“Hm,” Donald makes a noise to acknowledge I’ve spoken but moves ahead with his news. “That’s not allowed. The next few riders will receive exit quizzes on you, and if we hear that you bring a child with you again, you will lose yourWheel Get Youdriver’s pass.”
Which means I’ll be fired.
“I don’t understand why he can’t be in the car with me. What if I picked up a rider with a baby? That would be okay, wouldn’t it?”
Donald sighs. “Liability reasons, okay? And yes, riders can bring children if they have their appropriate car seats with them. But no, you cannot bring your baby to work and drive him around with you all day.”
“That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me,” I admit, passing Jett a freshly washed pear. He tongues it before dropping it to the floor with a thud. I reach down, pinching the phone to my ear with my shoulder, grabbing it. Rinsing it, I hand it back to Jett as Donald taps around on his computer.
“Well, it doesn’t have to make sense to you, Mrs. Reid. It’s all in the contract you signed. I’ve listed here on your profile that you’ve been warned. Next time we get a complaint, remember, you’ll lose your pass for life.”
WithWheel Get You, once you jump through the many hoops to be an approved driver, they approve you for life unless you have an infraction.
I roll my eyes. Because as much as I’ve enjoyed doing it since I started driving Beau… I haven’t driven anyone else.
“Hey, wait–” I stop before Donald hangs up. He sighs. “I’m not gonna argue, I just have to ask… was it a rider that reported me?”
“No,” Donald says quickly. “It was someone on the road who saw yourWGYsticker and noticed the child.”
“How did that person know it wasn’t the rider’s child?” I ask, but then again, my only rider in three weeks has been Beau. Who looks like… a kid. They could see my tired, beady eyes and just knew.
“Look lady, I don’t know, alright? They just assumed, I guess. But they were right, weren’t they?” Donald is far more exasperated than he needs to be. Apparently, being an office dude atWheel Get Yousucks.
All the more reason I should be happy I signed the lease on that studio.
And I am.
I really am.
I just can’t believe I’m starting over. A new business.Alone.
I can do it; that’s not even a fucking question. It’s just… I never wanted to do it alone, that’s all.
After Donald did his very best to get off the phone with me, I call my parents. Dad answers right away.
“Where’s my grandson?” he asks after I greet him with a sleepy good morning.
“Sitting here in the high chair. Hey, listen, I have a ride in fifteen minutes, but someone reported me… I guess you can’t take your kid with you to work when you’re a rideshare driver.”
There’s a brief pause, and I grin to myself because even though I know mom and dad don’t like me driving, even more, dad doesn’t like his daughter getting in trouble from her job. Even if said daughter is a grown adult.
“That’s stupid,” he says, earning that grin. I laugh and agree.
“I won’t be doing it much longer anyway. I mean, as soon as I get the keys to the studio I can get to work there, and I’ll be too busy.”
I never droveWheel Get Youfor money. Never. The perk of having your husband be an utter and complete selfish piece of shit asshole? He wanted me to go away so fast that he basically gave me everything. After I left, he sold off our place and gave me all the money.
And no one thought it was sweet or kind.
He had a very dirty, guilty conscience and wanted me to leave him to his new, perfect life. He didn’t give me lots of money because he’s a good guy. He gave me lots of money to go away.
But I’ve been able to buy a home and live comfortably off that money since and could keep living off that money for a while if I had to. As soon as I’m up and running at the studio, I plan to put all the rest of the settlement money into an account for Jett so when he turns eighteen, he has options. Travel around the world, go to college, take up a trade, go balls-deep in a hobby—whatever it is, I want him to be able to do it.
“I can’t say I’m sad to see it go, but I do hope whatever you got from doing it, you find it in pottery again.”
I smile, and before I can get lost in the sweet sentiment from my dad, Jett squeaks, reminding me of the reason I called. “Hey, can you guys watch Jett for the next hour? So I can take the call? I can’t cancel now.” I don’t want to cancel. My twenty-two minutes a day with Beau are kind of my lifeblood right now.
“Bring that boy over, and let us keep him the whole day. Do something for yourself, sweetheart. I’m sure you can spare him for a day; just pack enough bottles.”