Wrong Place, Right Time(55)

Lucky barks out a laugh and then leans back in his chair. “The only young boy I’ve been around is Dev’s son, but I get what you mean. I’ve seen that curiosity in action many times. The kid’s like a dog with a bone sometimes.”

I’m completely curious right now about Dev’s son and Dev’s relationship with him, but now is not the time to delve into that. I can’t interrogate Lucky about another man’s child when that man isn’t here. It just seems too sneaky. Too devious. My curiosity is just going to have to take a backseat to propriety. Seeking a distraction, I gesture at the file.

“Do you want me to look through that? Is there anything in there that applies to what I’ll be doing?”

“Sure. Take a look.” He slides the file down the table to me. “I’m not sure a lot of it will apply, but you’re welcome to it.”

I check my phone again—still no response from May—and open the file. I make an attempt at scanning the papers inside, but my mind really isn’t on the task. I keep thinking about Dev and his son, and the fact that his child sounds a lot like mine. I wonder why, when I mentioned getting them together, Dev seemed so against the idea. I wonder if his son likes McDonald’s as much as Sammy does. I’ve promised my boy a trip there, so I know what I’ll be eating for lunch. I can plan on a stomachache after, too. I should probably stop by the drugstore and buy some Alka-Seltzer on my way home.

“I can make a copy of the file for you if you prefer.”

I snap out of my trance at the sound of Lucky’s voice. “Sorry? I’m a little distracted.”

He smiles. “I got that. Don’t worry about it.”

“Is it that obvious? Dang. I’m going to have to work on my stealth mode, I guess.” I shrug, feeling like I need to explain myself. “I’m really sorry. Seriously. I woke up today to my boss telling me I’d been laid off. It was a bit of a shock.”

“Your sister mentioned something about that. She told us that you were really dedicated to your job there, and that she thinks your being let go had something to do with you having kids.”

I shrug. “There’s no way for me to know for sure, but I have called in sick several times. I don’t ever do it for myself; whenever I’m ill, I just work through it and keep to myself so no one catches my cooties. When it’s my kids, though, I don’t have any other choice but to stay home. The daycare won’t take them when they’re sick, and I get that. Nobody wants someone’s kid making their kid sick. That’s not cool.”

“Of course. And anybody who would fire a person for being a good parent to their kids doesn’t deserve to be operating.” His mood has gone a little dark. “When it comes to family, you don’t need to worry about that garbage here. It would never happen. Dev has a son, I have Sunny. Everybody understands those commitments.”

Because he seems serious, I can’t laugh. But inside I’m chuckling. He talks about his fish like it’s his child. I want to ask him how long goldfish live, because if he’s this attached I’m worried for him. In my experience they don’t last more than six months, and I’m afraid when those six months are up for Sunny, Lucky’s not going to do very well with it. Is he crazy? I’m starting to think everybody here has at least one screw loose. The only one who seems completely sane is Thibault, but I’m not going to bet any money on that. I’m sure he has issues. We all do. I guess I fit in here more than I realized.

“Mommy, I’m bored.”

I look over the table toward the dog bed. Sammy is leaning against Sahara with both of his arms extended over her back. His right hand is flipping one of her ears back and forth, and his left one is poking Felix in the forehead, over and over. Felix’s eyes are half closed, and he’s swaying a little in a half-seated position. It’s possible Sammy has managed to hypnotize the poor dog with the finger poking.

I look at Lucky. “Do you need me for anything else? I mean, after we figure out what our schedule is for going to the site?” I check my phone one more time for May’s answer, but there’s no response yet. I’m going to give her a piece of my mind for ignoring me. Another Sister Code violation.

Lucky shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so. I’ll have a copy of the file delivered to you in the next few hours, so you can take a look at it this afternoon. Write down any concerns you have, and we can discuss them next time we’re together. Be sure to keep track of your hours, because Ozzie will want to pay you for the work you’re putting in.”