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“Sorry about that. I don’t like how he talked to you. Is your wrist, okay? I wasn’t too rough, was I?”
“No, my wrist is fine. No one has stuck up for me before with my parents,” I tell him, looking up into his eyes.
“You've got me now. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Okay?” he asks, staring into my eyes.
I nod in reply and squeeze his hand. We continue to walk behind my parents as they play the happy couple for the townsfolk who think the sun shines out of my dad’s butt. Lorenzo releases my hand and then slings his arm over my shoulder drawing me closer. I wrap a hand around his waist, leaning into him. We keep a slight distance between my parents and us but close enough people see us together. Some stop to talk to my parents, a few stop and talk to Lorenzo as well, surprising my parents. It’s mostly his clients from the mechanic shop but they always have big smiles when they see him. He introduces me to them as his fiancee, making me blush. We stillhaven’t told my parents we are married. I like keeping it a secret for now.
We spend about thirty minutes touring the grounds, which is longer than I would have liked but once we reach the stands where the carnival games are, I realise I’ve had enough.
“Mum, Dad we are gonna get back to enjoying the carnival now,” I tell them. My dad’s nostrils flare as he looks between me and Lorenzo.
“This mechanic will never be able to provide the life for you that I have, so you will show me some respect. I’ve had enough of this childish rebellion, and you will represent this family how it deserves,” Dad hisses at me. Lorenzo’s arm tightens around me in response.
“You may be my father but don’t forget you sold me. You can paint it however you want but at the end of the day, you’ve always seen me as some bargaining chip you can use to gain favour or money. What you think you deserve and what I think are two very different things.” My chest heaves as my fists clench at my side.
“So, you would choose someone who practically bought you over your own blood?” he fires back.
“Blood means nothing to me. Lorenzo has shown me more loyalty than you ever have.”
“Lorenzo, how about you take Sophia and enjoy the rest of your evening. Thank you for your time tonight,” my mum intervenes,
as my dad and I face off. In my peripheral vision, I catch a glimpse of Lorenzo’s face as he nods to Mum.
“Kennedy,” he says in farewell, before pulling me away. Neither of us say anything more to my father. He will never change, and I doubt the anger I feel towards him will ever dissolve.
“Are you okay?” Lorenzo asks.
Letting out a sigh I say, “That’s the first time I’ve seen them since the argument. Frankly, not seeing them doesn’t bother me. My mum has tried to ring me several times, but I haven’t answered and I haven’t had any contact from Dad.”
“It’ll all work out,” he tells me, kissing my temple.
“You think so? I don’t think I’ll ever come to terms with him selling me. I know you had good intentions with what you did, and I am grateful for that. I wish you didn’t feel you had to make a deal with him to be with me,” I confess, realising now the deal that was made is still a sore spot.
He pulls my hands in front of him so I can face him. His eyes stare into mine in the way he does like he’s searching for something unbeknownst to me.
“If I’m being honest, I would do it again because it got me you and you are all that matters. You can be honest with me too about how you’re feeling. Maybe deep down you do have feelings towards me about it that are not registering. We could see a couple’s therapist to work through it if you like. Imagine the look on their face when we tell them our story,” he says, which draws a smile from me as our story is nothing if not chaotic.
“I’ll think about it. Now you promised me a stuffed toy,” I remind him, before leaning forward and kissing his lips. He squeezes my hand and pulls me along.
“I sure did. Come on,” he says, speeding up his steps and directing us to the ball and bucket toss. He hands over some of the small games tickets we received with the passes at the gate and picks up the ping pong sized balls. He tries to throw them at the buckets with no luck and I watch as his face scrunches up in frustration.
“Maybe this isn’t the game for you?” I suggest.
He glances at me with his wrinkled forehead before looking down the row at the other stalls.
“This way,” he says, making me laugh as he grabs my hand leading me to another game. This time it’s balloons and darts. He again hands over more tickets and picks up three darts. “So, the more I hit, the bigger the prize?” he asks the attendant.
“Yeah, that’s it. You throw three and if you hit any you can go again to try to get a bigger prize for more tickets,” he tells us.
“Watch this baby,” he says, making my cheeks heat as he’s never called me that before. He stands back adjusting his stance like he’s thrown darts a million times before.
“You play darts?” I ask, curious.
“They have a board at the bar so when it’s quiet I’ll throw a few rounds,” he tells me, and that makes sense as he’s getting into position like a pro. He aims his first one, moving his dart back and forth before letting it fly, popping his first balloon. I smile as he does his little victory. He does the same with the next two darts, popping them both too. He smugly hands over more tickets, getting three more darts and goes again. This time he pops two of them.
“What’s the biggest toy prize you have?” he asks the attendant. He points his hook up to a huge stuffed alligator that hangs from the side. “How many to get that one?” he asks the attendant.
“You gotta pop six more balloons,” he tells us.
