Caleb was home from camp, and with the new school year approaching, Delaney and Nate had hired him a tutor. It was a warm Thursday afternoon, my first day off in a few weeks, so I took the opportunity to clean the apartment. All the windows were open and a fresh air breezed through the house. Caleb sat on the deck, and Stephanie, his tutor, sat next to him as he busied himself with his workbook. From my apartment I could see that Delaney was busy on the phone with what I assumed was work related business. The kitchen window and sliding glass door were open in the event Stephanie needed her.
I tuned everything out and pulled out the bleach that I planned to use in the bathroom. A few hours later, I was finishing up the kitchen when the screaming began. Chills ran up my spine as Delaney's voice bellowed through my house.
“What's so difficult? It's fractions, Caleb!” Quickly, I rushed to the window. Peeking from the corner, I saw that Delaney was pacing the kitchen, shouting at the top of her lungs while poor Caleb kept his head down on the kitchen table. “I spent all this money on a tutor and yet somehow I'm still stuck with the stupid kid.”
I gasped at her remark and sank to the floor, hugging my knees as I prayed for it to stop. I wanted to run down and save him, but she was his mother.
“Your father is going to hear about this. No more TV or iPad for you.”
I jumped at the sound of gravel shifting on the ground below. I peeped out the window and spotted Nate exiting his car.
“Do you want to be the stupid kid in your class?” Delaney continued, oblivious that Nate was walking up the deck. I should have closed the windows and minded my own business, but I couldn't walk away, and my hands refused to close the glass.
The screen door slid on the track as Nate opened it further, followed by his harsh voice. “What's going on?”
“What's going on?” Delaney mocked. “What else would be going on. He's an imbecile.”
My hands rushed to my gaping mouth. Never had I imagined Delaney would be so cruel.
“Del, that's enough.” I didn’t need to see him to know that his hands were clenched at his sides. “Caleb, go to your room. I'll call you when it's time for dinner.”
You could hear a pin drop in the apartment as I waited for Caleb to get upstairs. A door slammed shut, and I jumped with fear.
Nate’s voice was crisp. “What have I told you about the way you speak with him?”
“He's my child too, Nate,” Delaney complained. “You think it's so easy, but you're always the good parent. He listens to you, and he makes my life a living hell.”
“Delaney, he's a child.”
“Bullshit!” She slammed her hand on a hard surface. “He's lazy, and he knows you'll cover for him. That's why he doesn’t pay attention to anything.”
“Then I'll get him a new tutor,” Nate barked. “I wasn't the best when it came to math, either.”
“Apparently, you aren’t the best at a lot of things,” Delaney said snidely, and immediately, I wanted to know what she was referring to.
“Fuck, Del!” Nate growled. “I’ve given you everything you wanted. I stood by your side when your parents bailed on you. I made an honest woman of you when you knocked on my door pregnant. When you wanted that boutique, I helped you build it. I built this goddamn fucking house for you. You had nannies left and right helping you raise Caleb. You send him to camp for the majority of the summer because you don't want to deal with your own child. And I've never questioned you as a mother. Ever.”
I’d never heard this side of Nate before. His anger had me crouched in a corner, petrified to move.
“So when I say enough—that I've had it with the way you’re treating my son—I mean fucking enough. Going forward, you are not to speak to him that way, do you understand me?”
“You make it seem so easy. Like I’m the malicious bitch.”
“It's not about being easy, Del.” His voice softened. “Children aren't easy. Raising a kid isn't a walk in the park, but goddamn it, we're doing the best we can. So what if he can't figure out fractions? He's a good kid, and you calling him stupid doesn’t help his confidence.”
“He runs my patience thin.”
“Fine. Going forward, I'll study with him.”
Delaney laughed. “Of course you’ll study with him. Here comes Dad to save the day.”
“What do you want, then? You're never happy. Tomorrow I'll leave work early so I'm here when Stephanie gets here.”
“I fired her.”
“Of course you did.”
“Whatever, Nate.” She stomped across the hardwood floors. “You figure it out.”