Martin ordered the chili dogs and everyone gave their drink choices to the clerk. After Martin paid an arm and a leg for the park food, they all sat down at a table overlooking a pedestrian-filled plaza.
“So, are you girls having fun yet?”
Both answered with an enthusiastic “Yeah!”
“You think you’re ready to ride some of the roller coasters, Erin?”
Erin wasn’t entirely certain about that, but she didn’t want to hold back her family from going on the rides they enjoyed. Besides, the smaller rides had turned out to be much better than she expected, why shouldn’t the bigger rides? “Yes,” she replied.
Hailey detected the almost imperceptible hesitation in Erin’s response. “How about we start with one of the smaller ones?”
“That’d be good, I guess,” replied Erin. She knew Hailey had already made up her mind.
Hailey continued questioning Erin. “So what’d you think of the rides so far? Were they what you expected?”
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” replied Erin. “I guess I didn’t expect them to be as large or fast as they are, but they’re definitely more fun than I thought they could be. They’re also a bit scarier, but it’s a fun kind of scary.”
“So you’ve never been on rides like this before? Not even at a fair or something?”
“We didn’t go fun places like that at my old house. I guess my old family didn’t like them.” She was suddenly silent. Family. I feel more like family now than I ever did with my stepmom around. I guess dad was still family… but he was different after Mom died.
Hailey had obviously touched a sensitive subject, although she wasn’t quite sure what it was. Erin was now staring very intently at her half-eaten chili dog. Hailey looked at her father, who gave her a look that clearly told her to go no further. Hailey nodded; she understood that Erin didn’t want to talk any more about the subject.
With everybody silent, lunch was finished rather rapidly. Erin realized they were waiting for her to indicate she was okay, which she found silly. I wouldn’t care if they kept talking to each other, they don’t have to be quiet on my behalf. But since they were doing so, she had to be the first to speak. “So, are you all ready to go on some more rides?”
Hailey responded first. “Yeah, but I think I’m going to stop by the bathrooms first, we might be in line for a while.”
Now that Erin thought about it, she did have to pee a little bit. “I guess I should go, too.” She was glad Hailey reminded her; she probably would have forgotten about it, and with her luck, she’d probably be deep in a line when her bladder decided it was full. Yes, she did have a diaper on, but that was only for emergency use. She intended to keep it dry if she could at all help it.
Hailey and Erin headed over to the women’s restroom as Martin stood up himself to visit the men’s. After everyone was done and met back up outside the restroom building, Hailey led them to an older-looking wooden roller coaster.
“This one’s not as big as some of the newer coasters,” she explained to Erin. “It’ll be a bit bumpy, but it shouldn’t be too bad for a first time rider.”
