Carter put on his signal and slowly pushed through the crowd of people gathered there. There weren’t any parking spaces, so he just pulled up in front of the door and popped out. He guided Regina to stop right behind him and Ted to pull up behind her. The moment I got out of the car, cameras started flashing in my face. People recognized me from the video. They shouted questions at me about the mermaid and what we were doing while Carter and I rushed to the truck and climbed into the bed. I lifted up the tail before he had a handle on the torso. This was a mistake, because the sight of that thin, long tail sent the crowd into a frenzy. They pushed up to the truck with their cameras and made it impossible for us to move. Ted and Gary couldn’t even open their doors to get out of the cab. Ted rolled down his window and yelled, “Come on! Back off!” Regina’s high voice screamed over the crowd, “It’s not a mermaid! Calm down and back up! It’s not a mermaid!” Marlee and Haley joined in.
