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When Max flat out refuses to cooperate, the grandmother becomes irate. “Tell me something. Why would a single, grown man want to take someone’s baby? I cannot believe the system would allow that. And a violent man at that.”
May looks up and rolls her eyes. I look at her and remember my court-ordered counseling. “May, I’m not going to engage, but you’re welcome to explain it.”
May sighs heavily. “The DA dropped the assault charges against Mr. Cole for the first time offense. As to your other question, I’m not going to postulate.”
“Somebody’s in somebody’s pocket,” the grandmother says. “Break my boyfriend’s nose and then come out smelling like a rose and take our baby on top of it. I tell you, someone is getting paid off. And god knows what that weirdo is doing with my Max.”
I’m ready to put my fist through a wall. May sees the look on my face and speaks up.
“Tammy, as long as you are meeting the conditions laid out for you, you will eventually be reunited with Max. It says here you attended a parenting class and counseling. That’s good. Let’s focus on your goals and not on Mr. Cole, OK? Why don’t you ask Max what he’s been up to since you last saw him?”
May tries, I try, but nothing improves for the rest of the visit. In fact, it only gets worse. The woman accuses me of terrible things I can’t possibly fathom. I can’t believe the things some people will talk about in front of kids.
This is why I’m such an asshole. Other adults have made me into the asshole I am today. Adults like this one. And then she shows her ass.
“Earl told me you had an overnight visitor last night. He watched her go in and then leave in the morning. He saw everything,” she spits out.
I expect May to turn on me because, technically, Max is not supposed to be in the same place as overnight visitors who are not vetted by the DSS.
I admit to May, “Max was at a sleepover with Barry, who is an approved foster respite volunteer.” To Tammy, who I’m not supposed to address, I ask, “Did Earl tell you that?”
She scowls at me, but then May rounds on her. “Part of the conditions for you to regain custody of Max required that you not continue to reside with the abuser in this case. Has Earl moved out?”
“Yes,” Tammy says, defensively. “He moved out when your people carted him off to jail.”
“And how long after you posted bail did he move back in?”
She clams up. She knows we know she’s still involved with Max’s abuser.
The visit ends quickly after that, and although Max had next to no interaction with his grandmother, he acts out the rest of the evening and it takes all week long to “reset” his behavior. I can’t drop him off at school in the mornings without him crying.
The drama is so constant that I nearly forget about meeting with the set building crew at Greenbridge on Friday night.
22
Jewel
I’ve gathered up all the plans for the set building and have them spread out on the table on the stage where Vince and the rest of the crew are gathered after school on Friday.
“So, as you can see, the gazebo has to fold this way and turn into the bedroom for the ‘Favorite Things’ number, and these plans over here show you how the grand staircase turns around to become the hillside, which is quite useful for a whole lot of the scenes. It’s really very clever and we’re so lucky this all came with the kit I ordered…”
All the students are chattering and excitedly asking questions. Vince is glaring at me.
Well, that’s fine. We have plenty to talk about later.
I continue. “Hunter Rydell is sewing all the costumes but she will need some help. Fortunately, we won’t be sewing actual curtains into children’s clothing. Haha!” None of them finds this nearly as funny as I do.
After I think I have the crew all informed of the materials and schedules, I hop off to have another look at my cast list. I need to make sure I’ve made all the right decisions before I post it online.
I’ve cast Max as the second-youngest Von Trapp kid, hoping it will help him make friends and fit in here. I consider whether it’s favoritism, but remind myself I would do the same for any kid who was struggling because of his particular circumstances. I’m working on uploading the list to the school website via my laptop, but it’s not cooperating. Then I remember that the WiFi went down last night in a thunderstorm. I didn’t want to do it this way, but I’ll have to go pin it to the bulletin board, as everyone will be expecting to see it in the morning.
Vince tags along, leaving the building crew to their own devices when I ask him to join me.
“You’ve got about twelve kids working on sets. I don’t think you actually need me,” he grumbles.
“You’re essential to the work because you have nice strong shoulders,” I point out as I lead him down the hall.
“I do have nice strong shoulders.”
