Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
“And he never gets out?”
“Never,” she says decisively. “Benny made sure he won’t ever hurt anyone again. I know it was super scary. Mommy was really scared too. That’s why Gram called Benny to help us. And he did. You’re gonna like him. He’s having breakfast with us.”
“Can I wake Gram?”
“Let’s give her a few more minutes to sleep,” she says. “Go to the bathroom and wash up. I’ll finish breakfast.”
Liam walks over to me and looks up, appraising me from head to toe.
“Hi,” he says a little shyly, then squares his shoulders. “Thank you for saving me and making the bad guy go to jail.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, not sure how to go on.
Liam turns and darts off to the bathroom, leaving me staring after him. Daisy clears her throat. When our eyes meet, her face is full of emotion. She presses a hand to her chest. I nod.
“He’s awesome,” I say.
“Thanks. I know.”
“What if we take the day off today?” I say.
“I wasn’t going to send him to school today after what happened yesterday. I want to make sure he’s okay and I’m not ready to be away from him yet. I already let my boss know last night.”
“Good. After we eat, I’ve got to make some calls. But I was thinking, Luna Park opens at eleven this time of year.”
“We take him to Coney Island?” she says, her eyes lighting up. I nod.
“I think he’ll love the Magic Bikes. Want me to bring that camera?”
“You kept it?”
“I knew you’d need it.”
“Yes, please. Bring the camera. I can’t believe this, Benny. Yesterday was the worst day of my life. Someone took my son. I didn’t know if I would ever see him again. And now, today, I have everything I ever wanted and we’re taking Liam to Coney Island.”
“Yeah, believe it or not, sometimes things turn out right, Daze. Stick with me.”
“I plan to,” she says and flips a pancake.
As for me, there’s nothing I want more than this day with my family. The first day of our life together.
29
DAISY
“It’ll take me forever to learn all the bells and whistles this thing has,” I say, looking at the instruction book for the camera as Benny drives us in my car because his truck didn’t have room for the booster seat.
“We’ve got time.”
Liam sits in the back, asking ten thousand questions about Coney Island and why it’s called that and will his buddies be there and what if it starts raining and also will he be tall enough to go on the Cyclone? I shake my head, answering as many as I can, letting Benny field the rest.
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” he says finally and Liam shrugs and goes back to his coloring book.
“That never works for me,” I grumble. “When he gets used to you, the party manners will be gone, and he’ll keep asking till your ears fall off.”
“I can’t wait,” he says and I sigh a little.
While he was taking care of business, I called the pediatrician’s office and they said to set him Liam up with the school social worker. After I spoke with her, I did some paperwork online and set it up. He sees her tomorrow morning. There’s going to be a lot of adjustment for him to get used to.
I’ve made so many mistakes. I want to do this right, and back off, stop trying to control everything. It never kept us safe anyway, and it was miserable. As plans go, running away and micromanaging were terrible ideas. I have to learn new ways to handle things, and it’s going to be hard. But it’s worth it. Like Benny said, we’ve got time.
After a quick Google search, I decide that I better stick to the carousel today and watching them have fun. Carnival rides are mostly off-limits for pregnant women, which is something I never even wondered about before today. When I was pregnant with Liam, I didn’t exactly hang out in amusement parks while working two jobs. I can relax and enjoy today, take pictures of my little boy with his dad. That whole idea just stops me in my tracks. I can’t believe how lucky I am.
On the way into the park, Liam says ‘wow’ about a thousand times. The familiar sight of the tower, the Ferris Wheel, the iconic curve and loop of the Cyclone gets me every time. I take pictures of the landmarks and of Liam’s face when he sees them for the first time, a few candid shots of Benny picking up Liam and putting him on his shoulders, keeping a hand on Liam’s leg to make sure he’s secure. My heart flip flops with joy and excitement over something new every minute with these two.
It's bright, noisy but not crowded yet. Music streams from somewhere and we make our way past the games toward the rides. It’s a riot of big, hulking shapes and flashing lights, the loud zoom of rides in operation, the old-fashioned ‘step right up’ carny barker shouts. I want to look everywhere at once. I’m glad Liam’s up on Benny’s shoulders where he can see without getting swamped by everything being so huge looming around him. His head swivels from side to side, mouth open like he can’t decide where to look.