CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

 

“Can we do it again?” Lily squeals, jumping off Wipe Out to link her arm through mine.

My legs are shaking, my face pale as I turn to my sister. “We’ve been on it five times in a row. Don’t you want to go on the tea cups? Or maybe we could do the bumper cars?”

I hope to persuade her since I don’t know how much more I can handle. Even the way she bounces next to me has my tummy curdling.

She scrunches her face up adorably. “But they aren’t fast, and the tea cups are for babies. What about the waltzers?”

I look to the other girls for help, but they look away, pretending they weren’t listening. “How about you guys go on together? I’m going to grab a bottled water and sit this one out.”

Because if I’m spun one more time, I’m going to puke up the hotdog and fries I had earlier. My stomach is in knots.

She looks unsure as she bites her lip worriedly. “Are you sure? We can wait until you’re ready.”

“No!” I screech, but then stop, clearing my throat as I wave her off. “It’s fine. You guys go and have fun.”

“But you’ll be on your own.”

“You have your fast track bands, so I won’t be waiting forever, Lily. It’s fine, now go.”

She still looks unsure, her body tensing up. “Maybe we should wait.”

I hug my sister, but I can still feel how tense she is. “Just go and have fun.”

“I’m going to sit this one out too,” Hope offers, and I watch as Lily’s shoulders visibly relax. I mouth a ‘thank you’ to Hope for jumping in.

“Are you sure don’t mind? It’s going to be a lot of fun, but we’ll do it again, so you can have a turn.”

“I’m sure. I’m not keen on the waltzers anyway.”

Satisfied, Lily grins, pulling Hope in for a hug. “You are the best.” She turns to the others, smiling so wide her cheeks must hurt. “Let’s go. After, we can go on the high drop.”

I pale when the words leave her mouth. The high drop is a line of six seats on each side of a block that rises high in the sky. It’s stops at the top, waiting until you feel safe, before dropping you like your life means nothing. Whoever thought they were brilliant for conjuring that ride up needs to die a slow and painful death. 

Lily waves goodbye and heads off with the others, squealing with excitement.

Hope and I find the nearest burger van before ordering our drinks.

“I don’t think there’s any seats,” she says as I take my change and grab my drink.

“Let’s look over by the waltzers, that way we’re close.”

“Okay.”

We find a bench close to the others and take a seat. I rub my gloved hands together, fighting off the cold. After being spun in the air on the last ride, my cheeks are frozen solid.

“You look like you’re going to be sick.” Hope giggles, taking a large gulp of her water.

“I just may if she doesn’t stop dragging me on so many rides that spin or go upside down. There’s only so much tossing I can handle.”

She giggles. “But you will if she asks because she’s having the time of her life. Four drunken men have bumped into her, one even sat down next to her on the last ride, and she hasn’t even blinked or noticed.”

I sag against the bench. “I know. I asked if she wanted to switch seats with me when I saw him looking at her. I thought Immy was going to sit there, otherwise I would have said something before.”

“A lad on the other side of us caught her attention. What did Lily say?”

“She looked at me, grinning with excitement, but also confused at my offer, saying she was fine where she was.”

I have to smile because my sister has really shone bright tonight. She always does at places like this.

She went to her first fair at the age of eleven, and it had taken us hours to get her to leave. And when we did, we’d left with Dad holding every stuffed animal they had, a bunch of sweets she’d won on the penny machines, and a ton of pictures of us together on the rides.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything last night.”

I glance at her, a little confused to what she means. Her comment is abrupt, which is also confusing. “What do you mean?”

She fiddles with her hands. “When they were talking about you and Beau like you weren’t there. I should have spoken up for you, for Beau, but if I’m honest, I wanted to see how they all reacted.”

I giggle at that. “I think everyone did.”

She laughs, her expression relaxing. “Yeah. Still, we should have stood by you. We’ll be in your position one day and it will be nice to have your support.”

“You’ve met someone?”

Her cheeks turn pink. “No. But I have been going on a few dates. I’m just worried over how the men in our family will react when they find out. We’re not at school anymore; they won’t hold back because my date is underage.”

I feel her pain. “I hear ya. My advice?”

She glances at me, her eyes round with hope. “Anything would be good. Not that I’ve met anyone I want them to meet, but if I do, I want to be prepared.”

“Don’t introduce them until you’re sure they’re the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. I think, in time, Dad will see that Beau is that person and come to terms with me not being his little girl anymore.”

“Your mum is already won over. I heard her say to Mum it’s the uniform that decided for her.”

I laugh because that sounds like my mum. “She drooled and everything when she saw him in his work attire.”

“Does he look as good as she says?”

The sparkle in her eyes doesn’t go unnoticed. My cousin is known for her obsession with men in uniform. “Hotter.”

She grins, nudging my shoulder with hers. “Lucky bitch.”

“Oh, my God, can we get some cotton candy? I saw it as we were spun.”

I jump at the excited sound of Lily’s voice, in awe of her skills in noticing cotton candy while enjoying the ride. She’s like a little girl.

“Yeah.”

Hope and I jump up from our seat and follow the group. We’re just passing some game booths when a hand grabs my upper arm, pulling me away from the girls.

Hope notices me slip away, as a startled yelp escapes me. “Hey!”

“Bitch, come with me now before someone gets hurt.”

My knees threaten to buckle under me as the voice that haunts me breathes in my ear. My entire body stills as he tries to pull me away.

How did he find me?

Oh, god, he can’t be here.

Lily.

She’ll be scared if she sees him, and it will cause her to have an episode.

My eyes glance away from Hope, even as she grabs the others’ attention.

“Okay,” I whisper shakily to the man holding me.

He spins me around to face him, his snarling face having me inwardly whimper. His eyes are dark, soulless, and the hardness in his expression has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

Oh, my God!

It’s him, the man from the restaurant the night he stood me up, the man who’d helped me pick up my purse.

Noah.

“Let her go!”

My eyes widen when he spins us again to face my sister and cousins. All of them are standing in a semi-circle around us, their arms crossed over their chests as they scowl at the man holding me.

His fingers latch on to my ponytail, pulling it sharply and making me cry out. “Or what? You going to strip for me?”

Hayden, who had been the one to speak before, swaggers forward, not even flinching at his degrading dig.

“Hayden, don’t,” I plead, not wanting them to get hurt.

She doesn’t even glance at me, keeping her eyes on Noah. “I said let her go. If you don’t, we will hurt you.”

He scoffs, dismissing her threat with amusement. He spins us around again, dragging me by my hair towards a secluded area. I notice, for the first time, we’re near the emergency exit.

My hope of someone seeing him handling me roughly and get me help comes crashing down when he starts dragging me towards it.

I hear a war cry before I’m jerked to the floor and away from Noah. I roll over to my side and see my sister tumble to the floor, still screaming bloody murder and drawing a crowd.

Noah gets up, his eyes cold as he steps towards her with the intent to hurt her. I can see it in his eyes, the way his hands clench into fists, and the way his jaw locks.

“No!” I scream, trying to crawl over to my sister. My legs are still trembling and weak.

Just as the words slip past my lips, I’m stunned into silence and pause my attempt to get to Lily, because Hayden rushes forwards, screaming, “This is Sparta,” and does a full roundhouse kick to his stomach, knocking the breath out of his lungs. He flies backwards, landing on his back with a thud. Before he has a chance to regain his composure, she dives on him, her elbow sticking out as she lands hard on his chest.

“You son of a bitch,” she screams, moving to straddle his stomach.

He grunts, shoving him off her, but the second she rolls off, she jumps to her feet, ready to attack.

That’s when rushing feet gain my attention. As one, all my cousins dive on top of him, screaming at the top of their lungs, not caring there’s a crowd forming behind them to watch the show.

I sit up, my eyes widening in shock when Charlotte shoves one of her muffins in his mouth. I wince a little, feeling a little sorry for him. Okay, I don’t, he really does deserve the torture. He pales, gagging as he tries to fight her away at the same time as spitting the muffin out.

“Eat it,” she screams, shoving another in his mouth. She looks a little deranged as she goes for yet another muffin in her trusty backpack.

What surprises me more is the little kicks Lily keeps getting in as the others keep slapping and punching him.

“You leave my sister alone, you A-hole.” Another kick to the ribs.

Mouth agape, I watch as Hayden really gets into it, slapping his face almost comically. “How does it feel to get hit back, huh? How do you like it, huh? You like it?” Her slaps become harder as he shouts at them to get the fuck off him.

Security come barrelling around the corner and I sag with relief at the sight of them, though not at the sight of my brother and cousins walking past, doing a double take before rushing towards us; or the growing crowd.

With them here, things will only get worse. It’s only a matter of time, not whether they will succeed in doing so.

The security blokes pull the girls away, but the one holding Hayden is having trouble restraining her.

“Tell me, are you not entertained!” she screams, throwing her hands up and looking like a mad woman on crack as she glares at Noah. She keeps trying to throw another kick towards his broken body, but the guy holding her pulls her back, lifting her off her feet so they’re swinging in the air.

Another security bloke helps Noah stand, asking if he’s all right.

“What? He was the one who attacked me, he fucking beat me up,” I scream, stepping forward. There is no way he can get away with this again. And they can’t let him go. Beau is looking for him.

“Miss, I’m going to ask you to calm down and take a step back.”

I stand straighter as I hear my cousins asking the others what happened. “No. I won’t. He’s wanted by the police.”

“Is this right, sir?”

Noah scowls angrily at me before turning to the security guy, wincing as he fakes being the victim. “No. I was walking towards the exit to take my wife and kid home when I was jumped by these group of crazy ladies.”

“You liar,” I scream, my temper rising as I take a step forward. The security guy puts his hand to my chest, shoving me lightly to take a step back. “He doesn’t even have a wife or kids.” At least, I think he doesn’t. “He tried to take me away. He’s woman beater.”

Mark walks up beside me, his jaw clenched. “Is he the one who attacked you, Faith?”

“Yes,” I bite out, my eyes narrowed on the man I should be scared of, but if anything, I’m scared for him, because I’m not letting him leave this park without being in handcuffs first.

“I see.” Before I can stop him, he’s swinging a punch to Noah’s jaw. Two security guys come running over to restrain him, but I lose my temper.

“No, get away from my brother. He didn’t do anything wrong. You’re restraining the wrong person.”

I’m pulled back, but with my casted arm, I hit whoever has me in the head, stunning them long enough to let me go. I jump on the back of the guy who is trying to pin Mark to the floor, pulling his hair.

“Get away!”

“Get off me,” he squeals, spinning around. I grip my legs around him tighter, and from the corner of my eye, I notice Hayden and the others get free to start helping us get free.

Hopefully we can make it home before the police show up. But then I see Noah trying to slip out of the mad chaos and scream to my family. We all dive in his direction.