The Adventures of Johnny Middlefinger

It was a beautiful spring day in NYC, so everyone was out and about. Johnny "Middlefinger," a tall, lanky 16-year-old, accidentally kicked over a little black book on the sidewalk. Johnny looked around, picked it up, and hurried to the comic book store since he was running late as usual.

When he arrived at the building, he made his way up the creaky stairs two at a time. His heart sped up with exertion and excitement at the possibility this book held. He was compelled to stop halfway up and yelled "F You!" three times while sticking his middle fingers in the air. He relaxed his hands and high-fived the wall to stop the tic.

He took some deep breaths to relax his body and walked the rest of the stairs to the third floor.

Maria and Rosa's heads were buried in a comic book when he ran in, and both girls looked up simultaneously.

"I think we found a mystery to solve!" Johnny said

"OK, Johnny. Did you find something to solve, or is this another false alarm?" Rosa said.

Rosa was the older sister of the two girls. She was in Johnny's class, an honor student, but a nerd and outcast like Johnny. Rosa had braces and the other girls in her class teased her. One day Johnny stood up for her, and from that moment on, they became good friends.

"No! I think this is something," Johnny insisted.

"Well, let's see the book," Maria said.

Maria was a year younger; like Johnny and Rosa, she was a nerd and more extroverted than Rosa. She chose to hang out with Johnny and Rosa because she thought they were more fun and much more interesting than kids in her class.

Maria grabbed the book from Johnny's hand and all three sat down at the little table full of comic books. Maria slid the stack of comics to the side and placed the little black book in the middle. She opened the first page.

"Oh, Wow!" Johnny said.

"Were you cursing while reading this and couldn't see?" Rosa teased.

Johnny sighed and looked at her. Her smile almost sparkled in the sunlight coming through the shop's only window.

"I didn't get a chance to look since I was running late," Johnny mumbled as his dirty blonde hair fell in front of his eyes.

"Shocker! "Rosa and Maria said simultaneously.

They flipped through the pages, but all they found was writing and a bunch of odd symbols. No address or phone numbers

"Wait! Turn the book upside down!" Maria said.

They gathered at one end of the table to take a look.

"What is it?" Rosa asked.

"It's map! Look at the symbols," Johnny said as he pointed to the book, "a playground and tire swing here and a pathway to a bridge…" He then tensed and his Tourette's tic started. He waved his middle fingers in the air, and the three "F You's" burst out of his mouth. His hands then relaxed, and he high-fived Maria and Rosa and executed some deep breaths.

They huddled over the book, which seemed like hours when the comic book clerk, Hank, emerged from his desk in the back room.

"OK, kids, I need to get lunch and close up shop." He scratched his unruly hair and tried to smooth it out. His Spiderman T-shirt was too tight for him and his belly hung out a little. He tugged at it as he stood up to cover his exposed belly and pulled up his jeans.

"Oh, come on, Hank. Let us stay until we figure out what this black notebook is about," Johnny said.

"Wait! What book? "Hank said

"This one," Rosa said as she reached for it.

"Let me see that," Hank said, "I lost an important notebook this morning rushing to work."

They all reluctantly moved away from the book as Hank hovered over them to look at it.

"Yup, that is it. Come on, hand it over," Hank insisted.

"What is it, Hank? Johnny asked, "Please tell us." Johnny said

"Yeah, Please, Hank tell us, "Maria said.

Hank buckled because he loved these kids. He looked at them as his younger siblings and felt he had to be their protector and older brother. He was not much older than them. He just graduated high school, and they were still sophomores.

"OK, Let me get some lunch and I will tell you what this book is about. No telling anyone else. Got it?" Hank said.

"Got it!" all three friends said at once.

"Maybe you kids could be my team," Hank said

Later:

It was near closing time, and Hank and the three teens finished making their plans.

"So Monday early morning is the perfect time to start looking for clues since the rest of the hunters will either be working or in school." Hank finished his speech.

"I say we start at the playground on 110th street!" Johnny said. He suddenly burst into three F-you's and in the air waving his middle fingers. Maria and Rosa raised their hands as Johnny high-fived them to calm down.

"Excellent! Meet you all at W. 110th Street Playground at 6 am tomorrow!" Hank said.

Johnny emerged from the 2/3 subway line at 6 am wearing a trench coat and carrying a coffee. He walked with a prance in his step and as he reached the playground entrance where Maria and Rosa were waiting. They turned around and burst out laughing.

He swirled around as the trench coat flared out around him, creating a cream-colored halo around himself.

"Ahahahah! Oh. MY. God. Johnny. What the F..!" Maria said as she laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes.

Rosa doubled over in laughter.

Johnny smiled his big toothy grin and said, "I knew you ladies would like it!" He then winked and lost his balance, almost spilling his coffee.

"Cute, Johnny, cute," Hank said as he walked up to the laughing girls and Johnny's new outfit.

"Should we call you Johnny Middle Finger, Private Investigator?" Rosa said

"Absolutely!" Johnny said

Maria rolled her eyes and playfully punched him in the arm.

"Hey, watch the coffee!" Johnny said.

"You drink coffee now?" Maria said with her hands on her hips.

"Nah, it is for Hank," Johnny said as he handed the To-Go cup to Hank.

"Why, thanks, Johnny Middlefinger!" Hank said as he took a sip, "OK, let's get down to business and search the playground."

"What are we looking for exactly?" Maria asked.

"The first clue led me here," said Hank as he pointed in the black book, "and it was this playground, so we are looking either for a key or another clue. The clues are all in cylinder containers about the size for my fist."

The four of them searched frantically and thoroughly but didn't come up with anything. Hank, Maria, and Rosa sat on one of the benches looking at the playground while Johnny went over to the tire swing. He sat down on it and heard a rattle. He immediately got up and ran his hand in the tire swing.

He pulled the little cylinder out and cried, "Jackpot!" waving his middle fingers in the air and the 3 F you's echoed through the playground. Rosa got up and ran over, high-fived Johnny to stop the tick and hugged him.

"Yea, Johnny Middlefinger, you ARE a private detective!" Maria yelled

The cylinder clue read:

"In 1814 we took a little trip

Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip'

We took a little bacon and we took a little beans

And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans."

"Where is that, Hank?" Johnny asked.

"I know this song. I remember singing it in music class as a little kid," Hank said.

He whipped out his cell and looked up the song.

"Is the treasure hunt clues only in Central park, Hank?" Rosa asked.

"Yes," Hanks said.

Maria was looking up the song too and suddenly she said,

"I know where the next clue is! The Blockhouse fort near W 109 street in the park. The fort was built in 1814!"

"Let's go! It is not far from here at all!" Johnny said.

The four treasure hunters walked to the fort and started looking for the next cylinder. Time was running out for the high schoolers, but they decided to cut the first class if they had to.

Hank wanted to win the treasure hunt and recruiting these three was the best decision he made. He ran to the fort, ran his fingers around the bricks, and then looked up at the flag flying on the pole.

Johnny, Rosa and Maria searched the perimeter of the fort. It wasn't a giant fort, so they didn't wander too far. They climbed over the boulders that were around it and looked into the crevices.

Hank walked into the courtyard and saw little windows built into the fort's brick wall called embrasures. He then went to one and stuck his arm in it....nothing.

He went to the next one and he felt something. A cylinder!

"I found the next cylinder! "Hank yelled.

Johnny, Maria, and Rosa ran and met him inside the center of the fort.

"Read it, Hank," Johnny yelled.

"'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.

What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,

Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part

Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!

What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;"

"Romeo and Juliet!" Rosa said.

"How did you know that so quickly?" Johnny asked.

"She has all of Shakespeare's plays. Romeo and Juliet, she read a thousand times," Maria said.

Rosa's eyes widened, and she said, "The Delacorte Theater! The Romeo and Juliet statue out front is the next place to go."

The four hunters arrived at Delacorte Theater and approached Romeo and Juliet's statue in an intimate embrace with young love vibrating between them.

Hank, Johnny, Maria and Rosa all stared at the statue for a while. They walked around it several times until Johnny jumped on the plinth .

"O Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?" Johnny recited as he hugged the statue.

"Johnny, stop being so loud.There is another team here!" Maria said.

He immediately looked over at the theater entrance and saw a group of three boys about his age staring at him. He blushed and immediately climbed down. Something dropped to the floor and rolled to Rosa's feet.

"A cylinder!" She said as she held it up.

"it is the last one, too," Hank said as he held up his little black notebook.

Inside was a safety deposit box key that read Citibank and the bank's address on the back.

"Let's go!" Hank said, "Hopefully, we are the first ones to get there!"

It was lunchtime by now. The high schoolers ditched classes all day, and Hank was going to be late in opening the comic book shop, but all four didn't seem to mind because this treasure hunt took priority at the moment. After all, they were having too much fun.

They walked into the bank and practically ran to the teller window. Once they showed the key to the teller and the little black book, she immediately knew it was from the treasure hunt.

"Congratulations! You all won the Treasure Hunt sponsored by New York State Council for the Arts."

She disappeared into a large vault and came out with a cashier's check.

"Who shall I make this out to?" she asked.

"Hank Vitalli," Johnny said.

"OK, but you helped me in the most crucial part, so we'll split it four ways," Hank said.

"Awesome!" Johnny, Maria and Rosa said all together.

They looked at the check and Johnny started waving his middle fingers in the air, said three F You's. Maria, Rosa, and Hank high-fived him and everyone else in the bank.

The check read $20,000!