The Variables

Grant was holding Teddy’s hand and helping him run up the sand. And Ethan was behind them, struggling to keep his balance. The helicopter ascended into the air; it was up and traveling north, away from them and into the sky. She watched it disappear behind a cloud.

“Teddy! TEDDY!” Darla cried and she ran straight into him, sweeping him up off the beach and into her arms. She smothered him with kisses and covered him with her own tears and snot. The sand clung to her wet pants and shoes, but Darla didn’t care. She sunk down to the ground and held Teddy so tight that she was worried her heart might burst.

“Mama!” Teddy cried. “Mama!” His little hands wrapped around her neck. He kissed her cheek.

“Are you real?” Darla asked and she laughed as she grabbed Teddy’s cheek and gave it a small pinch. He smiled and she tucked him closer. She inhaled his scent—fruity and fresh. He didn’t smell like her Teddy; she wanted to roll him around in the dirt and muddy him up—scrub him clean of evidence that strangers had kept him away from her. Those were weeks that were gone from her forever. That was time she’d never get back. She wanted to hold him tighter, squeeze him harder; she wished there was a way to physically express her relief and her love and her joy.

“I missed you, Mama,” Teddy said, and he was crying, too. Big tears. He kissed her cheek. “Your face is salty. Are you sad?”

“No, baby boy. I’m not sad,” Darla sobbed. She laughed. And cried and hugged him. “I’m not sad. I’m not sad at all. I missed you, too.”

She pulled him back and inspected him. He looked good. He was wearing clothes she didn’t recognize and brand-new canvas te

“I thought you were gone,” he whispered. “I thought you were never coming back.”

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, and she pulled him in close again. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“I was scared,” Teddy said.

“No need to be scared anymore. Your mama has you now. You hear me? I’m here. I’m here and I’m never going anywhere again. You hear me? I’m here forever.” Sometimes she thought of the promises parents make to their children—the ones that are used for comfort, but shrouded in half-truths: safe lies. She couldn’t promise Teddy forever, but she could come close.

An explosion startled her and Teddy screamed and clawed at her shoulder. Her heart leapt and her body went into panic mode. She threw her body over his and tried to shield him from the ensuing violence. There they were, on the beach, exposed. She waited for rapid gunfire, armed men, and the evidence that her reunion with Teddy was too good to be true. When none of those things happened, Darla lifted her head to the sky. She smelled smoke.

A yellow and red ball of fire appeared in the sky and then a pillar of black smoke followed it. From down the beach, Ethan stopped and looked at the place from which the sound and fire came—it was several miles up the coastline. He jumped and clapped. It took Darla a second to realize that he was celebrating.

“It worked! He did it! That son of a bitch did it!” Ethan cried and he moved up the sand with a quickened pace. “Come on! Go. Go!” He waved for Darla and Teddy to get off the beach, his arms flying in circles as he jumped up and down. “Go! Go!” he continued to yell.

Darla scooped Teddy up into her arms and rushed back toward the amusement park. She could feel the mixture of the sand and her wet clothes rubbing against her body; it created little stabs of sharp pain as she moved and rubbed her skin raw. She flew under the clown gateway and straight to Dean, who took Teddy from her arms and spun him around.

Grant went back for Ethan, grabbed his arm and wrapped it around his shoulder and then allowed Ethan to use him as a crutch to get off the dry sand. When they reached the road, Ethan untangled himself from Grant and they rushed forward into the Palace Playland—the clowns smiling at them, the smoke still billowing from out at sea.

“Car?” Ethan asked, out of breath.

“Van,” Darla answered. She sniffed and began to cry again. “I’m sorry. Hold on…I’m trying to get a grip.”

“We grabbed a few vehicles...we didn’t know how many to expect. We can take the larger passenger van. Leave the minivan,” Dean answered. He put his hand out for Grant and Grant grabbed it and let his dad pull him into a shared embrace with Teddy. Then he let Grant go and beamed.

“We have to go,” Ethan said, and he clasped Darla on the back—his substitute for a hug. “It’s good to see you, Darla. It’s so good to see you.” He put a hand over his mouth. Then he smiled through the tears. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault,” Darla answered. She leaned over and took Teddy from Dean. She looked at her child and ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his freckled cheeks. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Dean and Grant stood side-by-side. “Dad—” Grant started and without hesitation Dean enveloped Grant. He wrapped his arms around his son, and the moment Grant was safe against his father, he began to cry. “She didn’t come with me,” he said. “She didn’t want to choose...so...I told her...”

“Hey there, cowboy,” Dean said, closing his eyes. “I know a little something about that. Right?”

Grant nodded.

“If it’s meant to be, she’ll find a way. It’s not the end, son. It’s not the end.” Dean leaned down to make sure Grant had heard him. Grant nodded again.

Ethan shifted on his leg and looked around the empty carnival. He sca

“My tailbone,” he cried out.

“I can’t amputate that,” Ainsley said. She sat him up. Then she pulled back, embarrassed, and she stood to her feet and smoothed out her torn pants and shirt. She offered him her hand.

“You look like hell,” he said.

“Waiting around for someone to rescue themselves is hard work,” Ainsley replied. “Thanks for being sensitive to the fact that I don’t think I could spend another night in this awful, awful place. I had a nightmare last night that the Tu

“That’s a real thing,” Ethan replied. She poked him in the shoulder with a single finger. He smiled. “I thought you were dead.”

“I’m alive because I was a coward,” she said in a whisper. “My mom is dead.” She stopped and closed her eyes. “I’m alone...”

Ethan shook his head. He looked at Dean and Grant; Darla and Teddy; and then he looked at Ainsley. “We’re a family. Look at us. It’s the best kind of family…the family you choose. You’re not alone.”

A secondary explosion jarred them, and together they looked out to the sea. A cloud of smoke lifted beyond their view, and Ethan clapped his hands together.

“They’ll do a search here soon enough. So we need to hightail it out of here. They’ll inspect the crash site first...”

“Sweepers?” Darla asked.

“What are sweepers? They’ll just send the guards out,” Ethan clarified.

“The pilot?” Dean asked, worried.

“Safe. I hope,” Grant replied. “The plan was to put it on autopilot and set the timer on Scott’s bomb. He was supposed to parachute to the beach and send the chopper out to sea. James Bond style.”

“Goodness,” Ainsley exclaimed.

“Look,” Ethan gathered the group together in a huddle. “No one from Huck’s army is on the mainland right now. We gotta go. If we can get out of this area without being spotted and hunker down, we’ll be free. Safe.”

“Forever?” Ainsley asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him, unblinking.

“I don’t know,” Ethan replied. He looked to Darla. “Get us out of here. You have any idea of a place we could go?”