by K L Finalley
Mallory walked into her room. She leaned down over her daughter and kissed the top of her head. "Hey, Mom."
"Hey, there you. What are you doing?"
"Homework. Jax says that I've gotta get it all done and eat dinner before we can go to the carnival."
"Are you almost finished?"
"Yeah, almost. I've only gotta do my math."
"Saved the best for last?"
Zoe groaned, "No way. Math's the worst."
"Okay. You better get it done."
"I know. I know."
Mallory left her room. She peered into the kitchen once more, but there was still no sign of Jacqueline. Wondering if she was lying down, Mallory headed to her bedroom. Jacqueline wasn't in there, either. As she stood in her room, holding onto the frame of her bed, she could see a shadow in the backyard. She crossed back through the house to the kitchen. This time, she exited through the kitchen to the laundry room and outside into the backyard. Her nose caught wind of dinner.
"Well, there you are."
"Here I are," Jacqueline said from behind the open grill.
"Seems like you've got things under control."
"Do I?"
"Well, yeah, you have dinner and homework going."
"It was easy tonight. She wants something. No homework. No dinner. No carnival."
"Nice move."
"Thanks. Chicken should be ready in a few minutes. There's a salad in there and some rolls. I figure we'll keep tonight's meal light since you've gotta work and she's gonna jump around like crazy."
"Ugh. How'd I get roped into manning a booth? I don't even want to go. You know, we used to not even go to these carnivals."
"Really?"
"Really. That's why Zoe asked you. She knew I'd say no."
"We've been bamboozled."
"Nope. Just you. I knew what was up."
"Damn it. No one told me."
"I have to go get changed, so we can eat and leave."
"Okay, baby. I'll call you when I get the plates ready." Mallory walked over to Jacqueline. She threw her arms around her neck and kissed her slowly. "What was that for?"
"You're the best."
"I can cook more chicken if it'll get me another one of those." Mallory giggled and went inside.
~~~~~~~~
As Jacqueline pulled into the parking lot of Palmetto Elementary, she glanced around at the transformation that the school grounds had undergone in the few hours since she had picked Zoe up from school. The parking lot was full of bounce houses. There was an arcade trailer in the bus lane. Local food trucks had filled the kindergarten parking lot. The rows of the other parking spaces were filled with a series of games to interest the children and snacks to spoil their appetites. As she stepped out of the Jeep, the air was cool, but comfortable. She had forced Zoe into a pair of jeans, but she was wearing shorts. When she pulled her seat forward to allow Zoe to get out, she saw the look of a caged animal in her eyes. "Simmer down, tiger. Don't run too far away from me. I know it's your school, but we won't know everyone who will be out here tonight. Okay?"
Mallory was standing on the passenger's side with her door open. She was adjusting her makeup one last time before leaving them to head to her booth. "Zoe, stay with Jax. Do not make me spank you in front of all of these people." Mallory pointed to the slowly forming crowd with her mascara wand.
"I know, Mom. I'm not going anywhere." Zoe stood in the door frame staring at the slide. "I can't wait to go on that." Jacqueline reached up and placed her hands under Zoe's armpits. Zoe jumped up into the air as Jacqueline whirled her around and down to the ground.
Watching from the other side, Mallory said, "I can't believe that you let all of your friends see you do that."
"What?" Zoe asked innocently.
Now, pointing at Jacqueline and Zoe with her compact, Mallory said, "That airplane whirl. You won't hold my hand when I drop you off to school, but she can whirl you around and down to the ground like a five-year-old."
Jacqueline had walked to the passenger's side and leaned against the Jeep next to Mallory, "Airplane rides are cooler than handholding."
"I don't know. I'd prefer to just hold your hand."
"Well, let me know when you're ready. My hand will be over here waiting."
Mallory put her makeup back into her purse and placed her purse under the passenger's seat. She locked the door and turned to face Jacqueline. "Are you sure?"
"Sure. I think the school is onto us anyhow."
"You think?"
Laughing, Jacqueline stretched out her large brown hand and Mallory wove her thin ivory fingers with hers. They walked hand in hand with Zoe run-dancing beside them. When Zoe spotted the ticket booth, she began to run ahead. Jacqueline called out, "Zoe!"
Zoe turned and screamed, "I'm just going to the ticket booth to see how much the tickets are. I won't go anywhere else. Promise."
Mallory released Jacqueline's hand, "It's gonna be a long night."
"Yeah, I think it is."
"Do not spend more than twenty dollars tonight."
"How much are the tickets?"
"Jacqueline, no matter what she says. Do not spend a million dollars at a fake carnival in her elementary school parking lot."
"Okay. Okay." Jacqueline watched as Mallory headed across to the parking lot towards her booth. She would never grow tired of watching her walk.
~~~~~~~~
Zoe had been on the slide four times before Abbie arrived. Standing on top of the slide, Zoe could see Abbie inside the jump house parallel to where she was. Hastily, Zoe slid down the slide and ran to Jacqueline who had been standing at the exit. Out of breath, Zoe ran to Jacqueline and said, "Abbie's here! Abbie's here! Can I go where she is?"
"Where is she?"
"Over there in the bounce house. Can I go? Can I?"
"Okay. Okay. Calm down. You can go over there. Here's the tickets. I'll be standing by the exit."
As she darted towards the bounce house, she yelled, "Okay."
They had been at the carnival for almost an hour. Jacqueline had not spoken to any of the parents. She had not congregated in any of the groups that had formed. She hadn't given any thought to the idea that she should attempt to talk to them. When they spoke, she politely responded, but with brevity. She shook hands and returned hugs, but she never lost sight of Zoe. She had stood alone watching her, but, as she headed to stand at the opening for the bounce house, she heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, Jacqueline. When'd you get here?"
It was Josh, Abbie's father. "Hey, Josh. How's it going?"
"It's good. We've been here about ten minutes and I think I've spent about ten bucks."
"That's nothing. We've been here about an hour and I've probably spent about twenty bucks."
"No way am I spending that much."
"Should I write that down and remind you later that you said it?" she teased.
"Please don't. So, how'd you get duped into this?" Jacqueline shrugged her shoulders. She had not been duped or tricked. In fact, she just assumed it was what was to be done. "I've got duty early tomorrow morning, so we're definitely not staying long."
"Did you all ride together?"
"Yeah, Abbie and I brought Lauren up here earlier, so she could man the booth with Mallory. Then, Abbie and I went home and ate, so she didn't fill up on crap. Then, we came back up here. I figure it won't be a long night. Lauren can't stand on her feet for too long."
"How much longer does she have?"
"Just a couple of weeks. The doctor said that he wouldn't stop her from going into labor anymore, so when he's ready, it's go time."
"It's so great that you got back here before Mason's born."
"Yeah, Lauren woulda really been a basket case if I hadn't been here. I know she asked Mallory to be in there with her, but I don't think she can handle her all on her own."
This was news to Jacqueline. She hadn't been told that Lauren had asked Mallory to be present at the baby's birth. As Josh reca
lled the story of how anxious Lauren was at Abbie's birth, Jacqueline tried to think about past conversations. Perhaps, Mallory had told her and she had just forgotten. Maybe, it was not a secret. Maybe, it was just an oversight. Having ignored the entire conversation, Jacqueline decided that she was indifferent to Mallory's presence in the hospital and had better return her thoughts to the conversation that she had been having with Josh.
"So, how are things going with you guys?" Josh asked.
"Oh, things are good."
"Really?" He questioned as if things would be otherwise. Jacqueline furrowed her brow. "No, I guess that I thought it would be tough on you to adapt to life with a family and hard for them to adjust to life with you. Lauren said that Mallory has barely spoken to her since you two got together. She said she was gonna try to talk to her and find out how things were going. I said to leave it alone, but Lauren never leaves anything alone."
"Nope, no problems. Things're fine." She said. Before he could respond, Zoe and Abbie ran towards them. Both girls were speaking at the same time. With sweaty matted hair, Zoe ran straight to Jacqueline and wrapped her arms around Jacqueline's legs. "Are you having fun?"
"Yes," escaped her panting breaths.
"Hi, Miss Jacqueline," Abbie said. "Daddy, can we go to the next row? They have games and a petting zoo over there."
"Can we, Jax? Can we?" Zoe begged.
"Okay, Abbie. Let's go," Josh said.
As they walked to the next row, passers-by spoke to Josh. They welcomed him back, saluted him, and asked about this tours overseas. Leaving him to talk, Jacqueline motioned that she would look after the girls while he spoke to his well-wishers. The girls stopped at the balloon rainbow. Giving each girl five tickets, they took turns popping random balloons in search of prizes. Groans of disappointment were heard when some balloons were only filled with confetti. After a few tries, Zoe returned to Jacqueline and announced that this game was a trick and they were stealing her tickets. Then, she told Abbie, "I'm leaving. This is dumb. Come on."
Protesting, Abbie replied, "It's the best. You just don't know what you're doing."
"Do, too."
"Nuh-uh."
"Uh-huh."
Hoping to prevent a skirmish, Jacqueline interceded, "Enough, you two. Zoe, go try the baseball toss. It's right there on the other side." She moved between Abbie at the balloon rainbow game and Zoe at the baseball toss. She wasn't really paying a lot of attention to the people who were hovering around her. Instead, she was collecting the various trinkets each were winning.
"You must be, Jacqueline, Zoe's mother's girlfriend."
Jacqueline was silent. Not because she hadn't wanted to be recognized or because she did not know the man who was speaking to her. She wasn't certain how she felt about being called a girlfriend at this point in her life. Partner felt professional. Lover felt too personal, but girlfriend felt very casual. With her hand outstretched, she said, "I'm sorry. You are?"
"Oh, I get so used to everyone knowing me. I'm Ben, one of Dalton's fathers."
"It's very nice to meet you. Zoe speaks of Dalton, all the time." In truth, Zoe mentioned Dalton as much as she mentioned any of the other kids in her class. At almost eight years old, kids were either her friends or only characters in a story. Jacqueline remembered Dalton, because Mallory had told her. Dalton was the son of Ben and Danny. They had been in a relationship for a number of years when they decided that they wanted to be parents. They tried to adopt a child and the state forbade both men's names being placed on the birth certificate. After many pleas and phone calls, the couple joined three other couples and filed a lawsuit against the state denying their right to adopt. The case drug on for years. There were local trials. Then, the case went to the Appellate Courts and finally, there was a Supreme Court decision. In the meantime, they chose to have a surrogate birth a child for them. Ben and Danny had the doctor mix their sperm prior to fertilizing the egg; so, in essence, neither knew whether or not he was the biological father of Dalton. But, the boy's features led Jacqueline to think it was Danny's son. His dark hair and brooding eyes were in keeping with Danny's features. He was a tall, brawny man. He had served in the military and still worked on base as a civilian. Maintaining the closely cropped military crew cut, it was obvious that he was dark haired. In contrast, Ben was coltish. He was more angler. His pace and temperament was swifter than Danny's, but each adored their son.
As the girls returned to request more tickets, Jacqueline said, "Girls, say hello to Mr. Ben and Dalton."
"Hey, there, Dalton. Do you want to hang with us?" Zoe asked.
"Dad, can I?" Dalton said in a voice deeper than a boy should have at eight.
"May I?" Ben corrected.
"May I?" Dalton replied. Zoe rolled her eyes at this exchange. Noticing her attitude, Jacqueline tapped her shoulder.
"Yes, you may, but keep a look out for me." Ben approved.
"Thanks, Mr. Ben. Come on, Dalton! Come on, Abbie," Zoe screamed over her shoulder as she headed back to play.
"Those girls are so cute together. Sometimes, I wish we had another one. A boy and a girl would be perfect."
"Well, why don't you?"
"It was a fortune just having Dalton. Besides, Danny says that another kid would take away our ability to give Dalton the world. I guess he's right. What about you?"
"Me?" Jacqueline wasn't sure what he meant.
"Are you two going to have a child together?" She didn't answer. She had never thought of it. Mallory had never mentioned it. Noticing her hesitation, Ben continued, "Well, you've only been together a little while. There's plenty of time to figure that out. But, it might be nice for Zoe to have a little playmate."
"She'll be eight next month, so, even if we had a baby, it couldn't be her playmate. Besides, Abbie's Zoe's best friend. They run as a pack. I don't know that a sibling could get a word in with those two." With that, the girls returned to Jacqueline to deliver her their winnings. As she talked, they filled her pockets with rubber balls, candy, erasers, and friendship bracelets; then, Dalton appeared with his own handful of trinkets. The children compared the games they had played and the ones that they hadn't as the adults tried to organize the children's loot in more comfortable ways.
"Danny!" Ben called. When Danny did not respond, he pointed in his direction. "That's my husband. He was hoping you'd make an appearance at the carnival. I was going to volunteer for a booth, but it was full. Then, I saw that Mallory was going to be working the Feeding the Animals booth with Lauren, we had really hoped that you would come. So, we could finally meet you."
Embarrassed, Jacqueline said, "Well, I hope that I am not disappointing you."
"Oh. I'm so sorry. Silly me. I guess I shouldn't make it seem like such a conspiracy, but there has been a lot of talk about you. You had to know."
"Actually, I had no idea."
"Girl, yes." He grabbed her wrist. "It hasn't been bad. I mean, after the controversy of Danny and I, I think the worst is over. Most people have only said that you're quiet and keep to yourself. That Zoe adores you and that you have been a great asset to the class. Dalton said that you send food and snacks. You had paper, markers, pens, and pencils donated from the newspaper."
"Oh, yeah. There was a list of needs for the classroom. I thought we were supposed to make donations."
"Yes, people give what they can, but, typically, just a few things. I think you gave so much that other classes had their wish list met by you."
Jacqueline was not sure how to respond. She wanted to walk away. She wanted him to stop talking. As she glanced from side to side looking for an escape path, she saw Josh approaching her. She noticed that with him there were two other parents and Zoe's teacher. She hoped new blood might draw some of the attention off of her.
Right on cue, Josh said, "Sorry that took so long, Jacqueline. Thanks for looking after Abbie." Jacqueline handed him Abbie's pocket full of tiny toys. As he wrangled them into his pockets, he spoke to Ben. "Hey, man. How's it goin
g?"
"Good. You're Abbie's dad, aren't you? Yoshi?"
"Actually, it's Yoshiya, but I go by Josh. It's easier."
"When they had their geography lesson and Abbie did her presentation on Japan, Dalton came home and told us all about it. He wanted a Japanese name. We had to eat Japanese food. He was enthralled for months."
"That's cool. I didn't even know she had done a presentation on Japan. My parents are Japanese. They moved to California in the late seventies. I was born in San Diego. I've been to Japan a ton of times visiting family and their friends, but I'm a SoCal boy."
"That must've been so cool."
"You know, I never thought anything of it. I mean, I can speak Japanese, but my parents speak English primarily."
"Oh, really," Ben asked, "Did you teach Abbie?"
"My mom did. She talks to her every day in Japanese to keep her skills up."
"That's awesome. Does it ever come in handy when you're on missions?" Ben pressed.
"It definitely didn't in Afghanistan." As Josh regurgitated his war stories, Jacqueline was happy to take a backseat. But, she noticed one of the other mothers staring at her. Jacqueline moved to the other side of Josh to break her gaze.
Then, Danny appeared. "Welcome home, Airman. How's it been?" Carrying Dalton on his neck, he stuck his thick hand out to shake Josh's.
As Josh restarted his story for Danny's sake, Mrs. Yates, Zoe's teacher introduced the two silent women who had walked over with Josh. Speaking as though we were all eight year olds, Mrs. Yates said, "Jacqueline," firmly. "Jacqueline. I wanted to introduce you to Celeste Bevie, Emma's mother, and Angela Sanchez, Isla's mother. Their daughters share a table with Zoe. Ladies, this is Jacqueline Emerson, Zoe Russell’s..."
