HARDCORE: Storm MC(154)
“Are you gonna let her take the kid?”
“Hell no.”
“You know she’s not gonna leave without her.”
That gave me an idea. “You’re right. She won’t leave without her.” A smile spread over my face.
“What’s that mean?”
“What’s what mean?”
“I know that smile.” I glanced over at him, and I saw through his goatee that he was frowning.
“Nothing. I just know what to do now.” I opened the door to the office, going back out to the lounge. The girls and Gigi still played their game, just about at the end of it by then.
“Candy Land is a fun game, but it sure does take forever to play sometimes.” Erica rolled her eyes at me, still smiling like she was having fun. I laughed.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Gigi didn’t seem to care. She was having a great time. I couldn’t help smiling at her. She was a smart kid—I had the feeling she could handle games much harder than Candy Land. She had a sort of real wisdom, too. She rolled with the punches. Like when she met my guys, she didn’t flinch. Once she got over missing home and being scared, she treated life at the clubhouse like it was no big deal. I sort of admired her for that.
“Maybe when you’re finished, you can play a game with Miss Jamie. Give Traci and Erica a break.” The girls look grateful.
“Yeah, Miss Jamie! You wanna play?”
“Sure.” She smiled at Gigi, but glared at me. She was pissed that I wasn’t letting her take the kid home with her. Who did she think she was, trying to tell me what to do with my own kid?
Okay, I thought. So she knows her better than I do. She was her teacher all year long. So what, though? I was her father. Nobody would listen to a teacher over a parent. Maybe if the parent was abusive or something, but I hadn’t put a hand on Gigi. No, she had nothing to go on.
Traci and Erica jumped up when the game ended. “Okay, your turn!” Gigi smiled at Jamie.
“You wanna play, too?” Jamie asked, looking up at me. Challenging me.
“No, thanks. I’ll sit and watch, though.” I noticed the way Gigi tensed up a little when I sat down. She wasn’t comfortable with me yet. Jamie saw it, too.
“You okay, kiddo?”
“Yes, I’m okay.” She relaxed, and the game started. Jamie kept a closer eye on us after that. She was trying to find a way to get my kid out of there. No way I would let that happen. It was her versus me at that point. She would find I wasn’t easy to beat.
“Where do you live, Miss Jamie?”
Jamie looked at me, eyes narrow. I smiled.
“Yeah, Miss Jamie. Where do you live?” Gigi asked. “Do you have a house? Do you have a dog?”
She smiled at Gigi. “No, sweetie, I don’t have a dog. Or a cat, or anything. It’s just me.”
“Just you? All alone?” I asked, innocent.
“Yes.” She smiled through clenched teeth. “All alone. Just me.”
“No roommates?”
“No roommates.”
“That’s interesting.” I left it at that for a while as they played. Good. She didn’t even have a pet to bitch about when I told her my idea.
“Do you live far away?” I asked.
“Sort of,” she admitted. “Riverview Terrace.”
I should have known—the nicest part of town. Even Gigi knew that. Her eyes went round.
“I thought rich people lived there!” She looked shocked. I had to laugh a little, and so did Jamie.
“I’m not rich, sweetie.”
“But you can’t afford that on a teacher’s salary either,” I pointed out.
“That’s none of your business,” she replied icily.
“Rich parents?”
“I said it’s none of your business.” She took a turn, then let Gigi take hers.
“Rich parents,” I decided. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, you want to take people to your house, it’s good to have a nice house to take them to.”
She looked at me and I saw hope in her eyes. She thought I meant I was letting her take Gigi. She was wrong, of course. I would let her keep thinking it, though.
“You don’t have one of those side jobs, do you? You know, the way some teachers do? Not if you live at Riverview Terrace.”
She raised one eyebrow over her clear, sparkling eyes. “No. I don’t.”
“Right, I forgot. Your parents are loaded.”
“Were.” The word dropped like a bomb. Even Gigi looked at her, surprised at the way her tone of voice changed. I went quiet for a minute.