by Kat Addams
“That was different! I wasn’t hanging there, like that kid!” She tilted her head toward a little girl who was screaming in terror as she hurled toward the end of the zip line. Her legs were kicking out from under her while her parents watched from below, snapping pictures on their phones.
“Let’s jump. The highest person to bounce gets more ice cream!” Maisy bounced on the trampoline.
I gripped Betty’s hand and led her onto it before starting to bounce slowly. She watched my moves and tried to mimic me, failing miserably. Instead of bouncing, she looked like she was squatting to pee.
“Do you—” I was about to ask her if she had any clue as to what she was doing before she cut me off.
“Black people don’t do this shit,” she whispered, snapping her eyes to mine. Then, she smiled and waved at Maisy, who had bounced across the entire trampoline and back.
“Yeah, they do! I think it’s just Betty that doesn’t do it. Bend your knees slightly! Like this!” I paused, going over the motions on how to jump on a trampoline properly.
“I got it. I got it.” Betty bent down low before leaping into the air. She landed hard, bending her knees and bouncing back up higher and higher.
I’d never seen someone jump so high. The way she wobbled when she was in the air told me that it hadn’t been intentional. Her eyes grew wider, the higher she rose.
“How do I stop? Make it stop!” she yelled.
Maisy fell over in a fit of giggles. Even I grabbed myself. Otherwise, I’d piss my pants.
I could barely breathe from laughing so hard. “Stop bouncing!”
“I can’t! My legs won’t bend. They’ll break. Help! Help! Get that man over there,” she said, pointing to a worker.
“You don’t need that man. Just stop! Put your legs out. Land on your butt!” I screamed at her, hoping she could hear me way up there.
Whatever magic juju she used to fly to the top of the damn gym looked like something straight out of a movie. Even I became terrified for her. But that didn’t stop Maisy or me from laughing. By now, a small crowd had gathered, watching in awe as Betty screamed with each bounce.
“To hell, land on my butt!” she cried.
Maisy put her hand over her mouth. “She said a bad word!”
“Trust me,” I shouted. “Throw your legs out. It won’t hurt! That’s all you can do unless you want to bend your knees and slow it down.”
“Move outta the way!” she snapped, throwing her legs out from under her and crashing down on that juicy booty that I knew would soften her landing. Kind of. She bounced left. She bounced right. She somersaulted to the side and landed facedown and ass up.
I clenched my jaw, my fists, and my butt. Betty was going to kill me for this.
I ran to her side. “Are you okay?” I said, picking her up.
She brushed herself off and shot me a look that shut me up real quick.
“That’s the end of that. You owe me.” She pursed her lips together and looked to Maisy, paying me no more attention. “What else is here? Anything less dangerous?”
“The Q-tip battles!” Maisy shouted. “You and Daddy do it!”
“What’s that?” Betty asked as Maisy pulled her toward the battlegrounds.
“You get these giant Q-tips, and you knock the other person off the ledge. You fall into foam. It won’t hurt. I get Daddy all the time. Don’t worry. He’s easy!”
We rounded the corner to what I liked to call the war zone. The giant room hummed with inflatable obstacle courses—whirling inflatable games to knock you off your feet, ropes you had to swing on or fall into the foam pit of death, and the Q-tip game where you were allowed to beat your opponent with a giant bar.
“Oh, I gotcha. I used to watch them do something like this on TV when I was little.” Betty smirked before leaning over to whisper in my ear, “Since you wanted to laugh at me back there on the trampoline, do you know what I’m going to do now? I’m going to whoop your ass with this Q-tip. And after that, I’m going to pick you up out of that pit and whoop it again.”
I nodded, biting my lip to keep from laughing. It was all I could do. I had known after that stunt with the trampoline, I was due for punishment. I’d only hoped that punishment was in her sex dungeon and not here on the battlefield among all these innocent children. I looked left and right at the kids whooping each other’s asses at their stations. No one would even notice my poor self being pummeled by this demon spawn I’d brought to the children’s park.
Maisy sat on the side of the pit, giggling, as Betty walked the plank toward me, armed with the giant Q-tip across her chest. I tiptoed toward her, wondering if I should just jump off and surrender. I glanced down at the pit below me for half a second before I felt a wallop to my right shoulder, knocking me into a tumble off the plank. I looked up, dazed and unsure of what had just happened. Betty stepped into my view, blocking out the light like the devil coming to take my soul.
“Round one,” she sneered.
“Ooh, Daddy. You’re losing!” Maisy yelled, bringing my attention back to her. “You can do it! Get up!”
I climbed out of the pit and reluctantly started over again, inching my way down the plank and toward the wild woman. I noticed her hair was messed up. If I told her that, she would knock me clear across the damn room. Better that I kept my mouth shut. I straightened my back, holding the Q-tip out in front of me, blocking her from that ninja move she’d pulled earlier. It was like she had come out of nowhere.
“Someone is stalling again. You like doing that, don’t you?” Betty shouted down the plank.
“What was that again? I can’t hear you. Maybe you should get back on the trampoline. Clear your mind with fresh air up there,” I said, pointing toward the ceiling.
Betty’s nostrils flared as she barreled toward me. I held my weapon out at arm’s length. There was no way she could get through me. I smirked at her, but then she swiped her giant Q-tip clear across my legs, knocking me off of my feet and back into the pit.
“What’s that? Forget to bend your knees and jump? How do you like it when your legs fly out from under you and you land on your ass?” she called down to me, grinning.
I groaned. “I surrender. Can we do an obstacle course or something less painful?”
I looked at Maisy to save me. She peered over the side of the pit, wide-eyed, nodding.
“Thanks, peanut,” I croaked out.
Betty put her Q-tip up and walked to me, shaking my hand.
“See? Good sportsmanship. Always be friendly to your opponent.” She smiled at Maisy.
“You really whooped his ass, Miss Betty!” She bobbed her tiny head up and down.
“Maisy! You can’t use that language!” I said, cringing and looking around to make sure no one else had heard my parenting fail.
“It’s true though,” Maisy said, hopping along to the next stop.
We followed her into the obstacle course, dodging inflatables, climbing ropes, and flying down slides. Maisy begged us to go through it all again eight times before she became bored enough to move on to the next contraption. Betty’s hair lay plastered to her head. A bead of sweat rolled down her brow before she reached up and wiped it away, fanning herself.
“How does your child have this energy?” she huffed, watching Maisy bounce up and down, pulling at my hand to keep going.
“Siphons it out of me,” I moaned, mopping sweat from my brow too.
“I want to do the zip line.” Maisy paused in her bounce, staring at me. Her face had gone white.
“What? Really? Why?” I asked, leaning in to make sure I’d heard her right.
“If Miss Betty goes first.” Maisy looked up at Betty with her big puppy-dog blue eyes that got me every time.
I doubted they would work on Betty. I doubted anything would work on Betty. Especially after the trampoline stunt.
“Child, you got a thing or two to learn about me.” Betty shook her head.
“I have learned. You are pretty. You are bra
ve. You are strong. You kick bullies in the quaffle balls if they hurt you. And my dad likes you. I do too. I’ll do it if you do it.” Maisy curled her hand around Betty’s palm.
Like the grinch, Betty’s heart grew so much that it nearly burst out of her chest.
“Let’s go.” She sniffled, clutching Maisy’s tiny hand.
They shuffled their feet toward the zip line in total silence. Neither one of them made a peep, which was incredibly out of character for both of them. I hadn’t heard either one of them be quiet for more than a minute during this entire outing. Or actually, ever.
“It’s going to be fine. Want me to do it first?” I stooped to Maisy, who stood below the zip line, watching kids hurtle down the track.
“No. What if you get hurt? I don’t want you to. It’s too dangerous!” she protested, pushing me back toward a chair. “Sit and watch Miss Betty and me. Girl power, right, Miss Betty?”
Betty looked like she was about to be sick. “Girl power!” She threw a limp fist in the air before marching off to face her fears.
“Proud of you, kiddo! You got this! You too, big kiddo!” I called out.
Betty turned, narrowing her eyes at me and making the motion of cracking a whip above my head. My cock began to thicken so quickly that I had to cross my legs and put my hands in my lap so as not to look like a perv in the trampoline park. Betty had me out of my element, and I had her out of hers. My plan had come along nicely, and she had aced the test. After this, I’d be done with all the games. She’d already won.
I craned my neck up toward the jump-off of the zip line, watching both my daughter and Betty strap themselves into their harnesses. Betty checked Maisy’s straps not once, but three times. I nodded in satisfaction. Maisy peered over the edge before backing up and shaking her head. Betty leaned down, whispering something and flexing her muscles. She kissed Maisy on the forehead, turned toward her death sentence, took a deep breath, and jumped.
I’d never before in my life heard the noise she made. Down the track came screams of what I could only describe as the howls of a wraith, a demon, or a siren. Whatever monster crawled from the depths of hell to feast on your soul, that was the sound Betty made. After this stunt, I would be in for the worst punishment of my life.
Everyone stopped in their tracks to watch Betty hurtling toward the other side of the gymnasium. Their nervous eyes glanced toward me in knowing sympathy.
Take pity on me. I’ve been a bad boy.
I had reached the point of delirious fright. I had been so damn terrified during this whole ordeal that I burst into laughter the second she flew by me. I gave a halfhearted wave as she passed by, slicing through my soul with her evil-eyed stare. Her hair flew out behind her like a black death veil. She held her body stiff as a mannequin. Nothing moved on her, except her eyes and mouth. I winced, watching her hit the exit with a thud. I quickly looked up, catching Maisy’s eye. There was no way she would jump off the zip line after watching that spectacle.
Maisy turned to me with a look of horror. She tiptoed toward the ledge, peering down and pouting.
I yelled up at her, “You don’t have to do it!”
She shook her head, straightened her back, and looked straight ahead. “Right in the quaffle balls!” she screamed, jumping off the edge and hurtling down the track in the exact same howl and stiff body she’d seen Betty perform.
I watched her disappear toward the back, screaming until I heard the thud and silence again.
I ran to the other side of the gymnasium, eager to make sure both of them were okay. I caught them as they shakily made their way down the stairs.
“You’re so brave!” I shouted at Maisy. “How did that feel? You were amazing! Don’t you feel great now?” I squatted down, hugging her before holding her at arm’s length.
She took one look at me, flashed green in an instant, and hurled all over my shirt.
Eleven
Betty
After my outing with Maisy and Terrance, I had come home and crashed. Even working The Pink Taco Truck and going to The Steamy Clam on my late nights didn’t tire me out as Maisy had. The poor girl could run her mouth and her little body nonstop. I’d been babysitting my nieces since their birth, and even they didn’t wear me out like Terrance’s daughter had.
The next morning, I sat at my dining table, sipping coffee and scrolling through the latest headlines. Nikki had warned me to stay away from the news. There was nothing good about it. Very rarely would I stumble across a positive, uplifting story. If I needed that, I’d have to make one myself. I did my best to add some of that good juju to the world. I didn’t carry around crystals as Nikki did or volunteer at the shelter like Rox. Instead, I focused on being the best person I could be to the people who passed through my life.
Case in point, Maisy. As tiring as that little girl was, I tried my best to show her the female that she would need to be to make it in this harsh world. I wasn’t the type that bullied anyone to toughen them up. I’d hated it when my aunts and uncles did that to me. Life was tough enough already. To toughen anyone up, they only needed to be taught. I already had it all figured out. I’d raise my kids the same.
Whenever I have kids …
My mind drifted to my biological clock. I wasn’t too old for children yet. But I’d need to know a man for at least a year before I married. And then I’d need to be married for a year before I started trying for a kid. My eyes rolled up to the ceiling as I calculated the math in my head.
Shit. I need to get started.
I’d been asking myself for a while now, What exactly am I waiting on?
I had a good man in front of me. Yes, he was a package deal, but I happened to like that package deal. Maisy seemed like a good kid. She only needed a bit more guidance from a female figure. Her dad could try to help her out when she hit those teenage years, but I couldn’t see Terrance having a sit-down meeting about a menstrual cycle. And the only talk he would have about boys would be him threatening to kill them if they touched her.
I shook the thoughts out of my head.
What am I thinking?
I’d barely been awake an hour, and already, I was planning my life with Terrance. Me. Betty. The one who was wild and crazy and never settled down. I didn’t know why or how Maisy and Terrance felt right with me, but they did. I could do this. I wanted to do this. I didn’t want to grow old and miserable like my mother, changing men with every season. I wanted a family. I’d always known that. Terrance and Maisy weren’t what I’d had in mind, but nothing ever worked out the way we thought it should.
I picked up my phone, ready to dial Nikki and discuss fate. Maybe I needed to open myself up a bit more, and if I did, I needed her super-positive outlook and crystal-loving vibes to help me with this. I could play the part of badass Betty, but yesterday, that little girl had stolen my heart. That was some scary shit.
I thumbed through my Contacts list, searching for Nikki’s name, but a text from Terrance came through, interrupting my mission.
Terrance: You are so amazing. Maisy can’t stop talking about you, and she wants to know when you’ll be back.
I smiled at the phone, feeling those damn butterflies again. I preferred to think of them as little electric shocks, like from a shock collar—something to wake me up and warn me before I became too dumb. I grinned at the idea of a shock collar. My dungeon needed new toys.
Me: She’s super sweet. I’m glad she had a good time, except for her getting sick. She bounced back quickly though!
Terrance: She always does. Nothing gets her down.
Me: I see that. Is she staying with your dad today while you work?
Terrance: Yep. I’m on a mission to find another babysitter or two. Steady ones this time. He needs a break just as much as I do. Someone told me it takes a village, so I’m searching for my village.
Me: You can use me if you’d like sometime.
Terrance: Oh, I’d love to use you. In more ways than one. Speaking of, I was wondering if I could
stop by after my shift. I know you work late, but if our times match up, I’d love to stop by for just a quick chat.
Me: Chat? Why do you have to bullshit? You know you’re ready for this ish.
I untied my robe and took a quick photo of my breasts before sending it to him.
Terrance: Damn. You are so damn sexy. Like a midnight sun.
Me: Midnight sun? What is even a midnight sun?
Terrance: I don’t know. I was trying to be all romantic and sexy with words. Woo you. I should have just said you’re beautiful.
Me: Let’s go back to Queen B. But, yeah, I should be done by 10-10:30 tonight.
Terrance: Okay. I’ll do my best to head out of the restaurant by then. I’ll let you know if I’m running late. I know I can get Jay or Aiden to cover for me though.
Me: You think they’re going to let you off early, so you can fuck your girl?
Terrance: Something like that.
Me: I’ll see you here tonight then.
I set my phone down and patted my hair. Our outing had royally screwed up my hairdo, but it had all been worth it. I permitted myself to feel everything and not cram it down into the pit of my stomach like I usually did. Hell, I was so head over heels that I even considered letting Terrance play boss in my dungeon for the night.
Work had passed by quickly, as usual. Both of our taco trucks could barely keep up with the workload, and with Earl pushing us to open a standing restaurant, we began to consider it.
“We don’t need another truck or another restaurant. Earl is just itching to reinvest. You know how he likes to keep rolling that money out. If we had a stand-alone restaurant, our truck sales would drop. And I know y’all don’t want to stay in one place. The open air does us all good.” Rox swung a dish towel over her shoulder.
“I’m just saying, it’s getting to be a bit much. Something has to take the pressure off. I’m not able to do as much these days because of the youth center.” Nikki sighed.
“And I’m still working the shelter on my off shifts.” Rox threw her hands in the air.
“I don’t have anything to do! I mean, I do. I have been taking dance lessons with Aiden. It’s our new hobby. But I can chip in more or help figure out how to grow or whatever you need,” Layla said, dancing around the tiny truck kitchen.