Chapter 27: Danger Alert

Maryanne never likes driving in the city. It is always too crowded and bustling. She is not the best driver, and so the possibility of getting into a car accident only increases. As she pulls into the parking lot of the restaurant, Riley begins to get worked up, pulling at her seat belt and crying. Maryanne’s stress level elevates as she parks and unbuckles.
“Just wait,” she calls back to the child as she opens the door. “One second.”
Trying to get Riley out of the car is turning out to be more of a hassle than Maryanne first thought. Riley shrieks that she is hungry and hot as Maryanne tries to put the girl’s jacket on. Riley wriggles her arms from the sleeves, large crocodile tears falling down her puffy cheeks. Maryanne fights the urge to scream.
“Come on Riley, just behave, please,” Maryanne finds herself begging Riley, her throat closing, making it difficult to speak.
The girl refuses, though, now resorting to kicking and throwing herself back into her car seat.
“Riley,” Maryanne’s voice is more harsh now, anger bubbling its way up.
She closes her eyes for a moment and pushes down all other emotions. All it takes is to be calm and reason with the child. Figure out what she really wants. She takes a deep breath and tries again.
“Do you want some nummy food?” She hums after speaking, smiling down at Riley to get her to listen. The little girl pauses, her eyes lighting up as she looks up at Maryanne. She quickly nods, her lips puckered. “Then behave please.”
Riley sits forward slowly, allowing Maryanne to place her arms once more into the sleeves of her jacket. “Finally,” she sighs, helping Riley from the car.
The little girl jumps down, running in circles as excitement now courses through her. Maryanne locks the car and takes Riley’s hand before entering a local restaurant. As the door shuts, she checks her watch. It’s five-twenty. Max is off work at five-thirty.
Maryanne smiles once she reaches the hostess stand, the gentleman standing there smiling at her.
“Hello, table for three please,” Maryanne smiles back. “One child.”
The young man nods, “Of course, right this way.” The staff member grabs the menus and begins his search through the restaurant for their table.
Riley pulls on Maryanne’s arm, trying to go in different directions as they are lead through the restaurant.
“Come on, settle down.” She tries to urge once they get to the table. She picks Riley up and sits her on the end of the booth next to her. “Max will be here soon.” At least she hopes that he will be there soon. Who knows how long traffic will take once he gets off.
The two-year-old begins to raise her voice, hitting the table as she grabs for the kid’s menu.
Maryanne places the color crayons in Riley’s hand, “Here, color.”
After a minute, their waiter walks up, “Can I start you off with anything to drink?”
Maryanne sighs, her shoulders sagging with relief as Riley remains calm. “Yes, can I actually just put her food in quick?”
He nods quickly, “Yes, of course.”
“Great. She’ll have, um, the corndog and yogurt with an apple juice.”
Riley squeaks with joy, pausing in her coloring.
“Sounds good, and what would you like to drink?”
“Oh, just a water for now, thank you.”
“Of course, I’ll get that in right away.” He closes his little black book and places it back in his apron before walking away.
“Thank you.”
Riley begins to hum her favorite Frozen song and dance as she continues to color. She bounces back and forth, a large grin on her face. Maryanne relaxes, a smile forming on her own lips. She can almost forget how crazy the little girl was just moments ago.
“Why are you so cute,” she chuckles ruffling Riley’s hair. The girl groans and swats Maryanne’s hand away.
Out of the corner of her eye, Maryanne notices a figure approaching. She continues to watch Riley, smiling. She checks her watch, a little after five-thirty. Max should hopefully be on his way now.
The figure that she spotted earlier now pauses next to their table. Maryanne slowly glances up, expecting it to be a waitress, but there is something off about the woman. Her long hair is tied back in a very messy ponytail and her makeup is only half on. She doesn’t speak for a moment, just standing and staring. Maryanne inches closer to the little girl.
The stranger grins down at Riley, “She is so adorable.” She crouches a little to get a closer look at the little girl.
Maryanne tries to smile; to be polite. “Uh, thanks,” she nods, glancing down at Riley who is oblivious and continues to color.
“Her hair is getting so long.” The woman reaches out and runs her fingers through the ends of Riley’s curls.
Maryanne frowns slightly, an uneasy shiver biting at her neck.
“Can I hold her?” The woman reaches out to grab a hold of Riley before Maryanne can respond.
Still trying to be polite, and not make a scene in public, Maryanne says, “Sorry, she’s sitting down coloring. It took forever to calm her.” She tries to smile softly, hiding her uncertainty.
The woman doesn’t seem to care, as she grabs Riley at the side, trying to lift her up. Maryanne rushes to rip the woman’s hands off the child and pulls Riley close. The woman grabs a hold of Riley’s arm and forces Maryanne to stand in order to keep a firm grip on the child.
Maryanne’s voice echoes throughout the restaurant, halting conversations. “Hey, don’t touch her!” Fear is now blurring the edges of her vision as she panics about what to do.
The stranger bellows out, “Let me have her.” Her eyes are crazed and bloodshot, bags hanging low under her lids.
As Maryanne tries to shove the woman away, she hopes that someone will come to help. There has to be someone willing to step in, right? “Get away from us!”