"I don't see why I had to wear this stupid dress." I scowled. We were on our way to Riverfest.

"Cuz I said so, that's why." My brother replied. "And ya look real cute." He reached across and pinched my cheek.

"I don't wanna look cute." I crossed my arms and pouted.

Daryl parked the truck under a bridge and we got out. I was about to run across the street to the event, but my brother stopped me.

"Hand." He said. He come over to me and grabbed my hand, but I snatched it away.

"I don't need ya to hold ma hand, Daryl." I snapped. "Imma big girl."

"Okay, ya can be carried then."

"No!" I took his hand. There was no way I wanted to be carried around all night. What if kids from school saw?

We walked across the road to where everything was. There was tons of food stands, games, a few rides, a live band and even a petting zoo! "Wow!" I looked up at Daryl.

"What do ya wanna do first?" He asked me. Before I could answer, he spoke again. "Actually, let's get somethin' to eat first." He started dragging me over to a concession stand.

"But, Daryl, I wanna ride that swingy thing." I whined.

"You can do whatever ya want after we eat." So, it was final. He got himself nachos and a burger while I just wanted cheese fries. We sat and ate, I tried to eat fast because I was excited to do other things.

"That was a ridiculous price fer this amount of food." Daryl complained. "This place is a rip off."

"I cain't eat no more." I pushed my food in front of Daryl. He gave me a look. "You said the food I don't eat belongs to you." I giggled.

He sighed and finished my fries. I jumped up. "Come on, Daryl!" I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him.

"Okay, slow down, jeez. I'm comin'." Daryl let me lead the way. I took us to the swingy ride. "Hey, runt, I hate to tell ya this but I don't think yer gonna be tall enough to ride this."

I put my hands on my hips. "Yes, I am! You'll see!"

"No, you'll see." He smirked.

I gave him a dirty look then got in line. I waited for a few a minutes, when the guy finally opened the gate, I was about to walk passed him but he stopped me. "Whoa there, little miss. I think yer a bit small to ride this."

"No, I'm not! Measure me!" I walked over to the arrow that measured how tall you had to be to ride it. "See, I can ride!" I said excitedly.

He gave me a disappointed look. "I'm afraid not, honey. Yer off by at least two inches."

I pouted.

"Sorry, I can't let you on." He said.

I stomped out of line and back over to Daryl. "Ya were right. I'm too short."

Daryl didn't try to hide his smirk which made me more mad. "Well, there's tons of other things to do."

"Maybe I can ride the spiny one." I pointed across the way.

Daryl snorted. "Uh, kid, hate to break it to ya but if ya ain't tall enough to ride that, then ya sure as hell ain't gonna be tall enough to ride that one."

I glared at him. "Well, I'm gonna try!" I started walking over there, Daryl followed. The same thing happened. I wasn't tall enough. I was so disappointed.

"See, I told ya." Daryl patted my head.

"There's still one more ride left." I was hopeful.

"Ya just ain't gonna give it up, are ya?"

"Nope!" I skipped over to the ferris wheel and waited in line. Once it was my turn to get on, the man stopped me once again and told me I wasn't tall enough. But! He said if I got a parent to ride with me, he would let me. That meant there was still hope! I ran out of line and back to Daryl.

"Same thing, huh?" My brother asked me.

"He said if I had a big person to ride with, then I could go on!"

"Yeah, and?"

"You, silly! Yer my big person!"

"Oh no! I ain't ridin' that baby kiddie ride. There's people here."

My face fell. "Please, Daryl! I wanna ride it real bad!"

"Hell nah."

"Daryl!" I jumped up and down close to tears.

"No! I ain't ridin' it!" He snapped. "Ya can cry all ya want. I'm not cavin' this time. Now, you can either get over it and do somethin' else or have a temper tantrum and we'll go home." I put my head down and sadly stared at the ground. "Sorry, runt." He put his hand on my shoulder.

I looked up at him and smiled. "Can I have a corn dog?"

He sighed. "Sure. Come on." He took my hand and we went back to the concession stand.

We sat down at a table while I ate. I got ketchup all over my face. Daryl got some napkins and wiped my face for me. "Yer disgustin'." He teased. I thanked him for cleaning me off.

"This band sucks." Daryl said. "What ever happened to the good 'ol country music?"

I finished my whole corn dog. "I'm done." I announced.

"Good girl." Daryl said. "I don't think I ever saw ya eat all yer food."

"I ate my eggs this mornin'." I reminded him.

"Oh yeah, ya did."

"I got a good idea. When we leave here, we can get ice cream."

"I ain't buyin' ya ice cream." He laughed a little.

"But it's my reward fer eatin' ma food."

"Okay." He raised his eyebrows and smirked. "We'll see."

I smiled. "Can we go play some games now?"

"Yes ma'am." He held out his for me to take and we made our way over there.

I tried playing a game where you have to shoot a target. They had a bunch of stuffed animals as prizes and I really wanted one. I don't have any toys at home. I tried about four or five times. I didn't have any money left after that. I put my head down and walked back over to Daryl who was sitting at a table a few feet away.

"What happened? Ya spend that five bucks already?" I nodded without looking at him. "I'm guessin' ya didnt win nothin'?" I shook my head. He grabbed me and lifted me onto his lap. "Sorry, kid. I cain't give ya no more money to waste on games. Ya understand that, right?" I nodded. I did understand. I know we can't afford things. Still…I was so upset. He pushed my hair back. "What game was it anyway?"

"The shoot the target one."

"What?" He stopped. "Why didn't ya say so in the first place?" I looked at him with suspicion. "I win it fer ya." He stood up still holding me.

"Really?" I was excited.

"Hell yeah. Come on, baby." He carried me over. He handed the man a dollar and I watched as he got the target on the first try. I looked up at him with pure joy. He laughed at me.

"He wins!" The man yelled. "Pick a prize."

"Tell him what ya want, baby."

"Hmm." I looked around. I spotted a dolphin and gasped. "The dolphin!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, little lady but that's our last dolphin and we need it for display." My face fell. I really wanted the dolphin.

"Hey, man." My brother said roughly. "The kid wants a dolphin."

"I know, but—

"So give 'er the dolphin!" Daryl glared at him. The man looked shocked. I stared back and forth at them. He looked like he was getting scared of my big brother's glare. And he should be. The man eventually just sighed and handed me the dolphin. I smiled and hugged it. "Thank ya, Daryl!"

He gave me one of his half grins. "Come on, sweet thang." We started walking away. "So, what do ya wanna do now?" I shrugged. "Well, let's take a walk. See what's here." We walked passed all the games and all the concession stands. There was a face painting stand. "Ya wanna get yer face painted?" I grimaced and shook my head. Daryl chuckled. "I understand." We walked a little further then someone called my brother's name. "Hey, Joe. What's goin' on?" He stopped to talk to some guy. I started to get bored so I tugged his pants. He ignored me so I did it again. "Knock it off, Leann." My brother scolded. I huffed. I turned around and spotted a stand with a bunch of portraits. I walked over to it and stared at them. They were really nice.

"Hey, Annie." I heard a voice say. I looked to my left and saw Bobby, Billy and the guys he was with earlier.

"Oh, hi." I said.

"Cool dolphin." Bobby said. "Did ya win it yerself?"

I thought for a minute. "Sure did." I lied. "I hit the target all by myself and everythang." I bragged.

"Wow!" One of them said.

"Big deal." Bobby said. "I could do it myself."

"Then why don't ya?" I teased.

"Yeah. Do it, Bobby." One of the other kids said.

"Fine! I will!" He started making his way over to the game. The others followed. I was about to but then glanced at Daryl. He was still talking to the man, and I didn't want to interrupt him to ask.

"Ya comin', Annie?" Billy asked.

"Uh, yeah." I ran to catch up.

Bobby handed the man a dollar, he aimed then missed the target. We all laughed. "I slipped. I can do it this time!" He yelled. He tried it again then missed.

"What's yer 'cuse this time, Bobby?" I teased him. The other boys laughed. He got mad and ran away. The other two boys followed after him.

"Nice one, Annie." Billy said.

"Thanks." I smiled. "Hey, wanna play tomorra?"

"I cain't. I got somethin' important to do. Day after tomorra?"

"Okay. Day after tomorra."

"Billy." A woman I assumed was his mama yelled.

"Well, I gotta go. See ya the day after tomorra!" He ran off.

I looked around and realized I was alone. Oh no! Where's Daryl? I walked back to where he was talking to the guy. He wasn't there. "Daryl!" I called. I walked around trying to find him. I was beginning to get scared. I don't know any of these people. I suddenly saw a sign for the petting zoo! How could I forget? I didn't go there yet! I started making my way over there when the sound of my name stopped me. "Leann Dixon!" I turned to see my brother and he did not look happy. "Get over here!" I ran to him. He roughly grabbed my wrist. "What do ya think yer doin'? Didn't I tell ya to stay right by my side?"

I gave him a barely audible "yes."

"Then, why'd ya do that?"

"Billy and Bobby and some other kids came by and I followed them. I was gonna ask ya but I didn't wanna interrupt yer conversation with the man."

"That is not an excuse! Yer a little kid! Ya cain't go off on yer own!"

"I know." I started to cry and wiped my eyes. "I'm sorry. I was scared."

"Yeah, well it's time to go!" He grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder.

"But I didn't get to go to the pettin' zoo yet."

"Too bad! Ya shouldn'ta runaway!" He carried me back to the truck and put me inside.

"I cain't believe ya would do that!" Daryl said while driving away. "And if ya think I'm takin' ya fer ice cream, now, ya got another thang comin'!"

I forgot all about that. I cried all over again and started begging. "Please, Daryl! I'm sorry! I want ice cream!"

"Bad behavior ain't rewarded!" He yelled. "We're gonna home and that's final! And ya can quit yer cryin' and beggin' or I'll give ya somethin' to really cry about!" He sounded just like my daddy when he said that, it scared me. I slouched down in my seat and didn't say anything else.

We were quiet the whole rest of the way home. I was worried about Daryl not talking to me, even though I wasn't talking to him either. "Daryl mad at me?" I finally spoke.

"Yeah, I am." He said immediately.

He parked the truck once we were home and I hurriedly climbed out then ran into the house. I went to my room and hid under the bed. Daryl said he was mad at me. I'm scared when big people say they're mad at me. And he threatened to whoop me. I hugged my dolphin tightly for comfort.

I heard the TV in the living room and knew Daryl was watching something. Still, I stayed under the bed.

I don't know how long I was under there, it seemed pretty long. I saw Daryl's feet walk into the room. "Le?" I didn't respond to him. "Le, where are ya?" I buried my face in my dolphin and hoped he would leave. Shortly after, I watched his feet walked away. Some dust got in my face and I sneezed. I heard Daryl's footsteps halt and he came back into the room. Crap. "Leann?" He walked further into the room and stood my the bed. Then he knelt down and looked under. I whimpered and held my dolphin tightly. "Sissy, what are ya doin'? Come out here." He didn't sound mad at all but I was still scared. I shook my head. "Please. It's okay. I ain't mad at ya, I promise." I looked at him for the first time and sniffed. He held his arms out to me. "Come on." I slowly moved closer and he helped me out then he lifted me and sat down on the bed with me on his lap. He held me and rested his head on top of mine. "I'm sorry I yelled at ya like that. You know I'd never hurt ya."

I sniffed. "I was scared."

"I know and I'm sorry."

"No. I mean when I couldn't find ya. I was scared."

He nodded. "I bet ya were. Don't ever do that again." He kissed my forehead. I hugged him tightly around the neck. We stayed like and eventually I fell asleep.