Chapters 26-30

**Chapter 26**

While we were looking over the menu, a waitress came over. “Hello, my name is Jen and I will be your waitress today.” She said as I looked up at her. “Can I get an iced tea?” Brian said with a healthy country twang in his voice to try and hide who he really was, just encase she was a fan. She looked at him strange and then said, “And what would you like?” “I’ll have an iced tea also.” I said. She looked at me for a minute and then said, “Weren’t you hear the other day?” “Yes, I was.” I replied. “I thought so, but you were alone the last time.” She said to me. “Yes, I was. This is my brother and I had invited him to have breakfast with me before he, our cousin, and I go out and see the sites of New York before we go home. We have to catch a flight home tomorrow, so today is our last chance to see the sites.” I stated. After she left, I looked at Brian, who had a Wildcats baseball cap on. “Nice twang bro,” I said to him with a smile. “Well it does come in handy,” he replied as he handed me a hat to wear. I looked at the hat for a minute. It was a bucket/fisherman style hat in a navy blue color, with the Backstreet Boys logo patch on it. “How clever bro! Who would figure that a Backstreet Boy or two would be hanging with someone that was wearing a Backstreet Boys hat.” I remarked as I put the hat on my head. “Well, we all have to be careful when we go out in public like we do, usually it is hard to attract attention to ourselves if we are in small groups and in disguise.” Brian remarked. “I figured that B,” I replied. A few minutes later, the waitress came back with our Iced Teas and we ordered breakfast.

After breakfast, we walked out of the restaurant and found Kevin standing in the lobby, waiting for us. “Hey cuz,” I said to Kevin as I walked towards him. “Hey cuz,” he replied as he gave me a huge hug. We then walked out side and climbed into an awaiting limo to go to the Statue of Liberty. The limo driver turned on the radio right away for us, so that we could have some background music while we talked during the long ride to get to where we needed to be to go and see the Statue of Liberty. Kevin, Brian, and I started talking when a familiar song came on the radio. It was none other than “Larger Than Life” by my brother and my cousin’s group, the Backstreet Boys. I sang along in perfect tune and harmony with the guys. While I was singing, I looked over at my brother and my cousin. Brian had a smile on his face, which I knew meant that I was doing a good job with the song. Kevin, on the other hand, had a look of shock and disbelief written on his face. I was surprised that he would have never figured that I would be a great singer, just like my brother Brian and my parents. A smile appeared on my face as I finished off the song. When I finished the song, Brian and Kevin started clapping. Kevin still had that look of shock and disbelief on his face. “What’s wrong Kevin?” I asked my cousin. “I am shocked is all cuz. I never figured that you would have been such a great singer, since I know that you never had any real training.” Kevin replied. “True, but I have sung in many choirs and done a lot of singing on my own, including just singing along with songs on the radio, tv, and cds that I had.” I stated with a smile. “WOW, that is amazing to know cousin,” Kevin said with a smile on his face. “I think that you are an amazing singer already.” “Thanks cousin. I am glad to know that you think that I am really good. I would love to be a professional singer or dancer, but it will never happen.” I said. “I bet I could talk Fatima and get her to let you dance in our troupe of dancers for our next tour and such.” Brian said. “That would be awesome if you could do that for me bro. I would love to dance for you guys.” I replied. Brian smiled.

A while later, I felt the limo pull to a stop. I looked out and saw that we were near a port, possibly where we had to catch the ferry to get to the Statue of Liberty. I saw the limo driver get out of the limo and walk around the limo to the side nearest the curb. He pulled open the door and held it open. Kevin climbed out first, since he was the closest to the door. Brian climbed out right after him. After Brian had gotten out, he turned around and offered me his hand as I climbed out. I accepted Brian’s help out and I joined them on the sidewalk and we walked to catch a ferry over to the Statue of Liberty. We walked on to the ferry and stood against the railings to watch as we crossed over to the Statue of Liberty. The ferry took off from the port and headed across the water towards the Statue of Liberty. As we headed towards the Statue of Liberty, Brian and I looked at it and noticed how high up it went. I started to get scared as we got closer and I could tell that he was getting scared too. Soon, we reached the dock and got off the ferry. We went up to the base of the Statue of Liberty and went in. We took the elevator up as far as we could and when it stopped, we got out and walked out into the observation deck to take a look at the view. As soon as we got close to the edge to look, I started to get scared at how high up we were. I felt myself shaking and I started to back away from the edge of the observation deck and as I did, I looked at Brian and noticed that he was shaking and backing away also. “Are you guys ok?” Kevin questioned us out of concern, as he looked at us. “I am ok,” Brian said in a shaky voice. “I am ok also,” I said in an equally shaky voice. Kevin gave me a strange look and then said, “Brianna are you sure you are ok?” “Yeah, I am fine,” I replied in a still shaky voice. “Why?” “You look rather pale is all,” Kevin said with concern in his voice. “I am sure that I will be fine in a bit.” I said as calmly as I could. “As soon as we get down from here, I bet I will be back to normal.” I knew Kevin was just concern since I am his cousin after all. After a few minutes, we walked back to the elevator and took it back down to the bottom of the Statue of Liberty. We walked back to the dock and waited for the ferry to return so that we could go back to the main land and do the rest of the things that we wanted to do in New York today, considering that it was our last day here.

After we waited a bit, I saw the ferry coming. “Guys, its coming,” I said happily to my brother and my cousin. Kevin looked at me and smiled. “What is that smile for cuz?” I asked. “Well, you look much better than you did before.” Kevin replied. “Well, cuz, you should know that I have a fear of heights just like Brian does. Infact, it might run in this side of the family.” I said with confidence. “She is right cuz. The fear of heights does run in the Littrell family. As far as I know and can remember our parents and brother have all experienced their fear a few times in life.” Brian stated. The ferry reached the dock and stopped. The people on the ferry got off and then we were allowed to get on. We walked on to the ferry and found a stop to stand at along the railing on the ferry. I let the cool breeze brush against my face as we pulled away from the dock and headed back towards the main land. I couldn’t believe how great the breeze felt now after how I felt when we had been up on the high observation deck of the Statue of Liberty. A few minutes later, the ferry pulled to a stop back at the port where we had boarded the ferry earlier. We got off of the ferry and walked back across the port and then we reached the sidewalk. A few feet from us was our limo in which we had come in earlier. Brian walked over to the driver’s side of the limo and knocked on the window to let the driver know that they were back. The driver’s side door opened and the driver stepped out. He shut his door walked over to the door by the curb and opened it up for his as Brian walked back to us. I climbed in first and got settled. Brian climbed in after me. Kevin climbed in last and the driver shut the door behind him. The driver then went and climbed into the driver’s seat. He started up the limo and pulled it away from the curb. “Where do you three want to go next?” Our driver asked us, just as he had pulled out. “F.A.O. Schwartz please.” I replied. The driver nodded and then he turned the radio on for us to listen to as background music. The three of us became engrossed in our own conversation when a song that I was very familiar with came on the radio. The song was “Hero” by Mariah Carey, which happened to be a song that I knew by heart and could sing from memory. I sang along in perfect tune and harmony with the track on the radio and I looked at Brian and Kevin as I sang. Brian smiled as I sang because he had heard me singing this song before and knew that I was great at this song. Kevin, on the other hand, bore the same look of shock and disbelief on his face that he had earlier, when he had heard me singing “Larger Than Life” earlier. I finished the song with power and a smile on my face. When I had finished, Brian and Kevin broke out with applause.

A little while later, I felt the limo pull to a stop yet again. I looked out the window that was closest to the curb and I noticed that we were stopped right outside of F.A.O. Schwartz. A minute later, the door by the curb was opened by the driver and Kevin climbed out. Brian followed Kevin out of the limo. After Brian had gotten out, he turned around and offered me his hand to help me out of the limo. I accepted his hand, climbed out of the limo and linked arms with Brian as we entered F.A.O. Schwartz together. I looked around as I entered the store. I could think of one thing that I really wanted to get at F.A.O. Schwartz, but there was one minor problem with that. That was how the heck I would manage to get it home because the thing I wanted was one of those huge stuffed dogs. I had wanted one ever since I had first seen them, the first time that I had ever been in an F.A.O. Schwartz. The problem is that I would have no way to make sure that it would make it back safe, unless I was able to get a box big enough for it, plus a roll of duct tape and a permanent marker to right my name on the box to signify that what was in the box was mine. Brian saw me looking intently at something. He looked over at what I was looking at and then walked off. I went and looked around F.A.O. Schwartz for awhile. I found two small things that I wanted to get, one was a new Patrick the Pup that had a dark blue outfit on it, and the other thing was a creative making kit that I wanted for a really long time. I found Kevin, who, as it seemed, had made a purchase of his own. “Where’s Brian at Kevin?” I asked my cousin. “He is busy taking care of something. He said for us to go to the limo and he would meet us there.” Kevin answered. “Ok,” I replied as Kevin and I walked out of the store, to the limo, and got in it. A few minutes later, Brian joined us and we headed to our next destination.

Links

Brianna's Story Index
Chapters 21-25