“Dad, are we going to McDonald’s?”
“Yes, Ryan. We’re going to McDonald’s. You were good, so we’ll go inside to eat. You can play on the slide.”
Yes!
I sat back and felt my heart finally start to settle down. The reward of McDonald’s was the only thing that made this not so bad. I jumped out as soon as he pulled into the parking space and headed for the door.
“Ryan,” Dad barked. I stopped in my tracks. “Get your ass back here.”
I walked back to the car and looked up at him.
“Let me look at you and make sure you’re cleaned up to go inside.”
I stood still while he ran his heavy hand through my hair. He pulled on the hem of my shirt, and when his hand got close to my stomach, I reached for it.
“Stomach bothering you?”
“Yes.”
“You’re hungry. We’ll fix that.”
He reached for the zipper of my pants, and I started to whine.
“Quiet! Your pants aren’t even zipped or buttoned.”
After he zipped my pants, he pulled on the open ends of the waistband and snapped the button together. He licked his thumb and wiped at a spot near my mouth.
My mouth watered the second Dad opened the door. The scent of freshly salted fries filled the air. While we waited in line, I turned and looked at the playground. There weren’t many kids out there, and I didn’t see anyone on the Mayor McCheese climber.
Suddenly, Dad firmly grabbed my arm, startling me. He leaned down and started talking quietly to me.
“Do you want the belt?”
“No,” I whined and looked up at him.
“Then pay attention, Ryan. You don’t need to look around. No one wants to see a shitty kid staring and gawking—”
He kept talking, but I didn’t hear any of it. As Dad walked forward in line with me, my pants felt damp and warm. My face was hot, and I didn’t know what to do. I nodded when he lightly jostled me.
“Do you hear me?”
“Yes.”
He let go of me when it was our turn to order. While my dad gave our order, I looked down at my pants. Oh no! I saw that they were wet, so I pulled the front of my shirt down in front to cover it. I kept my shirt that way while I walked beside Dad to a table.
We sat by the window so I could look outside at the playground. I took a few napkins and pressed them against my lap while Dad put the food out for us. He opened the box that my food was in and put the straw in my Coke. I pulled the napkins away to look at my wet pants, hoping they’d be dry. No such luck. Dad opened my McNuggets box and poured my fries in the lid before he moved the box to the side.
My toy!
“Wait! My toy!”
I reached for the box and pulled out the sunglasses with the milkshake character on the top. I had sunglasses! I shoved some french fries in my mouth while I tried to open the plastic bag my sunglasses were in.
“Ryan, eat.”
“I am,” I said and bit off some of a McNugget.
The plastic was hard to open, and I put the corner in my mouth to tear it open. Dad snatched it out of my hands and mouth and opened the package. He handed the sunglasses to me and told me to eat.
