2:21 AM

After leaving the restaurant, Jodi invited Mary to one of her favorite places in New York: Coney Island. The girl confessed that the memories she had of the park from when she visited as a young child were boring, but she quickly agreed to go when Jodi promised her she was going to show her a good time.

And judging by how Mary hadn’t stopped smiling for the last four hours, Jodi was pretty sure she had shown the girl a “good time”. Their first stop had been the batting range, where Jodi ended up teaching Mary how to swing. The girl turned out to be a natural and they ended up staying at the cages more than what Jodi had originally planned because Mary was intent on “getting them all”. Then they visited the go-kart track. Mary ended up winning 3 of the 4 races they entered, while Jodi just won the nickname “The Turtle” from some ten-year-olds who took delight in mocking her driving skills. She took it all in good stride, and couldn’t help but laugh when Mary temporarily joined forces with them.

They finally had shared a pretzel and a milk-shake while walking around the Ten-In-One sideshow tent that was erected on the boardwalk. Jodi couldn’t choose what had impressed her the most: the Mexican Werewolf, The Fire Master, or the Snake Charmer. However, she could choose her favorite moment of the night: when the Snake Charmer had pulled Mary from the crowd to help her with her act. At first, the young woman had been completely embarrassed by having so many eyes on her, but when the Snake Charmer placed the python on Mary’s shoulders and the girl began to dance, Jodi noticed how the fear and the shame slowly disappeared, being replaced by a uniquely primal emotion: the feeling of freedom.