Happy World (5 page)

“No! Rory!” Kyle followed him, holding two sets of brooms and claws and trying to keep the trademark smile pasted on his face for the guests’ benefit. “I already called security, they’re the only ones equipped to rescue kids from the fort! They’ll be here in a minute!”

“You’re shi-- “ Rory swallowed the profanity back and continued, “-- kidding me. That kid has to wait until security lumbers over here and climbs up there for him? I’ve seen the security dudes.” They weren’t known for being fit and trim.

“That’s the rule.” But even Kyle looked doubtful as the little boy continued to cry and reach one arm through the ropes for his father.

“Fucking rules,” Rory muttered and didn’t care about the swearing. He reached above his head for a jutting brick and began to scale the turret.

It was an easy climb. He reached the bridge in no time and swung both legs over the rope, causing the bridge to rock back and forth and the child to screech even louder. “Hey, whoa. I didn’t bring ear plugs, little man.” Rory smiled at the boy, who didn’t care at all that he was reaching extreme decibel levels with his screams. “Come on, my friend. There’s a really fun slide on the other side of the bridge. I’ll go down it with you.”

Detaching the child from the ropes proved more difficult than he first thought. Rory tried lifting him off the bridge, but that only resulted in more ear-piercing shrieks and a shout from the father. Great. Rory set the kid back on his feet and pondered the situation. His cousin Carrie had a little boy this age named Grant. Rory hadn’t spent a lot of time with him, but he remembered the kid loved trains.

“Hey, listen up, buddy.” Rory crouched down next to the boy and tried not to rock the bridge. “Want to go on a train ride? A fun one?”

“Noooo,” the child wailed. “Down.”

“Well, yeah. The train isn’t up here. It’s down there.” He pointed vaguely in the direction of the boarding station at the south end of Freedom’s Fair. Each themed land had its own train stop where guests could board the old-time locomotive for a ride around the Park.

The boy sniffled and coughed and looked where Rory was pointing. “Down,” he howled again. “Daddy. Where Daddy is.”

“Go with him, Cooper! Go with the man!” The father paced under the bridge. “I’ll catch you at the slide!”

“Yeah, see?” Rory nodded toward the end of the bridge with the slide platform. “Right there, and I’ll go down with you. I’ll even carry you over there.” He held out his arms to demonstrate.

The child sniffled again and turned slightly toward Rory. Rory was struck by a moment of sympathy for the kid. Who the hell in their right mind would want to be stuck up here, anyway? It was hot, it was sticky, and there were a hundred other children. No, thanks.

Before Cooper could change his mind, Rory scooped the boy up and carried him to the safety of the solid platform. “Down the slide, okay?” He let Cooper slither down his body to the platform, hoping he would go down the slide on his own.

No such luck. The child attached himself to Rory’s leg and wailed some more. “No slide!”

Rory sighed and hefted Cooper up again. “Fine, go with me. Although I’m not forty-eight inches or smaller.” He sat down with the boy in his lap and inched forward onto the red plastic. The slick surface carried both of them around two spiral curves and dumped them out onto the spongy rubber mat beneath the play area.

Feeling vaguely dizzy, Rory struggled to his feet. Cooper wiggled free and darted through the crowd to his father, who immediately whisked him away without so much as a thank you to Rory.

“No problem,” Rory grumbled, peering over his shoulder to see if he’d gotten his costume dirty. Sure enough, a nice black streak was placed right across his rump. Shit. That meant a visit to Wardrobe to change, and Kyle wasn’t going to like it.

Security came huffing up just as Rory returned to Kyle to retrieve his dustpan and claw. They looked around for the emergency they’d been called for, and not seeing anything, began to talk rapidly into their radios. Rory rolled his eyes and turned away from them.

“You should have waited.” Kyle handed Rory his broom and studied his face.

“Why? So another guest could climb up there instead, get hurt, and sue the pants off this place? Come on, that kid was seriously stressed out, man. Not cool to let him hang up there, screaming his head off.”

“The rules say to wait for trained personnel. We’re not trained personnel.”

Rory laughed. “And those guys are?” He inclined his head toward the security team, who was now walking around the fort, looking for possible emergencies.

Kyle watched them, a doubtful expression on his face. “Well. They. Um.”

“Exactly.” Rory grinned. “Come on, loosen up. I saved Happy World a billion dollar lawsuit.”

“Not a billion. God. You need to change your costume.” Kyle was back to no-nonsense again. “And I need to get to the parade.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll meet you down there, I guess. Hey, can you buy me an ice cream sandwich for when I get there?”

“No eating while in costume!” Kyle sputtered, and Rory chuckled.

“Jeeze, I’m kidding! You’ve got to learn when I’m joking, man. Fine, I’ll meet you down there in fifteen minutes.” Rory shook his head, still laughing, and headed toward the nearest employee entrance that would take him to Wardrobe.

Clearly, some shifts were going to be more exciting than others.

Chapter Five

“Let me get this straight, Forester. You let a rookie go up on the Freedom Bridge unsupervised?” Jason Garrett’s gaze lifted from the report he held in his hands and shot across the desk at Kyle. “Further, you let this same rookie touch a guest?”

Kyle swallowed hard and fought the urge to look away. He met Garrett’s glare head-on, although it took nearly everything he had in him to maintain eye contact. “Yes, sir. The child was frightened, and--”

“What are the rules regarding medical emergencies, Forester?”

“Never touch a guest,” Kyle automatically replied. “If the injured guest is awake, ask if he’d like medical attention. Ask no less than three times. If the guest is unconscious, call for an alpha unit. Keep the other guests away and calm until the ambulance arrives. But this wasn’t a medical emergency, sir. The kid was just scared, and--”

“Did you write the rookie up for the infraction? What’s his name?” Garrett glanced at the paperwork on his desk. “Roarke Stafford. Did you give him a written warning for insubordination?”

“No, sir. I explained the liability issues to Rory and reminded him about the importance of following the rules. Rory only acted because he was afraid for the kid, and didn’t think we had the time to wait for emergency response to get there. If the boy had fallen, Happy World might’ve been held responsible. He really did have the interest of the company at heart, sir.”

“The rules are in place for a reason, Forester. Perhaps it’s time for us to re-evaluate the feasibility of continued employment with Happy World.”

Kyle flinched. Poor Rory. To be fired so soon after being hired would be a blow to anyone’s confidence. How awful for him. As much as Rory irritated the heck out of Kyle sometimes, he was actually starting to like the guy. He certainly didn’t want to see Rory canned, especially not over something that had merely been an exercise in misguided judgment.

Besides, Rory had been genuinely worried about the kid, and only did what he thought was right. “It won’t happen again, sir. I swear it. Please give Rory another chance. He’ll be a great groundskeeper someday, and a credit to Happy World. I just know it.”

“You don’t understand, Forester. I’m not talking about Stafford. I’m talking about you. Well, both of you, actually. Stafford’s name has been flagged twice this week. He’s under probation, and you’re his trainer. Any infractions he commits while in your presence are a reflection of your poor training technique. I had Bob Castor from Entertainment in my office just yesterday. One of his Actors has a serious complaint about Stafford. Coupled with Stafford’s stunt today, I’m wondering whether either of you are Happy World material.”

Kyle felt the blood drain from his face to his feet, making him feel lightheaded. He was in trouble? How could that be? He always followed the rules! Kyle wracked his brain trying to figure out where he could’ve gone wrong, what rule he’d broken, aside from allowing Rory to rescue the kid from the bridge. And really, how could Kyle have stopped Rory except by a full body tackle? “Who was it, sir? What do they claim he did?”

“Bob said that he’s been harassing one of the face Actors. Charlie Taylor claims Stafford embarrassed him in front of his co-workers. He also said that Stafford made inappropriate advances toward him.”

Kyle’s mouth fell open, and all the blood that had so recently vacated his head came rushing back into his face. A tight ball of anger formed in his gut, and he gripped the edge of Garrett’s desk with white-knuckled fingers. “He said… what? I assure you, sir, Rory did nothing of the kind. He’s barely passed two words with Charlie Taylor!”

“Really? That’s not what Charlie said. According to him, Stafford called Charlie a... “ He glanced down at a piece of paper on his desk. “A ‘pinhead’ in front of his coworkers while in the cafeteria, and used foul language. Charlie seems to think it’s because he rebuffed Stafford when Stafford made a pass at him.”

“He never... “ Kyle’s voice trailed off. Suddenly, he felt as if he’d been smacked upside the head with one Happy Hamster’s trademark rubber mallets. Last week in the main cafeteria, hadn’t Charlie made a pass at Rory, and hadn’t Rory shot him down? Yes, Rory called Charlie a pinhead, or something similar, and swore, but Charlie had asked for it. Yes, Rory was wrong to use foul language, but Charlie had insulted him first. Or at least, Charlie had insulted Kyle.

Kyle was momentarily sidetracked by a rush of warmth for Rory, remembering how Rory had stuck up for him against Charlie. Rory could’ve gone with Charlie to sit with the face characters. Hell, he probably should have. It would’ve helped Rory’s career. But he hadn’t. He’d chosen to stay with Kyle. Now Charlie had turned the entire story around and was trying to pin the blame on Rory. It just wasn’t right. Kyle knew Charlie was egotistical, but was he so vindictive to try to get Rory fired over something as trivial as a ping to Charlie’s ego?

“Listen very carefully, Forester. I know that Happy World employs a large number of you people. But if that gives you the idea that you can--”

Kyle frowned and felt the ball of anger in his gut expand, twisting his stomach. “Excuse me, sir, but what do you mean by ‘you people’?”

Garrett’s lip curled over his teeth. “You know very well what I mean. Homosexuals.” He spat the word out as if it tasted rancid on his tongue. “Happy World is a family Park, with good, old-fashioned family values. Charlie Taylor is a talented, valued employee who should not need to defend himself against anyone’s depraved fantasies, or be verbally abused because he’s straight.”

Kyle bit back a sardonic laugh. Charlie Taylor was about as straight as the big, soft pretzels they sold in Fairytale Land. He could have spouted figures that showed a full sixty percent of Happy World Actors were gay, but knew it would do no good. Antagonizing Garrett would only serve to get them both fired, and since Florida was a Right to Work state, he and Rory would have little recourse other than a long, expensive court battle.

“Sir, Rory never said anything inappropriate to Charlie Taylor,” Kyle said, forcing his voice to remain even, when all he wanted to do was to scream in Garrett’s bigoted face. It wasn’t the complete truth, but after all, Charlie started it. “I was there, and witness to the entire conversation. It was Charlie who--”

Garrett slammed his palm against his desk. “You’re lucky Charlie is a forgiving individual and has chosen not to file a formal grievance. But should I receive one more complaint about your Trainee from anybody for any reason, formality will no longer be an issue. I will terminate both of you on the spot. Is that clear? This conversation is over. I can’t believe you would stoop so low as to try to tarnish Charlie Taylor’s reputation. Get out of my office, and count yourself lucky that Groundskeeping is shorthanded, or so help me, Forester, you’d be out of a job! Now, get back to work.”

Kyle knew it was true. Groundskeeping was shorthanded, but in the scheme of things, he was totally expendable. People came and went all the time at the Park. For example, the management staff was completely different from when Kyle first started. The turnover rate at Happy World was astronomical. Not everyone, it seemed, was thrilled to work for a bit over minimum wage for as long as Kyle had. Most people hired in the spring rarely made it past summer before leaving and seeking other employment elsewhere... someplace with air conditioning, at least. He left the office with a heavy heart, feeling as if he’d been washed hard and hung out wet to dry.

***

Kyle still felt positively dazed and slightly sick to his stomach he wandered through the tunnel toward Wild West Land, murmuring to himself. “What just happened?” He stopped in front of the obligatory mirror hung at every entrance to the Park, put there so Actors could check their appearance before stepping onstage. His face looked back at him with a stunned expression. “What the fuck just happened?”

Rory’s face appeared next to Kyle’s in the mirror. His hand clamped down on Kyle’s shoulder, startling Kyle. “Whoa. Let’s use our inside voices, please. And what happened to the rule about no swearing while in costume? Unless I’m hearing things, that was the f-bomb you just dropped. What’s wrong?”

Kyle twisted away. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Somehow between the time I clocked in this morning and fifteen minutes ago, the world tilted off its axis.” He felt tears burn behind his eyes and struggled to keep them there, refusing to show any weakness in front of Rory. He fought to hold on to his anger, and not let it dissolve into self-pity. “I’ve always been a good employee. No, I take that back. I’ve always been an exemplary employee. I never broke the rules. Not once, not since I was hired. But after a single week with you, I find myself teetering on the edge of being fired.”

Rory’s eyes flashed open wide. “Fired? Come on, you’ve got to be kidding me! They can’t fire you. You’re like... the Happy World poster boy.”