Day at the Carnival

“Day at the Carnival”
“Step right up, step right up, and try your luck -- two tickets for a dollar! Everyone’s a winner!” shouted the carnival barker over the mic of the midway.
“Malik!” cried Jamal to his older brother. “Malik! Let me have one of my dollars! Everyone’s a winner, Malik! Please?”
Malik Davis ignored his little brother for a moment, trying to line the skee-ball up the alley to land in the 1000-point hole.
“Malik!”
“Be quiet a second, will you?” He extended his arm and released the ball, and it bounced off the rim of the 100-point hole, scoring a measly 50 points. He grumbled and picked up another ball. By now, the ticket barker had moved along. Ding-Ding-Ding! went the lane next to his. Jamal crossed his arms and began quietly fuming.
Out of the corner of his eye, Malik spied his baby brother, and the words of their mom echoed in his memory: Make sure your little brother has a good time while you’re taking care of him. The thirteen year old tossed another ball and frowned as it went through the bottom level of the skee-ball scoreboard, producing no points at all this time. Malik sighed, realizing even if he were to score his final ball in the center hole, it still wouldn’t be a high enough score to get anything of value.
Tossing his final ball haphazardly up the alley, he turned to Jamal and said with a touch of boredom, “Okay, spud, where to now?” The first grader grabbed his big brother’s hand and sped off toward the main stage.
They found some seats on the bleachers, and Malik observed the carnival staff standing along a booth, holding doll like characters, with a curtain opened four feet off the ground. A man and a woman dragged a black trunk behind the booth. It dawned on Malik what Jamal had selected for the next half hour’s entertainment. Oh, you have to be kidding, thought Malik, a puppet show?
Malik displayed a bored expression, attempting to look cool, he leaned back against the bleacher as he people-watched other members of the audience. They all looked to be mainly other little kids and their parents. He appeared to be the only teenager in the bleachers, he groaned inwardly to himself.
He turned and looked at his little brother for a moment, who was laughing so hard some lemonade had come out of his nose. Malik had to suppress a laugh himself. Well, at least Jamal was having a good time.
“Hey, sweetie, there you are,” came a voice from behind them.
“Mommy!” cried Jamal with excitement, “It’s a puppet show! Isn’t it great?”
“Yes it is!” said their mother, poking her finger playfully into Jamal’s side as he squealed with laughter. “Everything going okay?” she said, as she turned to Malik, “You boys having a good time?”
“Oh, yeah,” replied Malik with feigned excitement. It dawned on him that the likelihood of his return to the carnival with his friends after dinner probably depended on how well he and Jamal had gotten along while he watched him. “They’re, uh, really funny.”
“It’s GREAT!” cried Jamal. The boys’ mom smiled at Jamal and squeezed him warmly.
The family sat and watched the remainder of the show together. Malik made the best of things and smiled and laughed along with the others in the audience, hoping his mom saw how well her sons were getting along.
Apparently, it worked well enough, and later that evening, Malik got permission to go to the carnival and meet his friends. He told his buddies how he had pretended to like the puppet show, and they mocked him cruelly. “You still watch Sesame Street, too, Malik?” taunted his friend, William. “You a big fan of Elmo?” Malik gave William a playful shove, they all laughed about it, and continued to have a great time at the carnival for the rest of the evening. Malik and his friends rode several rides, played lots of fun games, and ate delicious carnival treats like ice cream and funnel cake.
He got home around ten o’clock and found his mom on the couch reading a paperback novel. “Hi, sweetie,” she said. “Did you have a good time?” He smiled and replied that he did, while his mom turned the book on its face and nodded her head in the direction of the hallway. “Your little brother is probably still up; he asked if you could stop by his room when you got back.”
Malik strolled down the hallway and went into Jamal’s room, “Hey, spud,” he said quietly and gently shook his little brother on the shoulder.
“Wha-what?” Jamal asked sleepily and drew in a big yawn before blinking and propping himself up on a pillow with his elbow.
“Mom said you wanted to see me?” Malik asked his little brother.
“Oh, yeah,” he replied and yawned again. “Thanks for taking me to the carnival today, Malik; I had a really good time, especially at the puppet show.” Jamal reached around his big brother’s shoulders and gave him an embrace. “I love you.”
Malik laughed quietly and smiled at his baby brother. “I love you, too, spud.”
How does Malik’s experience at the carnival with his brother, Jamal, compare to his experience with his friends?

What is the most likely reason Malik did what Jamal wanted to do instead of ignoring him?

How did Malik's feelings about taking Jamal to the fair change from the beginning of the selection to the end?

How are Jamal and Malik's feelings at the end of the selection similar?

How did Malik probably feel when Jamal hugged him that night?
