Rule 30 - Koi

Istared at the photo Johnny Blue had let me keep from his stash.

"She"s not going to know one photo is gone." He winked at me as he left the room, letting me explore the rest of them. I wanted to go through them all, starting with the earliest dates onward, but total exhaustion was hitting fast. I put the boxes away and stood, taking the photo of Swayze and me, and went to the living room. I scooped Domino up and looked for Johnny to direct me to the spare room. He took us upstairs and only once I set her on the large bed did she stir.

"Koi?" she whispered.

"I"m here." I pulled the blanket back and slid under it. She moved closer to me, and I wrapped my arms around her. The act of embracing her felt foreign, but she was so soft and warm that I wanted to stay like this.

"Where are we?" she asked, relaxing against me.

"I took you to Johnny Blue"s house. Is that okay?" My hand drifted to her hair, pushing it from her face.

"Johnny"s?"

I leaned down, kissing her cheek. "Yeah. Is that okay, Blessing?"

"Perfect." She sighed and drifted back to sleep. I rested my head back down and my sleep followed behind hers. I was so exhausted I didn"t dream, it was all black until noon when Domino started to stir. I sat up and stretched. She did the same, and we looked at each other. Despite being fully clothed, I still felt slightly bashful.

"You took me to Johnny"s. Thank you."

"Of course. I never want to harm you. I shouldn"t have pushed you about the hotel."

Her eye twitched, and she turned away, getting off the bed. We went down and found Johnny on the couch with the news on the TV. He looked at us and nodded to it. "This the accident you were talking about?" He turned the volume up and we sat down. I reached for her hand and squeezed.

A news anchor stood in front of the park gates.

"Police were called in the early hours of the morning to Risky Rush Amusement Park, the popular New Jersey attraction known for its creative rides and cheap ticket prices. According to sources, a group of young staff members snuck into the park after hours to ride some of the attractions, when a young lady fell off mid-ride on the park"s most popular roller coaster, the Cyclone.

"Late-night excursions are often times a rite of passage for the overnight staff who reside at the old Camp Risky campground during the summer. After a young camper"s death over a decade ago, it was closed and Risky Rush Amusement Park was built and opened on the land next door. The park has been wildly successful and continues to draw in more and more thrill-seeking patrons year after year. We reached out to the owners of the park regarding the staff member"s death, and this is what they had to say."

The camera cut to Mattias, who looked tired, but otherwise fine. "It"s very unfortunate and this is why we discourage our staff from operating the rides after the park closes. We extend our sympathies to her family."

"Is the coaster safe to ride?" the interviewer asked.

"Of course it is! The incident was not caused by a faulty ride, but merely by people not wearing seatbelts and using the safety guards. We"ve been testing the ride all morning and it"s been operating just as it always has."

The camera cut back to the news anchor. "Reports say that the park is closed for the next three days but will resume normal operation hours once their investigation has been completed. Back to you, Jennifer."

Johnny looked at us and stood. "Is that your brother?" he asked Domino.

"Mattias, yeah. The younger one. His job is to handle this stuff."

"He sounded like it. He also sounds full of shit, but who am I but simple Johnny Blue. You didn"t have anything to do with it, did you?" He glared at me.

"No, god, no. We don"t know who killed her. That"s why we"re here," I said. Johnny considered my words and nodded.

"Stay as long as you need. I, however, will not be changing my plans. I have a date tonight that I"ve been waiting for since before my surgery. Can you guys order pizza and handle being alone?"

"Of course, Johnny." Domino peeled herself from me and went to hug her friend. He backed away but smiled.

"Still sore," he reminded her.

Georgie barked for attention and we decided to take him for a walk. Considering we were hours from the park and no one knew where we were, it felt safe to roam around the town. We were getting back to Johnny"s when Swayze finally called.

"Hello?" I answered the call.

"Where the fuck are you? Fabian"s called every hotel in the fucking county and you two aren"t at any of them."

"We"re not." I motioned for Domino to go inside and pulled a cigarette out. "How"d it go?"

"It was the most fucked up night I"d ever had. If I wasn"t so worried about ending up like Ruth, I"d kill Fabian and Mattias myself."

"I heard the park is closed."

"Yeah, they"re giving everyone the next three days off while they clean her guts off the coaster. I had Mattias drive me back to my house to grab my car. Where are you?"

"You gonna come up?" I perked up. "You"re not gonna believe where we ended up." I gave him Johnny Blue"s address and he promised to pack up some clothes and grab a few things we"d left behind on the other side of the river.

"I found Domino"s camera and cell phone. I"ll bring those too," he said, before hanging up.

Domino, Johnny, and I spent the rest of the afternoon in his office, going through her photos. I listened with interest and pure awe as she told us all about the people she met and the things she"d done. With the way Domino described the open road, I didn"t think it"d be that bad. Could I leave everything behind with just a backpack?

Johnny eventually excused himself to get ready for his date, and when he was on his way out, he came to say goodbye.

"I may or may not come home, depending on how it goes." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Don"t wait up for me."

"Wait, where should we order food from?" Domino asked.

"Oh, right. Call Dorsia, it used to be this upscale restaurant, but they sold it to a pizza place. The food is fucking mint." He pinched his fingers together. "Get the cinnamon sticks."

We ordered a cheese pizza and the sticks after he left and then settled on the couch for a movie while we waited. Despite it being June, we found a channel running a Scream marathon. We caught it right in the middle of Scream 2.

"They should have just stopped at one," I commented.

"Really?" Domino looked up from my lap, where her head had been resting. "You don"t like the sequel?"

"I don"t like them in general. Who cares about what the chick is up to afterward?"

She gasped dramatically. "I care. I think it"s cool that we see more of the characters. It fleshes out the story more."

"Maybe," I relented. "When Swayze gets here, we can let him be the decider."

She bolted up. "Swayze is coming?"

I observed her expression. Her eyes were wide, but I wasn"t sure if she was happy or upset.

"Is that a problem? I thought we"d all feel better if we were together."

"Of course, it"s just... where is he going to sleep?"