughter's surgery?" 

"The games change every single year, but every day for an entire week you will receive instructions to do something silly like that for their entertainment," Acer explained. 

"A week? What if I'm busy?"

 "You can still do the act the following day, but remember you have to complete the task before moving on to the next game."

She watched as the woman in front of her breathed in and out heavily.

"Bullshit," Berth replied. 

Acer rolled her eyes and looked away. A little frustration was beginning to build inside of her, but it looked like she was wasting time. She had a long night ahead of her. She got out her phone and scrolled.

"What are you doing?" Berth asked.

"I am searching if your replacement lives near here. Let's see, let's see, Carol Egans," she said out loud.

"Wait a minute, I know her," Berth replied. 

She knew Carol from the children's hospital. She had a son whose face was severely burned in a house fire, and just like Berth, Carol could not afford to pay for reconstructive surgery.

"Wait a minute... you can't come in here with a bullshit game and expect me to believe you!" She began panicking.

Acer responded, "Berth life is a gamble for those who have the guts to gamble and wait to see if it pays off, and then there's your type, always playing safe and losing out. Anyway, I will give you until noon tomorrow to decide," she said, and wrote down her number on the table before leaving the house without glancing back.

 Berth was left standing with her gun still in her hands, wondering who the hell the woman was and the nerve. But there was a part of her that was  processing and trying to make sense of the offer.