We’d been having a ball. Aldrich was right when he said I never got the chance to let my hair down. I was too used to being focused on goals to fill the void of the type of life I didn’t have. And it was a shame that I’d let them rule my life even when they didn’t want to be a part of it. Being in Texas showed me that although I was proud of what I’d done, I’d made myself smaller and lived my life mainly alone. I thought it was me doing what I needed to in order to protect myself but I’d been isolated. Which only allowed my demons to solidify their place in my life.
Tonight seemed to chase them away. Every moment of levity I had with the Dineros made me happy. They didn’t make me sadfor what I missed out on but hopeful for what I would experience in the future.
We’d ridden almost every ride and had stopped to eat twice. I didn’t even think about not trying the food since it smelled good but I made sure I wasn’t doing too much. I didn’t want to get sick on any of the rides and some rides they had us on had more loops than a full stomach could handle. The twins had no issue with clawing around and for some parts of the night Aldrich held my hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. And despite my concern about what it would mean, I did like I was advised and went with it.
“Where y’all want to go next?” Aldrich turned to his siblings who lagged behind us. It felt like they were trying to give us privacy, which was both sweet and also felt like a setup.
“We've gotta go to the courts. Can’t leave a place like this and not try to win something.”
Aldrich nodded realizing that he hadn’t explored every inch of this place. “True. I gotta win something for my favorite lady.”
I had to grin because I thought it was sweet that he was thinking about his mom even though she wasn’t there.
“Make sure it’s so big that you’ll have to ship it back to her.”
“It’s funny you think he was talking about Mama.” Cassie popped back up to one side of me while Mateo laughed behind us.
“What do you—”
Aldrich stopped abruptly and I felt his entire body tense up.
“Aye what are you doing here? This place is closed for a private party.” Aldrich’s hand came up and I honestly felt like a deer stuck in the headlights. There was a man who wasn’t wearing the designated park uniform who was walking toward Aldrich with a slick grin on his face.
“Is this how you’re going about getting ready for the season? Renting out entire theme parks so that the public can’t use them?”
Aldrich moved to step in front of me, and Mateo did the same for his twin. Cassie didn’t look scared; she looked angry and now I wondered who this man was.
“Get out of my face with this. I came out here to enjoy time with my family. You get plenty of access to me during the season. It’s messed up that you would violate my time off like this.”
“I paid to get in here like anyone else. You think you’re supposed to be special just because you’re famous?”
“Money, who is this? I don’t like how he’s talking to you.” Despite being younger, I knew that Mateo was on go just like Aldrich would be.
I could see his face but I knew Aldrich’s had to be blank. His shoulders were tight as he mentally had to remember to restrain himself. “Nobody. Somebody trying to make his way from local reporting to the national stage off of being a glorified gossip rag.”
“Oh, so he's a ho?” Mateo looked even more disgusted than before as he stared at the reporter.
“I’m a ho but your brother is out here being seen with random women and now apparently a new woman. Is it true that your child’s mother wanted to kill herself and that’s how she hit that tree?”
“Say what? Why would you think that?” I could see that this was going to get ugly really soon and I needed to get all of us out of this situation.
I tugged on the back of his shirt trying to get him to walk away from the situation. “Aldrich—”
“Because that was what was released in the crime report. There was video footage of the accident and she accelerated in that tree. Did your denial of your child while she was alive cause her to want to take her own life?” It was a damn shame that Icouldn’t see this man but I could hear how he enjoyed delivering this news to Aldrich like he hoped it fucked up his day.
Aldrich said nothing else but turned to me and grabbed my hand. I didn’t think twice about following him and stayed close as he continued to shout questions at us. His brother followed suit with Cassie and after we got a few steps away they put the both of us in front of them while they stood between us and the stranger as we continued to head toward the car.
The silence was so loud and I felt like I had to do something that would find out the information he needed. “I’ll call Billy—”
“Not yet, Ling.” His words were clipped, and I could tell he was retreating into himself.
I nodded and kept my mouth shut until we got in the car. I could see the shade fall back down over his face. The playfulness that we’d experienced all night was long gone and he was back to being completely off-kilter. He and his brother had mirrored movements both walking me and Cassie to our doors before going to theirs. I watched Aldrich and he kept his eyes on the man who’d approached us at the park to make sure he didn’t get any closer to the car. I prayed that he got the reaction he wanted and would leave us alone. The night was already ruined but we would at least be able to leave peacefully.
Aldrich slid into the driver’s seat and before the door was fully shut he turned to me. “See if you can find out what he’s talking about.”
That was probably the worst idea of the night. I’d only wanted to call Billy so that she could get that man away from us. She would easily be able to find out what he wanted to know and I didn’t think it would be a good idea for him mentally.
“Aldrich—”
