2 Broke girls: And The Park.
Max wasn't sure what her mommy had left to do, but it wasn't the first time she'd been left alone in the park.
"Wait here," her mother told six year old Max as she walked off with some strange man. She waited on the bench for what felt like forever. She hopped off and started to explore. She could always find her way home; she'd done it before. She'd never been to Central Park before, though.
'Some park,' she thought to herself.
'All this space and not a single swing?' She acknowledged the open field without as much as a single plaything. Just as she was about to head home, she heard someone crying. Being the curious little girl she was, she went to find the source of the noise. She found it was coming from a young girl on a bench. The girl looked like a Barbie doll or at least the daughter of one. Not that Max owned a Barbie, but she's seen commercials for them. With her long blonde hair and pretty dress and shoes, it was hard to believe that the girl was real. Max sat on the bench next to her.
"Hey, what's wrong?" she attempted to make her feel better. The kid noticed her presence but didn't stop crying.
"Your tummy hurt, eat too much candy? That usually happens to me." Max's cavities were evidence of that. The girl still didn't stop crying however.
"C'mon Barbie, you gotta tell me what's wrong." Max, a little fed up, wanted an answer.
"I-I can't find my DADDY!" She started to cry even louder.
"You and me both, sister." The girl didn't seem to like her joke. Max couldn't just let her be sad.
"Hey look!" The girl turned to face her again. Max stuck her tongue through the gap where her front two teeth used to be, and she made a funny face with it. The girl laughed a little; it was better than her crying. Max made another silly face, and the girl laughed some more.
"See? Isn't that better than crying?" Max was proud that she made her stop crying. The girl wiped her tears.
"Thanks. What's your name?" the girl asked.
"Max Black!" she said with enthusiasm.
"I'm Caroline Channing, nice to meet you." She put her hand out to shake. Max looked at it like it was a math problem.
"What are we, adults?" Max said. Caroline pulled her arm back, a sad look was on her face. Max hugged her, and when Caroline hugged back, Max let her go.
"Are you a girl?" Caroline asked all of a sudden.
"Yes I'm a girl! How rude!" Max said.
"Then why are you dressed like that?" Caroline asked. Max looked down at her outfit: faded blue jeans shorts, a dirty white t-shirt and beat up sneakers. Her favorite clothes.
"What's wrong with it?" Max inquired, seeing no problem with what she had on.
"How come you're not wearing a dress?" Caroline naïvely asked. Max crossed her arms and put on her toughest looking face.
"I don't like girly things like that!" the tomboy proudly exclaimed. Caroline giggled, amused at how tough she was trying to be.
"I'll help you find your dad. Don't worry Barbie," Max said. Caroline self-consciously started playing with her hair.
"Thank you! I'll make this up to you, a Channing always repays those who help them!" she said in a much rehearsed manner.
"Whazzat mean?" Max asked as she hopped off the bench. Caroline did the same.
"I dunno, my dad told me to say that if someone helps me," Caroline explained.
"Do you know his cell phone number?" Max asked. Caroline nodded excitedly, she placed her hand on her forehead.
"It's 202-555-" she started to recite before Max interrupted her.
"Alright, alright. You have a cell phone?" Max asked. Caroline shook her head no.
"My dad says I'll get one when I'm seven," Caroline explained.
"You got any quarters?" Max asked, hoping to use a payphone. Caroline dug into the pockets of her pretty little dress. She pulled out a toy horse, and a pink bow barrette. Max reached into her own pockets. She only had a sour patch kid, a red crayon and a red skittle. She popped the skittle into her mouth and chewed with her mouth open, much to Caroline's disgust.
"C'mon," Max said as she grabbed Caroline's hand.
"Where are we going?" Caroline walked where the tomboy was leading her.
"We're going to my house, I learned how to get there taking the train, we'll use a phone there." Max said. Caroline stopped walking.
"I don't think I should do that." Caroline was unsure if it was a good idea to the house of someone she just met.
"You'd rather just sit there and wait for a weirdo to get you?" Max simply asked. Caroline took a moment to consider her options.
She gave Max's hand a slight squeeze and said, "Okay."
The young girls continued walking through the park. They made it to the busy sidewalk, and they held each other's hands tighter so as not to lose each other. After a couple of blocks, they descended into the subway. They walked up to the turnstile when Caroline asked.
"How are we going to get through, we don't have any money!" She threw her arms in the air.
"Relax, kids get on free," Max explained. Caroline still had an uneasy look on her face.
"But that's only when we're with an adult, what if they catch us?" Caroline asked. Max sighed.
"Look, we'll walk close somebody and act like they're our parents so we'll get by, okay?" Max tried to calm Caroline down.
'Goodie two shoes probably never broke a rule in her life,' Max thought to herself. Caroline nodded.
"Alright, pick a grownup and stick close to them. Ok?" Max looked around for a suitable one. She saw a business man with a suitcase and pointed him out to Caroline. Caroline walked close enough to the man not to alert him, but still enough to seem like she was with him. She ducked under the turnstile and waited for Max, who went over it. They took a hold of each other's hand and walked over to the A train platform.
Miraculously, a train promptly arrived. The two girls got on and found a seat. Thanks to the unspoken rule of New York, which is to mind your own business, no one asked why two little girls were on the train by themselves, leaving them undisturbed. The two girls talked, sharing stories in the only way that six year olds know; loudly with lots of exaggeration. Max told Caroline how she knew this kid named Oleg that smelled like a thousand dumpsters.
Caroline told her about this big fancy gala she attended in the MOMA, describing her dress as a big ballet tutu. As they continued to talk to each other, they realized how different their lives were. Caroline comes from a very well-off family, whereas Max is used to living paycheck to paycheck. They still liked each other though, oddly enough. However, one thing bugged Max about Caroline that she had to set straight; she waited until Caroline finished talking what she would name her future horse.
"Hey, Caroline."
"Yes, Max?"
"You talk about your dad a lot, where's your mom?" Max asked, she noticed Caroline never mentioned her once. Caroline had a sullen look on her face.
"She's not around," she simply said.
"What about you? You don't talk about your dad that much," Caroline asked back. Max had expected her to ask that.
"Yeah, he's not around either. Not that my mom is any better," Max said, a slight edge to her voice, the once playful atmosphere of their conversation had been replaced with this heavy, gloomy one. They sat there in silence for a while. Their stop was coming up soon. Max broke the silence with a scoff.
"Well, that's just dumb adults, right?" she joked. A faint smile crossed Caroline's face.
"Here," Max said, sticking out her pinky finger. Caroline turned to face Max.
"Pinky promise that we won't just leave each other, even if we become dumb adults!" Caroline's smile was wider now.
"Ok!" she said enthusiastically. They wrapped their pinkies tight around each other's. The door opened at their stop.
"C'mon," Max said taking Caroline's hand once again. They walked over to the L train platform. When it arrived, they hopped on. They went back to their playful conversation of spaceships and cowgirls and other such imaginative wonders. They arrived at their stop and merrily made their way off. As they walked down the streets of Williamsburg, they stopped just outside a diner.
"My mom is a waitress here. The food is yucky, but the old man, Earl, is nice," Max leaned in to whisper, "he gives me candy and money sometimes!"
She led Caroline into the diner. A bell rang as she used her mighty six year old strength to push the door open.
"Max, darling!" a voice called out as the young girls walked down the stairs. An African American man in his mid-fifties or so, walked up to Max and ruffled her already messy shoulder length hair. His smile is wide and heartwarming, seeing Max always brightened his day. He spotted the girl next to her.
"Who's this little princess?" He kneeled down, despite his bad knee, to be at eye level with her.
"Caroline Channing! Pleased to meet you!" she stuck her hand out to shake.
"And so polite, hopefully it'll rub off on Max here." He shook the hand of the little girl as he would an adult. He cringed as he stood back up. Max made a faux angry face at the man, which he chuckled at.
"Has my mom been here, Earl?" Max asked. He scratched his graying beard and shook his head.
"No, sorry darling. She hasn't been back here." He expected Max to look sad but saw quite the opposite.
"Ok! Bye! We're going to my house!" The two young girls started to walk out the diner.
"Wait, aren't you forgetting something?" Earl asked the two girls. They looked around the floor to see if they had dropped anything.
"No," Max replied. Earl then produced a big bag of gummi worms from behind his counter. He handed it to the elated girls.
"Share now, alright?" he said, knowing how Max got when it came to candy.
"Thanks, Earl!" the two girls said as they walked out the diner.
They soon entered Max's building. She picked up the spare key that was under the doormat and jiggled it in to unlock the door.
"This is where you live?' Caroline asked as the tiny apartment door opened.
"Yep," Max said.
"Home sweet home." She walked in and looked around. She then entered another room as Caroline stood there at the doorway feeling awkward being in someone else's home.
Max emerged later to say:
"Nope, my mom's not here and neither is her cellphone." She sat down on the couch.
"Looks like we havta wait for her to get back." Max said as she stuffed more gummi worms into her mouth. Caroline looks to a white phone high on the wall.
"Can't use we use that?" she asked innocently.
"How are we supposed ta get up there?" Max replied, without turning to look. Caroline took a moment to think.
"I could stand on your shoulders." She offered. Max shrugged, seeing no flaw in that idea. She walked over and kneeled down. Caroline stood in Max's shoulders. Max grabbed her ankles to make her steady. Caroline wobbled a bit while Max stood up slowly. At their collective full height, Caroline was tall enough to barely reach all the numbers. She began to dial the number, reciting it aloud.
"Hey, princess hurry up," Max said, the strain on her shoulders beginning to hurt.
"I'm trying, I can't really reach the '1' and it keeps resetting." Caroline was struggling to keep balanced. She tried to tip-toe a bit.
Max looked up and, unable to help herself, said, "Hey Caroline, I can see your panties!" She was joking, but Caroline took it seriously.
"WHAT?!" she yelled as she tried to cover herself. The two fought for balance. Caroline fell first. Caroline yelled out in pain, she had cut her knee.
"Oh man. Hold on," Max said while Caroline sat there holding her knee. Max went into the bathroom and climbed onto the sink. She opened the mirror compartment and searched for rubbing alcohol and a Band-Aid. She found them and went back to Caroline.
"This is gonna hurt," Max said as she dapped some toilet paper with the alcohol. She wiped the cut, Caroline sharply inhaled. Then Max put on the Band-Aid.
"There, all better!" Max said. Caroline still had tears streaming down her face. She wiped the tears from her cheeks, only to have them replaced by new ones.
"Can you kiss it?" Caroline asked, still hiccupping in tears.
"What? No!" Max replied.
"Please? My dad always kisses my cuts." Max just looked at Caroline. The crying didn't stop as she hoped.
With a sigh, "Fine, but don't tell anyone." She leaned forward and kissed the Band-Aid softly.
"There, better?" Max asked. Caroline had stopped crying. A smile was on her face once again, which made Max smile.
"Thanks Max," She wiped her tears again.
"Now, let's do something that won't kill us." Max pulled up Caroline from the floor.
"Like what?" Caroline checked her dress for any rips.
"Sit on the couch and watch TV." Max said, flicking on the TV. The young girls watched colorful cartoons for a couple of hours. Max had given Caroline most of the gummi worms, so she crashed from a sugar high. She rested her head on Max's lap to have a nap. Max, embarrassed, tried to push her off but seeing it was pointless, she let it be.
Max heard keys jingling, signaling her mom was home. Her mother stumbled in, either unaware or uncaring of the young girl on the couch that wasn't her daughter. She dropped her purse, and slumped her way to her bedroom.
"Mom, this Caroline. She got separated from her dad and needs help. Can we use your phone?" Max asked.
"Hmm yea, sure," she turned back around and rummaged through her purse. She tossed the phone on the couch right by Max.
"Can we get something to eat?" Max asked, her stomach rumbled.
"You want to make cupcakes?" her mom asked.
"YE-," Max remembered Caroline was sleeping and lowered her voice, "yeah."
"Alright," her mom moaned. She trudged over to the kitchen and readied the necessary ingredients. Max substituted her lap for a pillow for Caroline to rest her head on. She went over to the kitchen. Thirty five minutes later, Max and her mother finished putting the frosting on the cupcakes. Max's mother went to her bed, promptly falling asleep. Max put the cupcakes on a plate and put them on the coffee table. She shook Caroline awake. Caroline moaned as she woke up, but her eyes grew as big as saucers when she saw the cupcakes. She grabbed one and bit into it.
"Oh my gosh, these taste amazing! Where'd you get these?" Caroline asked with a mouth full of chocolate cupcake.
"Oh, my mom and I made these," she said, prideful as she also picked one up. Caroline looked at Max with a look of astonishment.
"Really? These are really great!" she said, scarfing down another one. Max handed her the phone.
"Here ya go."
"Oh, great!" Caroline dialed her father's number, waited for him to pick up. She was enjoying a strawberry one when her father answered.
"Hello? Who is this?" he asked.
"Hey Daddy! It's me, Caroline!" She swallowed her cupcake.
"Caroline? Oh thank God! Are you hurt, honey?"
"Well, I scrapped my knee, other than that I'm fine." Max had eaten another cupcake.
"Baby, where are you? What happened?"
"I got lost in the park, but this nice girl-" Max cut her off.
"I am not nice!" Caroline just smiled at her.
"Anyway, she took care of me, even gave me gummi worms and cupcakes!"
"That's great sweetie. Where are you?" There was obvious relief in his voice.
"Uhhh," Caroline said, looking to Max for an answer. "Where are we?" she asked, holding her hand over the mic.
"Brooklyn," Max simply said.
"Brooklyn," Caroline repeated.
"Where in Brooklyn? What's the address?" her father asked.
"What's the address?" Caroline asked Max. Max walked over to the door and picked up a piece of mail. She handed it to Caroline. She read it off to her father.
"Okay, I'll be there in half an hour. Goodbye." He ended the call.
"He said he'll be here in half an hour."
"Good, I'll finally get you out my hair."
"You say that, but I don't think you mean it," Caroline said with a smirk. Max stuck her tongue out at her. The two continued to watch colorful cartoons in relative silence until there a knocking at the door. Max's mother grumbled awake. On her way to the door, she made some quick adjustments, fixing her hair, wiping her face, etc. She looked through the peephole, and opened the door.
Martin Channing, Caroline's father, stood there in the doorway. He had a couple of bodyguards standing behind him, naturally, given the neighborhood. Max's mother was, understandably, confused at the strange man at her door. Caroline ran to him and vigorously hugged his shins. He picked her up and peppered her kisses.
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright, sweetie!"
"Thank you, for watching after her miss!" he said to Max's mother.
"Oh, no prob." She said, still unclear on what was happening.
"And you must be Max!" he said to Max, a wide genuine smile on his face.
"Yeah, what of it? What's the reward for blondie here?" Max said, crossing her arms, trying to look as tough as possible. Martin saw through her act.
"Hmmm, how about my gratitude and respect?" he said, smiling at his daughter.
"I can't buy candy with that!" Max replied. Her mother silently nodded her head.
"Ok, how about 3,000 dollars?" he said. Max's mom's eyes were as wide as dinner plates.
"Is that a lot?" Max asked her mom, who just quickly nodded her head.
"Ok, then. Deal." Max stuck out her hand to shake. Martin crouched down and shook the tiny hand, stood up and pulled out his checkbook. He swiftly signed a check for 3,000 dollars and handed it to Max's mother who barely contained her urge to squeal.
"Any last words before we go, honey?" Martin asked his daughter. He put her down.
"Do you really have to go?" Max asked softly so that her mom couldn't hear.
"Yeah, but you'll see me again. We made a pinky promise!" Her cheerful personality brought a smile to Max's saddened face.
"Hey, my birthday party is in a few days," she turned to her father.
"Daddy, can Max come to my birthday party?"
"Of course, sweetie!"
"See? I'll see you then!" She stuck out her pinky. Max stuck out hers in response.
"Okay," she said. Caroline then kissed Max on her cheek.
"EW!" She started to wipe it off, while Caroline smiled.
"Hold on to this for me," Caroline gave Max her pink barrette.
"This is girly stuff, I don't like girly stuff!" Max said.
"Bye, Max!" Caroline went back into her father's arms and they left.
Max looked at the barrette in her hand and put it in her pocket.
The End.