Oranges & Roses

Fun Day

Unedited.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The trip to the playground was…interesting to say the least. The complex was made up of two structures, one for the toddlers and the other for the bigger kids. There was a large swing set that looked like they kept adding on to it. There were eight swings in total, two of them were for babies. There were several benches surrounding everything and every seat was taken by tired looking moms. All of them were watching the children like hawks and the second I got out of the car with Lan, some of those piercing looks landed on me.

They saw one thing.

My tattoos.

And maybe my hips.

Wasn’t too sure which one but I thought it was more targeted towards my “on display” body art. Granted I hadn’t donned anything to cover them up and now that I was faced with edgy momma bears, I thought it might’ve been a good idea.

Maybe even a fat suit.

“It’ll be ok. They’re like sharks,” Lan said as we walked, the kids having already shot ahead to see who could get to the slide the fastest. “They smell new blood so they’re going to circle.”

“Great,” I muttered.

“Just don’t make any sudden movements or take any interest in their kids and you should be fine.”

I looked at her in disbelief, most of it hidden behind my sunglasses. “Are you serious?”

She smiled up at me, pushing her own pair of sunglasses up on top of her head. “No. You’re accompanied. They’re not going to freak out about you being a weird pervo. Although, they might come over and see what you’re about. The only other person that comes here with me and the kids is Ronnie and they usually flock to him. I don’t think they’re going to do that with you.”

Getting used to Rey being called Ronnie was going to take some getting used to. In fact, I had to pause for a second and think of who she was talking about before nodding. Not to mention him being a chick magnet. I was starting to think no matter who he was pretending to be or where he went, women would always hone in on him like a pint of strawberry cheesecake ice cream.

Only he wouldn’t go straight to their hips…well, at least not right off the bat.

That moment of hesitation had an actual delegation of moms heading in our direction. Lan looped her arm through mine and gently nudged me forward.

“No fear,” she muttered to me before turning on the smile full watt as she looked at the lead mom. “Hey there, Kimberly.”

“Rolanda.” The woman’s smile was just as blinding and fake if not more than Lan’s. “How are things?”

“Just fine.”

“Good, good.” Her smile turned in my direction and instead of smiling back like everyone else seemed to, I just looked impartial. Completely stoned faced. I’d faced down dangerous gangsters and barrels of guns. This chick did not scare me. “And who might this be?”

“A friend.”

“And who is your friend? I’m assuming she has a name.”

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I was supposed to be keeping a low profile and being here, getting into a pissing match with this chick, was not flying under the radar. The bitch in me reared her ugly head, though, not willing to back down after being presented with a challenge.

“What you really want to know is if I’m going to eat your kids or possibly be a negative influence.” I perched the sunglasses on my head and with being presented with the whole package, “Kimberly” looked a little unnerved. “And the answer is no. I’m just enjoying a morning out with a friend and her kids. I don’t want any trouble.”