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Hudson drove June to school the next day. I had joined in on the ride so as to know where her school was and how to get there. It wasn’t so far away from the house, but I assumed it was farther from his workplace.
As soon as he dropped her off, he handed me some money and a piece of paper.
“I’ll be picking her up myself today and probably for the rest of the week. So you don’t have to worry about that. If I finish early, I’ll bring her straight home. But if I don’t, I’ll take her to the office with me, and we’ll return to the house much later. You do have an email address, right?”
“Yes, I have one,” I replied reluctantly, wondering why we were having this conversation with the car still parked and not while driving me home.
“Great then. Text it to me now. My number’s on the piece of paper in your hand.” His number was indeed written on the paper, but it wasn’t the only detail it contained.
“I’ll send you June’s daily schedule so you can familiarize yourself with it and preferably memorize it so there are no mistakes. She can’t afford to skip any activity on that list.” He paused for a while as if he were trying to ensure he missed nothing.
“Oh, and there’s siesta time for her, so you can get to do that too, as I’ve noticed it’s something you’re really good at,” he added.
I didn’t know how to react to this. I faked a smile, just to be polite. “I’m truly sorry about that, sir. I—”
“You can get down now. I have to get to work. Take a cab home. That should cover the cost. And just in case you haven’t memorized the address yet, it’s in the paper as well.”
So that was what the address was for. He watched and waited for me to get out of the car. Then, he shut the door and drove off at full speed. I stood there in shock for a moment, wondering why a man who hadn’t been to work in almost a year would be so scared that he couldn’t find time to drive me home before leaving. After all, he wasn’t facing any inquiries, and the establishment was solely his. He literally had veto power.
I found my way home eventually and kept busy with my phone. I got a notification soon after; he had forwarded the schedule to me. I went through it carefully. He had every hour of her day well planned out and accounted for. He made sure not to neglect giving her ample play and rest time as well.
He got back early with June and went straight into his room to shower. I helped June take off her school wear and ran the little girl a bath.
They had lunch right after and sat down to a game of Heads Up—one individual would place a card on his forehead, and the people sitting would try to convey what was written on the card by making bodily motions and gestures or pointing at things. The individual had to correctly guess the object they were trying to describe, or they would fail the round.
I smiled as I walked by, seeing how much June enjoyed the game. She had the card on her forehead this time.
“Madison, can you describe what’s on my head?” June asked.
I stopped short, then hesitated for a while, turning to look at Hudson to see if he approved.
“I thought I was doing it all right this time,” Hudson said.
“No, you’re not good with the gestures. It’s hard to tell what you’re trying to describe,” June replied.
I chuckled lightly, then stopped as soon as I felt Hudson’s eyes rest on me.
“Baby, you’re not being fair to me right now, you know,” Hudson interjected.
“But it’s true. Okay, for example, you simply just held your hands up to signify victory,” June continued.
“Okay? How’s that wrong?” Hudson asked.
“That could mean a lot of things. It could mean surrender, worship, a signal, or literally hands up,” June explained.
“But that’s how I would react when I land a big gig,” Hudson countered.
Like you react like every normal person does, I echoed in my head, turning around to secretly roll my eyes so I don’t get fired pronto.
“You’ve got to show excitement, Dad. It seemed more like you were trying to yawn. I would like to win some, too.”
“All right, let me try.” I went ahead and joined in without waiting to get an approval signal from Hudson. I walked to where he sat and sat down beside him. He readjusted in his seat and tried even harder to maintain his composure.
The word on her forehead was “help.” I placed myself in different positions of pain and reached out to her with my hands.
“You’re in pain. Pain?”
I nodded and shook my head at the same time, signifying that she was close. I got on the floor and dragged myself on it while still trying to reach out to her.
