“Oh, Lila, don’t cry. It’s only a few months, and we can talk on the phone all the time,” Susie says, oblivious to what just happened.
“Yes, of course we can,” I assure her, and she kisses my cheek and waves goodnight to us before heading to her room. Her door doesn’t even close before Xavier is pulling me into his arms and holding me while I sob.
Lila
The two days I had with Susie passed in a blur of fun, friendship, and laughter, but soon it was time for her and Mark to return home.
After eating an early dinner, Mark finally manages to pry us apart, so I walk Mark and Susie out to the valet parking where their ridiculous hot pink convertible is waiting. I snort with amusement, but Susie waggles a finger at me.
“Oh no you don’t. You know you want a ride in it. How about we give you a lift to the circus? It’s on the way anyway, and I’m sure the strip looks amazing at night from the back of a convertible.”
Laughing with her, I realize there’s no point in arguing, so I agree. I was just going to go back to the room and have Xavier come get me. This will save him a trip. “Okay, sounds good.”
Susie pulls a scarf out of her pocket, wraps it over her corkscrew curls, and sticks her tongue out at me. “It’s the only one I have, and I need it more than you. Mark will drive slowly.”
Shaking my head, I climb into the back seat of the old car. “Where did you find this thing anyway? It’s gaudy as fuck. I hope it runs well,” I comment as Mark pulls out of the valet parking and onto Las Vegas Boulevard. The hotel we stayed at is on the opposite end of the road from the circus, so we drive slowly, passing all the fantastic sights along the strip.
We suddenly come to a stop. “Huh, I wonder what’s going on farther up,” Mark says, undoing his belt and lifting up in the seat. People are running down the road, screaming in terror, and the bottom of my stomach drops out. Fuck, is it a terrorist attack or a mass shooting? “Oh shit, they must be filming a movie,” he exclaims, and my panic abates as I unstrap and stand to get a look, but my dread returns in an instant. There, lumbering down the main street of Vegas, is Viggy.
Susie quickly joins us. “Isn’t that the animatronic dinosaur from your show?” she asks, looking at me, and I slowly nod, hoping that I’m keeping my facial expression neutral.
“Oh cool, what a great publicity idea. Your grandpas are awesome,” Mark comments. He developed quite a man crush on the guys, and they were thrilled, but I quickly latch on to his idea.
“Shit, I had forgotten all about it. I’m just going to jump out and go get involved. I love you both. Have a safe drive home,” I tell them, giving them both a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll speak to you soon.”
“Call us and let us know how this goes,” Mark replies, unaware that something is truly and terribly wrong.
I assure them I will and jump out, and they take a side street to get out of the path of the dinosaur. I quickly press my watch, calling the grandpas and Xavier.
“What’s up, sweet pea?” Eric asks as I watch Viggy try to make friends with people, but they just run in terror. I startle slightly at the pet name, but quickly shake it off.
“Ah, did you guys know that Viggy is calmly walking down Las Vegas Boulevard, trying to convince someone to throw the palm tree he has in his mouth?”
I walk toward him, dodging the people fleeing in terror as he drops the palm tree, climbs the barriers that surround the pool in front of Treasure Island Hotel, and takes a long drink out of the pool the pirate ship is floating in.
It’s such a ridiculous sight that I almost want to start laughing in disbelief, but as more and more people run, the idea of laughing seems ill-timed.
A litany of curses sounds out from my watch, so I’m guessing the answer is no. “I’m going to try to distract him, but Xavier, you need to get here as fast as you can.”
They tell me they’ll be here as soon as possible and just to stay calm. I look around, floundering with what to do to distract him. A lady passes me, going in the opposite direction, with a bunch of balloons tied to a stroller she’s pushing. I grab her arm, stopping her.
“Can I borrow these?” I ask, shoving a hundred-dollar bill into her hand and untying the balloons.
She yanks her arm away. “Let me go, you crazy bitch. Can’t you see the dinosaur?”
“Ma’am, don’t stress. I work for the circus, and it’s animatronic. He’s a bit of promotion to drum up business. It’s all a part of the act,” I reassure her, and it seems to work. The panic in her eyes dies down, and she looks more curious now, her gaze shifting from me to Viggy.
“That one at the edge of town?” she asks, and I nod in response.
“Yup, just hang back and enjoy the show,” I chirp, hoping that I’m not lying and she and the kid in the stroller don’t get eaten. So far, he hasn’t shown any interest in the silly humans as food. Thank fuck.
“Hey, Viggy, Viggy,” I call, and I see the exact moment he spots the balloons above my head and hears me call his name. He’s like a golden retriever who has finally been offered a treat. He bounds back over the barricade and comes running toward me, the sidewalk cracking under his weight. I contemplate turning and running, but I know there is no way I can outrun the giant beast, so I wait until he slides to a halt in front of me and brace myself to either be eaten or squashed, but he does neither.
“Sit,” I command, and he does, plopping his butt down in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard, the pavement vibrating with the abrupt action.
There’s a small smattering of applause as more and more people catch on to the fact that this is a performance. Yeah, right, an emergency, last-minute, unplanned performance.
Xavier appears before me in a flash of light, his human glamour in place. Well, okay then, I guess we’re not going for subtlety. Much to my surprise, there’s an even bigger applause with gasps of disbelief and comments of, “How did they do that?”
