Page 11 of Daddy’s Little Chaos Gremlin (The Lactin Brotherhood)
11
TRISTAN
“Ghost train, ghost train, we have to do the ghost train first!” I declared, clutching Zephyr’s hand as we raced toward the creepy, nostalgic ride.
And there wasn’t even a line.
Getting to be first in the park was the best thing ever, ‘cause it was really hard to wait and watch the rides whirl past. Sometimes I got pouty and impatient, and Daddy had to threaten to revoke my shopping privileges at the gift store.
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this was Zephyr’s first time. We’d have to find him the perfect stuffie and a warm, oversized hoodie like the one I’d gotten to snuggle up in the last time we were here. Two of me could fit in it, it was so big. I’d wanted one that fit Daddy, too, so he could wear it and get his scent all up inside of it, for those times when he had to leave me alone in the hotel. Yesterday had been the first time it had been fun being left there without him, ‘cause I’d had Zephyr. Having my kitten was already the best thing in the world and today was our very first grand adventure.
He kept ahold of my hand once we were seated. The cars were only big enough for two, so Daddy sat in the one behind us and soon we were rattling along those old tracks, doors parting as we rolled into the darkness.
“Ohhh!” Zephyr gasped and pressed his face to my shoulder, only peeking out when I stroked his hair.
He clung as things flashed and ghostly faces appeared in glass as lights pulsed an eerie green around us, but he was giggling by the time we popped out, right before the last ghoul appeared, when he shrieked and would probably have leapt into my lap if it hadn’t been for the seatbelts.
“That was so much fun!” Zephyr declared, still holding on to me after we’d stopped. “Can we go again?”
“Sure, there’s no line,” Daddy said from behind us, as the attendant approached.
“Going through again?” he asked.
“Please,” Daddy replied, so the man waved us on.
This time, Zephyr didn’t hide his face, though he still held on to me and flinched occasionally, squealing several times when something startled him.
“That’s better than any of the carnival funhouses I’ve ever been in,” Zephyr declared as we stepped off after the second time through.
“I’d never been in anything that fun before the first time Daddy brought me here. Now it’s one of my favorite places out of everywhere we’ve been.”
“What’s that one?” Zephyr asked as he pointed toward a big blue loop high above a section of the park.
“That’s the Infusion, it’s my favorite roller coaster, ‘cause I get to dangle and get flipped upside-down.”
“Ohh, let’s ride that one next!”
Now it was his turn to tug me along the path, while Daddy followed, occasionally bellowing after us to slow down so we didn’t trip. It didn’t matter that we raced past a bunch of rides to get to that one. I always zig-zagged my way through amusement parks, letting impulse and whatever caught my eye decide what ride I went on next.
And Zephyr was the same way, how awesome was that?
Most people followed the path and went one at a time, which meant there wasn’t a line here, either. Daddy found it a little maddening and exhausting to rush from one end of the park to the other. Man was he in for it today. I heard him holler a reminder not to let go of one another’s hands, and felt Zephyr curl his fingers tighter against mine. We’d slowed down to go up the ramp, waiting for Daddy to catch up ‘cause he always went on every ride with me, even if he grumbled about a few of them.
This one was wild and twisty.
My heart hammered while Zephyr laughed and hollered beside me. His hair was a mess, windblown and framing his face with gentle waves that made his eyes stand out. I kissed him right there on the platform. Then Daddy kissed both of us and kept his arms around us as he walked us down the ramp.
“Let’s do all the roller coasters now!” Zephyr declared. “That one first.”
I caught the look on Daddy’s face when Zephyr pointed at The Avalanche. It was a bobsled coaster, and the only one in the whole park that scared Daddy half to death.
I was about to tell Zephyr that we always saved that one for right before we left the park, but Daddy gave a little shake of his head and waved me toward it.
Ohhh.
I got it in an instant.
Zephyr was so happy, Daddy wasn’t going to dull that look for anything in the world. The artist in me longed to capture the joy that made his skin glow and his eyes light up as he skipped along. My baby brother loved thrill rides, and he could handle them better than I could. I flopped on a bench after we finished the last one, flipped a hand over my eyes and started fanning myself with the other one while Zephyr bounced and climbed up on the edge of the bench so he could see what lay past the brightly colored awnings of several games.
Games!
Yes, game time would be perfect.
“Can we…play a few…games now?” I panted.
I’d have waved a white flag, or a white handkerchief if I’d had one. Daddy would have been happy to honor the hanky code and stroke me off before we went to bed.
“Some time at the arcade would be the perfect way to recharge,” Daddy muttered as he leaned against the bench, face considerably paler than it had been when we’d gotten there.
“They have games?” Zephyr asked as he bounced down from the bench and turned, searching for where they were.
Daddy must have sensed that he was about to bolt and trapped him in a hug until he settled a little.
“It’s getting crowded now, so I’ll need you both to hold my hand from here on out,” Daddy said as he held one out to me to help me off the bench. “I wouldn’t want to lose either of you.”
“I don’t wanna get lost,” Zephyr said, pressing right against Daddy’s side and clinging there, so I did the same on his other side.
“That would be scary,” I remarked, almost stuffing my thumb in my mouth for a bit of comfort. Instead, I remembered the necklace Daddy had given me. It was made of silicone and looked like a lollypop, so I could suck it when we were out in public without drawing people’s attention.
The last time that happened I’d wrinkled my nose, pulled my thumb out of my mouth, and told them all to mind their own damned business. I’d gotten an extra chore for cursing, just a little one, wiping the counters after supper, but Daddy had been proud of the way I’d stood up for myself.
“They’ve got tons of games,” I told him. “And we get to win prizes, too.”
That held his attention while Daddy walked us there, the wind blowing in off the water keeping the day from being too warm. I hoped they still had snuggly hoodies in the sweatshop. I really, really wanted to help Zephyr pick one. As small as he was, he’d be cold when we traveled this winter, and we always traveled to the mountains, where Daddy had a cabin with a stone fireplace and sleds to play on.
I always went for the games with the tickets, like skee-ball, where I could throw the balls and listen to them clack and rattle into their holes. Balls went in, tickets went out, and there was always a reward for trying.
Zephyr played a few games of skee-ball with me and Daddy before turning away to study the claw machine with colorful octopus stuffies inside of it. A moment later he was back at Daddy’s side, peering up at him with hopeful eyes and a puppy dog expression. He’d soon learn that Daddy always came prepared. Moments later Zephyr returned to the claw machine and those octopus with a pocketful of tokens, while I went back to playing skee-ball until there was a pile of tickets beside my foot.
“I’m out of tokens, Daddy, but look what I got,” I said as I held them up.
“Good job,” Daddy replied, sliding an arm around me and turning so we could get Zephyr and turn in the tickets.
What I saw made me drop my tickets as I reached for my phone to snap off a couple photos of him with the tip of his tongue poking out of his mouth, a purple octopus clutched between the tines of the claw as he guided it to the drop slot. It was only after it had plunked safely into the slot that I realized it wasn’t the only stuffy he’d pulled out of the machine. Two others sat on the ledge of the machine beside his hand. One orange and one teal. I made sure to get a picture of his face when he stood with the purple one in his hands, clutching it to his chest.
“This one is mine,” he declared, before pointing to the other two. “And those are for you…and…and Daddy.”
Daddy’s arm tightened around me, and when I glanced up I saw the huge grin on his face right before he swept Zephyr into the hug.
“Now that is as wonderful a gift as my new octopus friend, who will have a place of honor on my desk,” Daddy declared before pressing a kiss to the side of his head.
I got one, too, then we picked my tickets up and took them to the prize counter, where I turned them in for buttons this time. I had enough that we each got to pick one. Daddy put his on his jacket. It had a dagger in the center and red letters reading Try Me , standing out against the black leather he wore. He helped Zephyr and I attach ours to the mini backpacks he’d gotten for us to carry. We’d found them in a little shop not far from the pier. The north pier. I kept forgetting that there was more than one.
I’d chosen a blue backpack with Stitch’s face on it, and Zephyr had chosen a plush purple monster with a creepy grin and scowling red eyes that terrified me a little. His button said Shine So Bright You Burn Their Eyes! And it was perfect for him. It was had a night sky for a background with rainbow-colored stars shimmering around sparkly words.
Mine simply said Create. But it was perfect, because that was all I ever wanted to do. Even here in this amazing place, with all the rides we still hadn’t gone on yet, my mind was alive with ideas I itched to get down on paper.
On our first trip here, I’d snuck away from the hotel and tried to go exploring without Daddy, but I hadn’t found anything fun until a group going to Blackpool Tower invited me to come along to see them dance. Before I’d run into them at the bus stop, I’d just been asking directions from the people I met. The problem was that I’d been asking for the pier but not being specific. So some folks had been sending me north while others had been sending me south, and all I’d done was weave back and forth several blocks from the water, and find my way to an industrial park and a Starbucks that wouldn’t take currency.
It had started drizzling, too, but not long after I’d gotten on the bus with them, and listened to them tell me about the dance competition they were involved in, the rain stopped, and the sun came back out. I’d spent hours sketching in the tower while I’d watched them dance, and more time drawing beside the ocean, until Daddy had blown up my phone with texts after he’d gotten back to the room and discovered me missing.
Texting back I’m not missing, I’m right here , and sending it along with a picture of the view I’d had of the ocean hadn’t been the best idea. I’d gotten my bottom paddled after Daddy had come down to the waterfront to escort me back to our room.
Ohh, the waterfront, we’d have to take Zephyr for a walk along the sand and some ice cream before we went back to the hotel. Tomorrow we were going exploring so I could take pictures, and I didn’t know if we’d make it back this way before we headed home.
But first, Valhalla and the carousel, we couldn’t forget that, or the free fall. Daddy had stopped looking pale, I was sure he could handle that one, as long as we made it the last one before we left the park.
I pointed the way as Zephyr chattered to his octopus, promising to keep a tight hold on him and keep him dry no matter what else we rode on. So not just a muse then, my kitten was creative, too. He could explore any medium he wanted once we got him home. Daddy and I hadn’t talked about it yet, but I didn’t want to go back to the apartment. I wanted to go home to my playroom and studio, and I wanted Daddy to know that, before we got back on that plane.
If he said we were going back to that tiny place where we couldn’t even laugh without getting in trouble, I was just gonna have to be naughty again and remind how him how much trouble I could be. I know I promised to be good, and it didn’t feel good even thinking about being a brat again so soon. My bottom gave a little twinge as I straddled a bright, silver horse, a reminder of the handprint-shaped welts I’d gotten a glimpse of when I’d stepped out of my shower.
There would be more of them if I acted up again, lots more and maybe even a stripe or two from Daddy’s belt, but it would be worth it to get back home where I could start working and playing with my baby brother.
Please just say yes, Daddy, I thought as my butt bounced on the seat and I winced at the ache that spread across it. While I might be willing to cause a bit of chaos to get what I wanted, I wasn’t looking forward to the consequences.