Unstable Environment

The ringing bells and shrill buzzers from the game booth grated on Sinclair Duval's last nerve. Every time someone won or hit a bull's eye, triggering an obnoxious sound, she closed her eyes and prayed for the torture to end. The only good thing about Jungle Kingdom was it made for a nice place to go for indoor fun during the chilly winters.

Sinclair spent the last eight days stuck in the cockpit of a commercial airliner traveling between Raleigh-Durham, Orlando, and DC. It was a small price if she wanted to switch shifts with some of the other pilots to have a few days off at the end of the month. Those days she reserved to for her three-year-old niece, Nahla.

"Hey girl." Barb Lowens placed her purse on the picnic table and sat on the bench across from her. She helped her five-year-old unlace his shoes before shooing him off to the Jelly Bean Jumping Tent. "Where's Nahla?"

Sinclair pointed at the tent. "The same place where your son's headed."

Both women met by accident at Jungle Kingdom a few months ago when she needed a Band-Aid for Nahla's skinned knee. She pointed Sinclair in the right direction and they've been friends ever since. Both women made it a point to meet once a month to go through the torture of the crowds, screaming children, and outrageous prices.

Barb shook her head and smiled. "How do you do it? Raising a daughter while flying a big commercial jet. Your sister must be a godsend."

Ha! What a crock.

Sinclair and Nahla pretended to be mother and daughter whenever they came here. She didn't want sympathy for that worthless skeleton stretched out in her closet. She would rather it go away, but it was too hard to get rid of her drunken-pothead sister, Mina.

Nahla's mother was a real piece of work. Whenever Mina disappeared, Sinclair had to shoulder the task of finding Nahla a babysitter while she flew across state lines. Although Mina swore she never tried anything harder than marijuana, Sinclair caught her trying to "loan" her newborn out for a bag of LSD. Since that day, Sinclair refused to leave those two alone if she could help it. With Mina's arrest record, Social Services looked for any reason to take Nahla. Sinclair was the only thing that stood between them. Had their parents been alive, things might have been different. Maybe.

Sinclair glanced at her watch. "You're late, Barb. They're about to let the kids out of the Jumping Bean."

Her friend waved a dismissive hand. "Phil finally got himself another contract. It's not a big job, but at least it'll help. I made him a congratulatory breakfast this morning."

"Mmmm hmmm. Depending upon how his day goes, he might be giving you a big 'thank you' tonight."

"That's what I'm hoping for."

Both women laughed.

From the corner of her eye, Nahla's sweet smile made Sinclair's laughter trickle into a heartfelt smile. She cursed herself for not taking off more time from work to be with her. Her niece grinned with every bounce inside the Jumping Bean tent. Two pigtails bounced on either side of her head as she jumped around on the air-filled trampoline. She never thought a child not birthed from her own womb could fill her with so much happiness.

Sinclair ran her fingers through her short, corkscrew spirals. Both aunt and niece had the same golden brown hue that earned compliments from complete strangers. Sinclair was one of the women fitness gurus hated. She didn't have to work hard to keep her slender figure.

So why couldn't a nice guy see that? All she ever seemed to attract was Mina's raggedy leftovers who looked like just they stepped out of solitary confinement.

"Earth to Sinclair." Barb fanned her hand in front of Sinclair. "Girl, are you having a flashback or something?"

She shrugged. "Just thinking about family is all," she lied. "It hurts to see all these families around here and all I've got is me and Nahla."

Barb folded up her son's coat. "Be grateful you have that. Some women aren't as fortunate. They've either got a fool for a daddy or they're so damn career-minded that they don't have time for a family."

Sinclair flinched. Once upon a time, she was that career-minded woman�until her sister called about the bank taking the house. She cut her international flights, refused two promotions, and took shorter legs just so she could be home with her family. Her paycheck got them out of the red, but three years later she still struggled to keep them in the black. It would help if Mina could hold down a job for more than one month at a time.

She sighed. "Maybe. But I wish there was more I could do for Nahla. It's just so hard and�" She let that thought go before Mina's name entered the picture.

"Shoot, girl. You're lucky you found out about her stupid father when you did. A crack head like that has no business being around a child. Just be thankful those drugs didn't mess up your little girl."

"She's too young to tell right now." She hoped to God there wasn't.

Her friend stared at her. "The doctor's didn't say anything?"

Sinclair nodded. "They said Nahla could develop some learning problems later on down the road. Or maybe something like ADD. We just don't know yet."

And if that ever happened, Sinclair would beat her sister with a crowbar. She couldn't get her hands on Brian, Nahla's father, because he disappeared two months after his baby was born.

"Stop beatin' yourself up." Barb unscrewed the cap off her bottled water. "Nahla's fine and there are plenty of men out there. You'll find one. You just have to stick with it. Heck, I'm surprise you haven't run into one of those cute Captains of yours. Do a little pilot to co-pilot."

"Girl, please. Just about all of them are white and I feel funny dating outside of my race. I still want to give a decent brotha a try. You know. Keep hope alive?"

"Good luck. Even the white girls are sinking their claws into our decent men."

"You need to stop."

Barb chuckled. "Don't mind me. Look, I'm sure the right guy is out there, if you opened your mind a little. Now take that sweet piece of Hispanic juju over there in first-aid. Hoooooney, if I could get away with it, I'd make sure my son has an accident all the time."

Sinclair's jaw dropped. "Girl, you need to stop. Here you are a married woman and you're still spying the eye candy."

"Girlfriend, just because I'm married doesn't mean I can't stop looking." She cut her eyes to the first-aid office on the other side of the indoor park.

Sinclair couldn't argue. The guy was as fine as a piece of expensive marble. That rugged, Antonio Banderas look worked for him.

A loud bell rang, signaling the end of the ride. Sinclair and Barb gathered outside the entrance behind the line with the parents claimed their children. As soon as Nahla poked her head through the slit opening, her face beamed in delight.

Sinclair's heart swelled. Seeing her niece this happy made her happy.

The attendant lifted Nahla out of the attraction. Her little feet scampered across the area rug heading straight off for Auntie.

Sinclair enveloped her niece in a hug. "Did you have fun, baby?"

Nahla pulled away first and lifted up her foot to her aunt. "Mmmm-hmmm. Can I do 'gain?"

Sinclair knelt and began covering up Nahla's dirty sock with a small sneaker. "How about we try some of the other rides first? If there's nothing else, we'll come back here. Deal?"

Nahla nodded, her pigtails jerking about either side of her head. "Deal."

Cedric, Barb's son held up a bloody finger. "Mommy, my finger hurts."

Looking at Sinclair, Barb grinned. "Ask and you shall receive. We've gotta go to first-aid."

"Oh, lord," Sinclair laughed. "You oughta be ashamed of yourself. Using your child like that."

"No shame, girl. My son is in need of medical attention. Wanna come?"

She finished with Nahla's shoes and stood. "I won't be able to keep a straight face."

"That's because your jaw will be droppin' once you spy a piece of that El Niño boo-tay."

"How about we meet you guys somewhere?"

"Ooooo, Aunt--! Uh...I mean...Mommy..." Nahla pointed at the giant jungle gym.

Sinclair's looked up and her stomach tightened.

That jungle-gym maze was three stories tall. Sure it looked like a great place for Hide-N-Seek, but something about those multicolored tubes bothered her. They looked too small and tight. Even though the sign read adults less than 150 pounds could enter it didn't help.

Nahla would want Auntie Sin to go with her for sure.