The van came to a screeching halt in the parking lot, and all four of the passengers were flung forward into their seatbelts. Constance had been used to Tati's driving abilities, or lack thereof, already, but the two children with their fingernails dug into the leather of the backseat had looked a little queasy themselves. Constance peeked out her window, frowning. "Tati, you're parked in two spaces."
The woman pushed open her door and slid out. "Good." She bent down and clicked a button under her seat, a thin, mechanical box sliding out and splitting into two trays. In each of the trays were two guns and a few small knives with jagged blades. Constance slid out of the car too. "What if someone else needs the parking spot?"
Cecelia and Martin, now recovered, released themselves from their belts and peered over in between the two front seats at what Tati was doing. Martin had looked terrified at the weapons, but Cecelia had been more than fascinated. "Why do you have guns?" She asked.
Tati ignored her. "The parking lot is huge. If they need a parking spot they can find one somewhere else." She removed one of the handguns and tossed it to Constance, who caught it with ease and slid it into her waistband. "Why do you have guns?" Cecelia asked again, ignoring that she had been ignored. "It's just courtesy." Constance responded to Tati. "What if those little, rent a cop parking lot police guys come over and give you a ticket or something?"
"Why do you have guns?"
Tati looked back at the little girl impatiently, tucking one of her own glock pistols into her waistband. "To shoot the rent a cop if he comes here. Now get out of the car." Martin and Cecelia scrambled to follow her instructions, swinging the door open too wide and nearly hitting Constance in the effort. And once they had jumped down onto the asphalt, Tati had had them both by the neck. She spun them around to face her and pushed them back against the van. "Okay, now listen up. And listen carefully. We are not your babysitters, we are not your nannies, we are not your friends." Constance rolled her eyes. "We are here, and only here, to protect you."
"Because someone's tryna hurt Daddy."
Constance pulled Tati off of them and replaced her, her voice much more gentle than the older woman's had been. "Exactly. And they might hurt you too. Which is why it is so important that you listen to us and follow our directions. We're not even supposed to be here in the first place, but Martin wanted his...his ingredients for his..." She furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"Bananas foster flambé." The five year old explained in a very small voice.
Constance stared at him for a bit. "...Right. So we're going into that grocery store, picking up a few things, and then we're leaving. Right?"
"Right."
"Right!"
"Damn right."
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