Rule 13 - Domino

"Ineed some time off." I stepped up to the Rush Slush booth, where Fabian was making himself a slushy.

"What's up?" He stepped out of the booth, nodding to the worker inside, and we moved through the large crowd of patrons who had come out for opening day.

"I have a friend who's having surgery. I'd like to be there for him."

"A friend? When is this?" He raised an eyebrow. I held back from rolling my eyes. Ever since I'd come back a little over a week ago, my family had been hounding me for information. They wanted to know what exactly I'd done while I was gone, but they didn't deserve to know. I didn't come back for them. I came back for Johnny Blue and any others I could help. After I got off the call with him last night, I'd made a list on my phone of all the people I could help with the money. People that had helped me during my travels. People who barely had food of their own, but broke bread with me. It was a long list.

"It's in a week," I told him, keeping it brief.

He twirled his mustache and sipped his slushy.

"Alright, keep your secrets. Take the day, I don"t care. Your job is a lot more..."

I smirked. "For show?"

I was supposed to take this entire week and learn my job, but it barely took an afternoon. I sat down with a PR team who made me a social media account. With it, I"d take photos and videos of myself and others having fun at the park. Easy peasy.

"Not exactly. You"re gonna be in commercials and the PR team wants to do a photoshoot for banners and stuff. Your face is gonna be plastered everywhere!"

I frowned. That part was not as easy. I didn"t want to be the poster child for this death trap of a park.

"How is that girl who got hurt? I saw the ambulance taking her away the other day."

His smile fell. "Leeanna Mullins? She had to have her leg amputated." He cleared his throat and looked at his shoes. "She was compensated heavily."

My heart sank. Another victim of this place, and we just threw money at her. I stared at my brother, and the urge to snap his photo overtook me. I lifted my camera and clicked. His sad eyes now memorialized.

"I can't believe you still do that." He batted me away. "And that you still have that same camera Dad gave you." He chuckled. I shrugged and rested my camera back down.

"Let's go back to the park's newest victim." I reminded him.

"We"re working on it." Fabian forced a smile. "Now that you"re here, we can make some positive changes. Other than Marisol, is everyone treating you well since your return?"

We kept walking.

"For the most part. There"s a few cold shoulders, but I kind of understand."

My mind went to Swayze and Koi. I could feel their cold glares every time I walked anywhere on the campgrounds. They hadn"t spoken to me since my arrival, but they didn"t have to for me to know what they were thinking. They deemed me responsible for their best friend"s death, and I didn"t blame them one bit.

"Koi and Swayze?" He nodded. "Yeah, they like to toss their weight around camp and the park. I wouldn"t let them get you down."

"Aren"t they just ROs?"

"Ride operators? No, they are section managers. Swayze runs the water park, and Koi the rides. Mostly just making sure everyone else is doing their job. They kind of earned it, considering…" He chuckled.

"Considering what?"

Fabian reached for his curly mustache and twirled it. "Uh... Koi lost his eye last year, and I think the year before that, Swayze was impaled and they took his kidney."

"What?" Oh my god! This place was horrible! I spun around, my vision growing spotty. What kind of fresh hell was this park now? "This wasn"t nearly as bad when Dad was alive."

"Yeah, he actually put money into things. Upkeep, safety stuff. Uncle Carlos won"t. This is why we needed you to come back."

"Koi is blind?" I shook my head in disbelief.

"His other eye works fine, last I heard. We got him a nice glass eye, you can't even tell. They say he's got killer aim now. Swayze"s okay too. He covered the scar with a tattoo and everything. Really, it"s no big deal now. They still came back this summer."

I stepped away from him. "It is a big deal, Fabian. How would you feel if it had happened to you? How could you act like, like…"

"Marisol?" He rolled his eyes.

"Yes! How can you not care about real people and their lives?"

People were beginning to stare, but I didn"t care. This place needed to be closed down before more people got hurt.

"You learn to pick your battles, and giving this park to Uncle Carlos was one none of us wanted to lose. Go, take the day off, and go see your friend before their surgery. Actually, take two. The PR team wanted you to get your hair professionally done and a new wardrobe for the photoshoot anyway. No more of Marisol"s old stuff. Take one day for shopping, the other day for your friend, and when you come back, we can talk more about everything. I want change too," he reminded me.

"Thank you," I relented. While I was angry with him, I understood where he was coming from. He had to bide his time to eventually make the changes this place needed. "Uh, there"s just one thing. I need a ride to the bus station."

"Wait, you mean to go see your friend? Don"t take the bus. I"ll get someone to drive you both days."

My face heated up. "You don"t have to do that. I can look it up and probably just walk." I pulled out my phone and waved it. "Now that I have the internet at my fingertips."

Fabian was already putting his phone to his ear. He glanced at me and smirked. "Hey," he said as the person on the other line picked up. "I need a favor. My sister needs a driver for a few days next week." He gave me a thumbs-up. My jaw dropped. I was getting chaperoned? By who?

Fabian saw the look on my face and read my mind. "I"ll text you details later. Thanks again, Swayze."

"Wake the fuck up! I'm not trying to babysit all day," Swayze shouted at the empty cabin. Georgie and I stepped out of the woods.

"I'm up. Just let me feed Georgie, and we can go." I brushed past Swayze, going up the stairs and into my cabin. He followed me, despite not being invited in.

He whistled. "I wish I was allowed this kind of setup." He nodded to my bed. It wasn't just a cabin bunk like the standard issue ones in all the others. This was a bed for a house. It had the softest mattress and was huge.

I quickly fed Georgie, ignoring Swayze's remark. I hadn"t wanted all this stuff, but Fabian had insisted.

"Ready?" I asked instead.

He jiggled his keys."Let's go. I have shit to do."

"Like what? Didn't you get the day off with pay to do this?" I asked.

"It's not a day off if I'm doing what my boss wants, is it?"

Fair.

We left my cabin, and I had to struggle to keep up with his pace. Even if I didn't have my short leg, I would have struggled. He was practically jogging. I climbed into his truck on my own, and he slammed it shut behind me. We were peeling out of the staff parking lot an instant later.

He turned the music up. Billy Talent poured through the speakers, and I instantly recognized the song and began to sing it under my breath. I bobbed my head and stared out the window. I hadn't gotten a good look at the town when I'd originally returned. Everything looked just as it had when I left.

"You know this song?" Swayze asked suddenly.

"I love Billy Talent. They inspired one of my first tattoos." I lifted the skirt of my dress, revealing my inked thigh. I pointed to the words permanently placed there.

You can't fix me.

"It's from?—"

"River Below," he finished. His expression softened for a moment and then turned icy again. We stopped at a red light, and he pulled out his phone, putting the song on. He turned the volume up even more. I was enjoying his music up until we pulled into a parking lot and he turned the car off.

"Where are we?"

He opened his door. "You have a hair appointment in five minutes. Come on."

I grimaced but opened my door. "It's too early for this."

He rolled his eyes, and when I got around the truck, he gently pushed me along. "Your brother is paying me good money to make sure you get your hair done and you buy new clothes. Go get in the fucking chair, and I'll go get us some coffee or something."

I stumbled over my feet as he kept pushing me forward.

"I hate salons. They always want to talk," I complained.

"I'll sit with you," he offered. "You can talk to me instead."

I laughed. "And what do you propose we talk about for the next four hours?"

Swayze looked me up and down. When they came back up, it was a slow gaze that sent chills through me. He grinned.

"You can tell me about all the other tattoos. I bet there's a few I can't see, aren't there?"

I swallowed, butterflies going wild in my belly.

There were.