“And we aren’t in a relationship. Unless you’re my parents or a caseworker weighing my stability as a guardian, in which case we’ve been swept away by an unexpected romance.”
“But you are having sex,” Silver confirmed.
“Temporarily,” I said with emphasis.
Silver raised a pierced eyebrow. Fi stopped gobbling down her brownie.
“Saying it out loud makes it sound stupid. Maybe we should finish getting ready to open?”
“Eh. I’m PMS-ing. I’d rather eat another brownie and talk about penis length and orgasm intensity,” Fi said.
I was saved from responding by my phone signaling a text.
Sloane: My blabbermouth niece told me something I think you should know.
Me: What? Is my side part out of style?
Sloane: Yes. Also she said the teacher’s been pretty rough on Way the last two days.
Me: What do you mean?
Sloane: Chloe said Mrs. Felch is being mean to Waylay. Yelling at her in front of the rest of the class. Making “weird” comments about her mom. Chloe and Nina got in trouble for defending her.
Me: Thanks for letting me know.
Sloane: You’re going to go mama lion on an elementary school teacher, aren’t you?
I pocketed my phone. “I hate to do this to you guys, but I need to go to Waylay’s school.”
“Is Way in trouble?” Fi asked.
“No, but Mrs. Felch is about to be. Mind covering for me until I get back?”
Silver looked up from the heating pad she was taping to her stomach. “I’ll cover for you if you bring me back one of those pretzels with caramel dip from the place next to the school.”
Fi’s eyes lit up. “Ooooh! Bring two!”
“Better make it three,” Silver amended. “Max is coming in at four thirty and she’s on Day Two of the Red Tide.”
“Three pretzels with caramel dip. Got it,” I said, untying my apron and grabbing my purse. “You sure you don’t mind covering for me?”
Fi waved away my concern. “It’s always slow the first hour or two after opening. And Knox won’t be here with all us gals in the middle of Shark Week.”
“Shark Week?”
She pointed at the Midol and brownies.
“Oh, right. That Shark Week. Thank you for covering!” I blew them kisses and headed for the door.
The school was less than two blocks away, so I hoofed it. It gave me the time to work up a good head of steam. I was sick and tired of people thinking they could judge someone by their family’s behavior. I’d lived in the shadow of Tina’s misdeeds my entire life and I hated that Waylay was facing the same kind of problem.
She was just a kid. She should be having sleepovers, playing games, sneaking junk food. Not dealing with the fallout of her mother’s reputation.
Worse yet, she hadn’t trusted me enough to tell me she was having problems with her teacher. How could I fix a problem if I didn’t know it existed?
Knockemout Elementary School was a squat brick building in the middle of town. There was the standard wood-chipped playground to the right and the long drive out front where buses loaded and unloaded every day.
The school day had already wrapped up, but I hoped I could catch Mrs. Felch in the building.