Three - Loo-Laa Land

The car ride was longer than ever because of where the Kirshnés live.

After Esteban pulled up and let the family filter on out of the car, Marilynn clasped her hands together and smiled. "Alright, guys, since there are three children and three adults, pick a buddy!"

"Mari!" the children shouted in unison.

"I called her first!" Michelle snapped.

"Nu-uh!" Piece huffed. "I did!"

Chad walked over and snaked his hand around her waist. "Well, I'm her favorite, so I should get her."

As the rugrats continued to bicker, Marla sidled up next to Marilynn. "Wow, they must REALLY like you to want to spend a lot of time with you."

"Well, Marla," Marilynn said, bringing her hand up to her lips. "You gotta give them the simple things sometimes."

Marla nodded then suddenly pulled out her phone, shifted to where the screen was out of sight, and started texting.

Marilynn shook her head before she stuck her thumb and forefinger in between her lips and let out a whistle that immediately shut the children up. "If we all stick together, that means we have to do the kiddie-rides because Michelle is too little to ride the big ones."

All of them groaned.

"So, Michelle, how about you take your dad and go, and mommy and I can take the boys."

"No, no," Marla hummed, waving off Marilynn's comment as she slipped her phone into her back pocket. "I can take Michelle. You make sure Tanner is having at least a LITTLE bit of fun." She grabbed Michelle's hand and started walking off, pulling out her phone again.

Chad and Pierce hooked their arms into Marilynn's, looked at each other and said, "Score!"

Tanner stood off to the side, scrolling through his phone. Marilynn rolled her eyes and marched on into the park, getting park bands so that they can ride all the rides. She even made sure to pack cash for games.

Marilynn dragged them through the park, making them ride all of the rides with her before lunch. When lunch came, the boys were so hungry, they were swaying on their feet. Or it was from the nonstop spins and turns from the rides.

"I don't want to go on another ride, EVER," Pierce groaned, throwing himself onto one of the outside table chairs.

Chad snickered and sat next to him, leaving the two seats across from them open. "Not me. I wanna do them all AGAIN!"

Tanner walked over to sit down, but he paused before lowering himself into the chair. He bent over and studied the bottom of the table top. Suddenly, he jumped back with a disgusted look on his face.

"What is it?" Marilynn asked, lifting a brow with a smirk. By the way his face looked, she could already guess what this was about.

"How much do they sanitize these tables?" Tanner asked, stepping back.

Marilynn shrugged, a smirk still playing on her lips. "Hm. . .about. . .never."

"Wha- I- BOYS! Get up! We are not eating here!" he shouted, eyes wide.

"Awe," Marilynn cooed, slipping into the chair next to the one he was about to sit in. "Afraid of a little dried piece of gum that your leg won't touch for the 15 minutes we'll be sitting here?"

He grimaced as he glanced at the boys, who were giving him dirty looks. Pierce leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "Come on, dad. You're not going to feed us, now? Great."

Tanner opened his mouth to say something, but Marilynn raised her eyebrows. He spluttered some nonsense, then sat down.

"Good boy," Marilynn quipped. Before he could snap something at her, she stood up. "How does crispy chicken and fries sound?"

"Yum!" Chad shouted.

"Duh," Pierce huffed with a hint of smile.

She smiled and grabbed at her small purse, flipping it open.

Before she could grab forty dollars, Tanner tossed a hundred dollar bill on the table. "I want a barbecue chicken sandwich. And get us all sodas while your at it. I want Coke."

"Sprite, please!" Chad said with a smile.

Peirce, mimicking the smile, said, "Orange Crush, please."

Marilynn smiled and nodded. "Okay. I'll be right back."

She turned on her heel and headed towards a food truck.

The truck was big and the man at the window was nice as she rattled off her order. He told her five minutes, so she stepped off to the side, waiting.

"Hey, pretty mama," a man said in a surfer's accent. He had blonde curls under a backwards cap and sunglasses covering his eyes. He looked like a surfer, but she could tell the voice was fake.

Marilynn lifted a brow. "Hello."

He looked around, as if checking for something. "Here alone?"

"That is none of your business," she snapped, hoping the food would be done quickly.

He brought his hand up and caressed her cheek while holding her hand with the other. "Well, then let's make our own business."

That had to be the worst made up pick-up line ever. She brushed off his touch and stepped back. "No, thank you. If you don't leave in three point two seconds, I'm going to scre-"

Before she could finish her sentence, he placed his hands onto her shoulders and shoved her into the spot between the food trucks, out of anyone's sight.

She gasped as she fixed her footing. "What the hell!"

He pushed her up against something hard with his body, squeezing the air out of her lungs. "Let me go!" she wheezed.

He chuckled, lowering his head onto her neck, pressing his greasy lips onto her skin. "Nope. I've been watching you all day, Marilynn."

"HELP! TANNER! HELP!" she screamed, wriggling under his weight.

He growled and slapped her, causing her to hiss in pain. To keep her from screaming, he pressed his hand against her lips. She bit him and he screamed like a girl as he stumbled back, cradling his hand.

Marilynn pulled back her arm and thrusted her fist into his face, hearing an echo of cracks as pain erupted in her hand. She grunted in pain as he stumbled back again, screaming more. "You crazy bitch!" he shouted, lunging at her.

She squeezed her eyes shut before another loud crack reverberated in her ears. She popped one eye open to see Tanner standing over the man, who was now laying on the ground with blood seeping out of his nose.

He shook the blood off of his fingers before rounding on Marilynn. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Marilynn's breathing was quick. Her chest heaved and she swayed a bit. "I was ordering food, then he came up and hit on me, I told him no, then- then he shoved down the alley and tried to- to- to rape me!" she rambled out, turning around and placing a hand on the wall to keep herself up. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Tanner didn't say anything as Marilynn emptied what was left of her stomach.

When she finished, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and spun around to face Tanner. Pressing her back against the wall, she heaved before asking, "Did you leave the boys at the table?"

"Yes, but Marla came back with Michelle. I went to order them food and you weren't up there. I heard you scream for help and then I saw him lunging at you," he explained. Then his eyes looked at her hand. "D-Did you punch him?"

Marilynn blew out a breath and cradled her hand. "Yeah. I- I bit him, too."

Tanner looked back at the man and the winced. "You fight dirty. Damn."

Marilynn looked back at surfer dude and felt a wave of nausea. "I think it's time to go home..."

And then she passed out.