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“Oh yeah, you know how it is,” she sighs absentmindedly. “They make some clever comments about a lady foreman, then I beat their asses into shape, then we are all best friends. The usual.”
“I don’t know what I would do without you, Wanda,” I say, smiling.
“I don’t know what you would do without me either, Penny. But since there is nothing else to do in this godforsaken town, you have my undivided attention.”
“Aw, still? We can go try that club on the north side. By the college…”
“Already tried it!” she huffs. “Seriously, where are they hiding the lesbians? It’s a goddamn college town! I’m going to have to try Tinder! I do know how racist those apps are!”
“Jeez, I’m sorry. That really does suck.”
“Yeah, whatever,” she says, distracted. “What about you? Have you and Clay found a happy medium? Somewhere between enemies and married?”
I cringe, slowing into a left turn.
“No. I think we settled back into a purely platonic lifestyle. After the… incident… I think it’s better if I just leave it all alone.”
“You could just bone,” she suggests helpfully. “Maybe if you didn’t have all that lust backing up into your brain you can think more clearly?”
“I don’t think that would help, Wanda.”
“It would totally help,” she counters. “That’s science.”
“I think things are fine just the way they are! Backed up and everything!”
“Maybe you should get on Tinder,” she muses. “You could probably get the same benefit by having sex with someone else, you know what I mean?”
“Okay, Wanda, I’m
getting another call…”
“It’s science, Penny! It’s for your own good!”
“Seriously. It’s Ethan’s school... I gotta go.”
Carefully, with one eye on the road, I poke the face of my cell phone until the other call connects. I’m not above lying to get out of a conversation with Wanda, but I really do have another call.
“Penelope Gable?” the voice says on the other end of the line, with an unmistakable tone of terseness.
Instantly I feel sick as my intuition is confirmed: Ethan got into an argument with another boy at school. The boy pushed him. It wasn’t a staircase this time.
Luckily, I’m not that far from the school. Also luckily, Ethan is not badly hurt. It’s really just a scrape on the back of his arm. But his pride is deeply wounded, I can tell.
We drive in silence for quite a while. I know I should just give him all the space he wants, but I ache to help him. I really believe that I have the power to do that. I mean, I gave birth to him. That was fairly superhuman. Who knows what other superpowers I have?
But he is not into it. He answers me in single syllables, his arms wrapped tightly around his middle, his gaze trained stubbornly at the horizon.
While we pull into the driveway, he barely waits for the car to come to a stop before leaping out the passenger door and practically running into the house.
Clay looks surprised when I see him in the foyer.
“Is he okay?” Clay asks gently. “He tore through here like his ass was on fire.”
“More like his pride, I think,” I answer. “He just… I don’t even know. How is this happening? How is he being targeted? Ugh… Let me back up. A kid at school’s picking on him, and pushed him today.”
Clay’s features darken with concern. “Wow, really? Is he okay?”
“Well, yeah. Physically, I mean. But the thing is, this used to happen all the time. Coming here was supposed to be a fresh start. Is this what it’s like everywhere? Is he doing something to make this happen?”
