Author's Notes: You may be wondering how many Chapters this story will entail, if as I have stated in my symnopsis, the story will cover the girls becoming lawyers. Well, I won't be covering every single second of their lives, but to understand what will follow you have to have a detailed view of their beginning.

Chapter 21: Fun with Phobias

The Good Sister asked, "Have you thought about the consequences Maura? Think long and hard before you answer. Jane, please continue."

Jane bought two full day passes and tied the day pass bracelets to both their wrists. Maura had argued that she should pay, because Jane had paid for everything else. But the tradition bound Italian had said, "I asked you out. I pay. Leave the lunch here, I want to take you to the Spillway to eat our lunch and count the stars over Lake Pontchartrain. You'll love it."

The young couple entered the amusement park and Maura smiled as she scanned all the rides and arcade games. The tall Italian asked the young blonde, "What do you want to do first?"

Maura didn't have to think for even a moment as she replied, "The rollercoaster!"

Jane sighed and said almost silently, "Of course."

Unfortunately for the sleek brunette, the younger teen had excellent hearing as the blonde teen asked, "What is wrong with the rollercoaster?"

Jane replied shyly after only a moment of hesitation, "Nothing."

The blonde teen asked again more forcefully, "What is wrong with the rollercoaster?"

The dark Italian whispered, "I'm afraid of heights."

Maura was dumfounded. The young blonde personally had seen this girl charge guns, knives and bats. The baffled teen had seen the tall Italian kill hired killers, beat back gangs of hoodlums and make bullies retreat. But now the bewildering brunette tells the dazzling blonde teen that she is afraid of a roller coaster.

To her credit Maura didn't laugh once as the honey blonde said, "Jane you don't have to worry. I will take care of everything. We will sit in the same car and I will hold your hand. Of all the people I have ever met you are the most formidable. You have faced death and charged it. You have beaten down and raped. Yet, you got up and triumphed I think you can handle a roller coaster."

The older girl blushed and said simply, "You don't understand. I'm not talking about scared like when you're watching a horror movie. I'm talking about being so scared you can't move or make yourself move. I'm talking irrational terror."

Maura smiled and said. "You are talking about a phobia. An irrational fear of heights is known as acrophobia. Now, tell me, does it freeze you can you force yourself to move?"

Jane responded, "It all depends on circumstances. When I was about eight or nine years old and my father took me to Tulane Stadium to see LSU play Tulane in football. It was a big game and near impossible to get tickets. LSU was ranked number one in the nation that year and they needed to beat Tulane at home to go to the Sugar Bowl. They won the game big like 62 – 0. Anyway, the tickets were for the upper deck. To get to the upper deck in Tulane Stadium, you have to go up these ramps that go outside the stadium. Well, I got up the final ramp about half way and realized how high up I was. I froze. I couldn't move either way. People were moving by me, yelled at me to get out the way. One guy shoved me and my Papa clocked him one good. Anyhow, I couldn't move. My Papa hugged me and told me to close my eyes. I did and he led me up the ramp and into the stadium. When I got inside I was fine. A few days later my Papa was dead."

The honey blonde smiled and said, "Then, it seems you only have trouble when you see the heights. You get in the cars for the roller coaster on the ground. You can close your eyes when we state up and open them when we finish. I will hold your hand the entire ride. Then you will get to feel all the sensations of riding a coaster without seeing it and being afraid.

The tough gangster looked into those hazel eyes, which were bright with anticipation. Green and gold flakes floated through the hazel and the poor girl was totally lost in their depths. The tall Italian sighed deeply and said, "I'll try for you. I am so whipped."

***SE***

Maura sat down next to Jane, who was absolutely terrified. The slender brunette was not a stranger to fear. The tough hood was scared every time she went into a fight; the difference was the hardened gangster could control that kind of fear. So, the veteran fighter closed her eyes and prayed.

Jane felt the steady climb up the first hump of the Zephyr. Higher and higher they slowly climbed until the tough brunette began to wonder if there was an end to the climb. The nervous teenager listened to the clank - clank of the car's wheels rolling along the iron rails and the rattling of the chains pulling the line of cars to the top of the highest of the coaster's humps.

Finally, the clanking and rattling stopped as the older teen sensed the edge of the decline. The car paused for just a moment before it dipped and started plummeting toward the bottom of the man-made hill. Jane heard Maura and herself screaming in delighted terror as she tightly crushed her new girlfriend's hand.

After only seconds the rush of falling was replaced by the sensation of a quick climb. The tall Italian could feel the momentum of the cars slowing, giving way to gravity, inertia and entropy. Finally the second hump was conquered and after a second moment's delay, the car again plunged towards the ground.

Again screams escaped both girls and Jane pulled Maura's hand tightly to her chest. By the time the sensation of falling was completed, a new sensation of a quick loop invaded her psyche.

Then came the impression of a steady climb, followed by the awareness of two quick loops. To be replaced by the sense of a slow slide into a sudden stop.

Jane opened her eyes to the smiling hazel eyes of an excited teenager. The young hoodlum said with a huge grin, "You were right that was some set of sensations."

Maura laughed as she exited the car and asked, "Do you want to go again?"

The tall brunette cackled an answer, "Let's not and say we did. I want to win you a huge stuffed animal."

***SE***

Jane grabbed Maura's hand and pulled her toward a booth with a wall of varying sized balloons behind a long white counter with two two by fours extending from the center of the counter with a 30" gap between them.

The man behind the counter wore a red and white striped jacket with a matching straw hat. The short stout middle aged man stopped his hawking of his booth when he saw the couple approaching. His face reddened to match his bow tie and bushy mustache as he shouted, "Please not today, Rizzoli, it's been slow the last couple of weeks and iffin ya take all me prizes my boss'll keel me dead."

Maura notice the right leg within his starched white pants was shaking nervously. As Jane put two quarters and a dime on the counter top, the tall brunette said, "Six plays, McCartney."

Maura looked questioningly at the tough girl with a twinkle in her chocolate eyes, as the dark Italian whispered with a chuckle in the honey blonde's ear, "No relation."

The sleek teen said, "The game's simple. You get three darts for a dime. There are four sizes of balloons. The largest is worth one point, the next largest is worth two points, the third largest is worth three points and the smallest is worth four points. There are prizes ranging in size from one point to twenty-four points. The more points you get the better the prize.

You have to stand in the designated area between the two pieces of wood. There are only six of the smallest balloons at the far edges of the board. You can go double or nothing following your first three darts with a second dime. But the balloons are not reset, so if you get three four pointers with the first set of darts; it leaves only three more four pointers for the next set of darts. However, to win the top prize, you have to get twenty-four points."

The veteran hawker begged, "Please Rizzoli, not now, I'll give ya ten bucks to go somewhere else. My boss is gonna keel me iffin ya do me agin."

The dark teen raised one eye brow and chuckled, "If?"

The man was literally sweating through his suit as he continued to plead his case, "Please Rizzoli. I don't give out three big prizes in half a year, so three in one night is gonna git me kilt."

Jane shrugged and said flatly, "Tell Danny that it was me and if he has a bitch to come and see me directly. I'll explain the facts of life to him"

The look of cold steel in her expression caused the man to step back two paces reveling his white loafers matching the rest of his cliché outfit. The slinky brunette picked up the three darts and measured their weight in her hand. Then the slick operator switched the table darts with three from her sleeve. If McCartney noticed he didn't say a word.

The dark girl took a deep breath and one, two, three, the dark gracefully arced from hand and hit the board on its far left side after passing through a small balloon with a loud pop. The tough hoodlum said, "Let's make this official, I'm doubling down."

Again one, two, three in perfect rhythm and the right hand trio of balloons popped. The heavy set man wilted as he asked, "Do you want Wally the Panda, Bugs Bunny or the giraffe?"

Jane looked at Maura and winked. The excited blonde looked at her three choices; all three of which were at five feet tall. But the young girl knew there was no choice, "I will take Bugs."

Maura clapped her hands as the timid man handed her the nearly six foot replica of Bugs Bunny with a carrot in his hand. The young Italian asked, "Which one do you want next?"

The honey blonde excitedly said, "Wally."

After one dollar and twenty cents, Maura had two each of the giant stuffed animals. The vendor was now deflated to nearly nonexistence. The older man was now nearly in tears, until he saw the line of people waiting to have their shot at such an easily won game. The people in line couldn't wait to put their money and win those big prizes from the easiest of the carnival games.

With a nodded and a whistle Big Joe, Big and Little Tucky and Lou appeared from nowhere. Jane had another wink for Maura and asked, "Anything boys?"

Lou answered, "Nothing, Janie. I don't think they'll try anything in the open. You guys go and have fun. We'll be making sure; you're not disturbed."

Jane nodded her approval and said, "Get a couple of boys to take Maura's prizes to the Bel Air. We're going to go ride the Carousel and then we might ride the Ferris wheel."

Joe did a double take. Jane was terrified of heights. This girl must be something for the brunette to brave the heights of a Ferris wheel. Then the tall Italian told the old hawker, "Don't switch back those darks, McCartney. I'm going to tell Mr. Bev about them and that you chose to change them back."

The man was momentarily worried at this information until she continued, "I'll also tell him that your boss forced you to do it and that you cleared up the whole mess."

At this information the man lit up and said, "Sure, Rizzoli and iffin ya's could tell, Mr. B, he's in my wife's and me's prayers. We plan on lighting a candle for him tomorrow."

"Sure, I'll tell him," agreed the tough brunette as she left to the rest of the amusement park.

***SE***

On the way to the carousel, Jane stopped to buy her new girl a cone of pink cotton candy and herself a bag of popcorn. The dark avenger loved popcorn. The couple stopped at a bench looking upon the large baroque carousel and ate their treats will smiling at each other while gazing into one another's eyes.

Maura was completely lost. The young blonde didn't care about Jane's past or the consequences of their relationship. All Maura really knew was that this lovely dark creature loved her. The honey blonde said, "We tell my mother when we get home that her experiment is over and I have decided to love whom I love no matter the consequences."

Jane asked shyly with a new hope in her voice, "Are you sure? You've given it like a day. We should take this a lot slower."

The honey blonde smiled and said, "For once in my life, I want to follow my heart and not my brain. Maybe I'm being rash and irresponsible but I cannot help knowing I want to be happy for once in my life."

Jane leaned over and kissed the girl's warm blushing cheek and whispered, "We still need to be careful."

***SE***

It had been a glorious day of rides and games, but it was nearing four o'clock and neither girl had eaten much that day. So they got into the Bel Air and drove a mile or two down Lakeshore Drive and parked. Jane retrieved their basket from the Bel Air, which wasn't an easy feat with so many large animals guarding it.

The happy brunette led the couple down toward the Lake, whereupon they found a large series of long concrete steps descending into the Lake. This series of steps was and is known as the Spillway. The couple spread a blanket on the steps and removed the food from the basket.

Maura made the sandwiches and Jane poured the drinks, though they would be a bit warm. They ate and talked, until the pair of girls watched the sun sink into the Lake. Whereupon they packed their basket and went back to their car for their drive home to explain to Maura's mother… everything.