Phoenix: Ride With Me Series

11. River

A month had passedsince our run-in with the traffickers.

The FBI’s case has since blown wide open, to the point where it made the national news. Thankfully, they said nothing about what happened specifically here in Texas, nor did they use our names. We didn’t need the town swamped with reporters who had less sense than a fart on the wind, tossing microphones in our faces. It would not end well, no matter how you looked at it.

Life was good, back to a normal state of being.

Right now, I had two little monkeys running the life out of me. Laughing, I watched as Penny and Laura climbed up into the tunnels that led to the slides. I was curious to see if Laura would try to come down this time, or if she would go back the way she’d come. There was something about the slide that was scaring her.

Kids nowadays had no idea how much it used to hurt to play on the playground. I remembered the metal slides that cooked your backside on a summer day. It would also peel the skin off your calves and thighs if you weren’t careful.

The merry-go-round would make you rethink your life choices. We’d all taken turns spinning in stupidly fast circles until we made ourselves puke. And that’s not even mentioning the seesaw. You got someone on one end you didn’t like and flipped down so hard and fast that they’d go up and come straight down on their face.

Snorting out a laugh, I shook off those thoughts.

Some of us were evil little shits back then.

“Catch me!” Penny called out as she dove head first down the slide.

There was no thinking about it, I just reacted. “Shit.” I scooped her up as she went off the end of the slide. “Girlfriend—no, ma’am. Feet first or not at all.”

Her cackle—yes, I said cackle—had me laughing, my head shaking side to side. “You do that with your brother, not me, okay? You’re gonna break your head.”

Laura was still at the top, looking down. I set Penny on her feet and watched her run back around. Why had I volunteered to bring both of them here? Oh yeah, ‘cause I was a glutton for punishment. No, kidding. I was wrangling monkeys while Casey ran errands.

“Come on, baby. You’ve got this.” I held my arms out so she knew I’d catch her.

There were other kids coming up to the jungle gym now. Seemed everyone had the same idea this afternoon. I didn’t want her to get trampled, but I couldn’t rush her either.

“You’re in the way,” a little boy told Laura.

“She’s gonna come down, just give her a minute, okay?”

He nodded and skirted around to the other slide. See, not all kids were jerks.

I moved to the end of the slide and held out my hands. “You’ve got this. Just sit down and slide. That’s all. You saw Penny do it. You can too.”

“Your kid is blocking the slides.”

My eyes twitched as I got a nose full of the White Diamond perfume she wore. I made a face. I think she’d bathed in it.

“Thanks, Karen, I had no idea she was up there.” I rolled my eyes and looked back up. So, this was also why I stayed with the kids when I was working. Adults made me wanna punch them in their faces. “Laura, come on, you have to come down or back to the stairs so everyone else has a chance to slide.”

“You shouldn’t let her up there if she’s scared to do things.”

I tried to ignore her—really, I did.

“And you shouldn’t shop at GAP Kids, but here we are.”

She gasped, looking like I’d slapped her. I high-fived myself and looked back up to where Laura was.

“I helps her,” Penny called out. She was on the way through the tunnel again.

“Okay, but be careful.”

Penny, who was a good bit bigger than Laura, picked her up, like she did her dolls. Laura clung to her. “We can go together.” Penny tried to sit down with her. I watched it unfold, and as if in slow motion, they fell forward. Both girls toppled down and managed to flip over the side of the slide.

They hit the ground hard.

There was no stopping it; I just had to watch it.

Penny landed on top of Laura, who let out the most god-awful scream I’d ever heard. The entire playground went silent as I rushed to them.

“Oh my, are they okay? You should do better at watching them.”

I wasn’t sure if I should move them, but Penny got up quickly. “Sowwy. Sowwy, Lawa.”

My eyes closed as I picked up Laura. She was beet red as she cried. Her arm was under her, and when I tried to shift her, she cried harder.

I took Penny by the hand, fighting back my own tears. “Come on, let’s go see Shelby and Doctor Grant.”

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!We should have stayed at the house and played in the kiddie pool. That was safer, right?

“Penny, are you okay?” She had blood on her arm. She nodded then shook her head. She had tears in her eyes too. I scooped her up, and with a kid on either hip, I hurried down the street.

Doctor Grant’s office was pretty full when I pushed the door open. Dammit. Penny and Laura were both crying now.

I was on the verge of tears myself.

“What’s going on out here?” Shelby rushed out, her eyes widening as she saw me weighed down by crying toddlers.

“They had a fall off the top of the slides at the park. Penny’s bleeding. Laura’s arm is swelling by the second. I couldn’t stop it. It happened so damn fast.”

Was that panic in my voice? Yes, yes it was.

“Penny?”

I turned to see Casey coming out of the office, Paisley on her shoulder.

“Mommy…”

Tears escaped at the look of worry on Casey’s face. “Hey, it’s okay. What happened?” She hurried to put Paisley in her stroller.

I told her as my tears ran full force.

“Breathe. Kids fall. Accidents happen. It’s going to be okay.” I nodded just so she would stop looking at me like that. This was my fault no matter what anyone said. “Come here, sweet pea. Let Mommy see your elbow.” I clutched Laura now. Trying to calm myself down.

“Shelby, it looks like a few scratches. I’m sure it’s fine. You take Laura back. I can clean this up myself.”

“Nonsense, bring them into the big exam room. We will check them both over just to be safe,” Doctor Grant, Shelby’s grandfather said, pushing a door open. “Ladies, gentleman, please bear with us while we see to these little ones.”

I was surprised no one in the waiting area protested. But then, crying babies should have been enough to discourage that.

I wiped at my face, trying to concentrate on consoling my sister all while not losing a grip on my own emotions. There had been so much chaos and crap over the last few months, I thought it would get better. Had I pissed off some ancient God or what? Why were the bad things happening? And why to the kids?

I’d throat punch Zeus to protect these babies, and yet, I’d let them fall off the damn slide. This being responsible for little people was hard work.

Casey wrapped her arm around me as we watched Shelby and her grandfather examine both girls. Laura was taken to the next room for X-rays and Penny, like Casey said, just had a few scratches. Laura had a possible broken arm.

My heart broke when Doctor Grant came back in and slipped the X-ray up on the lighted board.

“There’s a fracture here.” He used a pen to point at a shadow on the image. “We’ll put a soft cast on it. You can remove it to bathe her but nothing else. No getting it wet, no taking it off just because it itches,” he instructed sternly.

I nodded, letting out the breath I’d been holding.

“Okay. Okay.”

“Hey,” Shelby patted my hand, “Do not beat yourself up about this. Kaitlyn is in a cast. You see her at the park; it doesn”t hold her back any.”

“And tell us all why my great-grandbaby is in a cast.”

Shelby laughed softly. “She thought it would be a good idea to roller skate down the staircase. Poor thing bounced all the way down. All I heard was a thump, thump, and her screaming. She scared a few years off my life. Today, the child has no cares.”

“I know. I mean I hear you, but…”

“I promise you, it never gets easier. Never. When your baby is in pain, whether you gave birth to them or not, it sucks. You want to fix it, to help them, but they have to work through this as a part of life.”

“Shelby is the reason I have so many gray hairs. She had her share of breaks and scrapes as well. I think it’s harder when you’re a doctor. You know just how bad it could have been.” He gave Shelby a squeeze before moving back to where Laura lay on the table. Her eyes were red, puffy, and she was sniffling.

I was a damn soldier. I’d been in firefights, been shot, stabbed, and had my ass handed to me. I’d literally stared down the barrel of a gun with nothing more on my mind than how to get around the bullet to end another person’s life. None of that compared to the feelings I had happening right now.

I was being dramatic.

A little bit anyway.

“Can you hold her for me?”

I moved to the bed and scooped her up. I sat on the table, holding her, my cheek pressed to her head.

“It’s okay, sweet girl. Doc G is going to get you a pretty cast. Then we will go get a cookie and see Phoenix.”

“I sees Fee Fee?”

“Yes, baby, you can go see Fee Fee.”

“Oh my God.” Shelby burst out in laughter.

My lips twitched.

“That is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. Fee Fee.”

“Y’all, I never thought any of this would happen. Is that crazy?” I blurted out what I was feeling.

“Young lady, the only thing crazy is that you thought you’d not find happiness. It always finds us. It’s the ups and down, love, heartache, loss, and ordinary crazy that makes up our existence.”

Doc had a point. I gave him a big smile. “Yeah. I get that now.”

After I left Doc’s office, I went to Talbert’s Grocery and got a pack of cookies for Laura. As promised. Rosie had fretted over Laura’s cast. Mrs. Talbert, who the kids called Nanny, did the same. This little girl was so loved. It warmed my little black heart.

I crossed the street, my sandals slapping against the road. On the sidewalk, I looked down at Laura. She and I both had butter cookies all over us. Cookies could make such a mess… Lord.

Grinning at her, I pulled another one from the package then shoved them into my pocket.

“We’ll save the rest for later, okay?”

She nodded and set out to gnaw her cookie. I came to a stop outside of the temporary chain link fence where the big Malone Construction sign sat. I could see Phoenix off to the side talking to the Malone boys. His orange hard hat let him stand out from the others.

I put my fingers against my lips and let out an ear-piercing whistle.

His head came up, and I waved at him before walking to the side entrance gate. He came through it, cupped my face between his palms, and kissed the stuffing out of me. I blinked, my lazy smile back in place.

“Casey called, said you were headed this way.” He took Laura from me.

Her little giggles filled the air as he kissed her cheeks loudly. Seeing him with her, knowing that he accepted me and the responsibilities I came with—there were no words for how happy this man made me.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, beautiful.” He leaned in and kissed me softly.

Yep, my world was back on the right axis, spinning in happy glee. Thank the Gods for this man and his love. Without it, I’d still be lost in space.