"You gon' make me listen ta this shit all de way in ta town?" he asked, but he knew it was a moot point. Elizabeth almost always got to run the radio because she hated his penchant for old country; give him a Johnny Cash or Randy Travis tape and he was content. She was always on about the latest pop music though and delighted in trying to explain to him who Lady Gaga was and why she didn't wear pants.
He made the turns with only the briefest pauses to think them over; upon arrival to Colorado Springs, Beau had studied the local maps intently, marking off the main routes with highlighters and familiarizing himself as much as he could with the layout. The more subtle nuances and locales would come to him with practice, but the general layout and main few streets were committed to that razor-honed memory and he was able to find the carnival grounds easily enough. The neon was visible from a block or so away and he found parking for five bucks with a dirty man in a too-tight Budweister t-shirt taking the cash and handing back small tickets for the dashboard.
Once they were walking, Beau paused only briefly to give her a squeeze around the waist before dropping his arm. He wasn't the cuddly type in public, particularly when he knew there were predators around; too much could go wrong, they could be taken by surprise and he wanted freedom of movement. Moreso he didn't want people to necessarily connect Elizabeth and he in a romantic way; if they thought she was important to him, they might come for her before they came for him directly. She certainly seemed the easier target.
"Bet you wan' me ta buy you one-a-dem apples, non?" he asked with a smirk over at her as they reached the admissions window and he forked over the money to get them both their access wristbands.