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Damn, she hadn’t heard him wrong. “That’s um…it’s not a very nice word, buddy. Why do you ask?”
His mouth drew up tight. “I don’t know.”
“No, you must know why.” She flicked a glance in the rearview again. “Where did you hear that word?”
“At school?”
“Okay, who said it?”
“Luke.”
“Why’d he say it?” she pressed.
Max looked at his lap again. “He said I couldn’t play with them at lunch because my mom was a slut.”
What? She took a deep breath. “He said… He said what?” she stammered.
Max raised his head. When his eyes met hers in the mirror, they were filled with tears. He didn’t even know what the word meant, but he knew it was bad and he’d been excluded from playing because of it.
Max sniffed. “Luke said you were a gold-digging slut.”
Kia sucked in a breath. Wow. Hearing that come out of her son’s mouth was like a kick in the teeth. Even though she knew it wasn’t true, it still cut. Kids don’t come up with that kind of thing out of nowhere. Obviously, Luke had heard it from somewhere. His parents probably. But what the hell kind of person said something like that in the first place, let alone in front of a child?
She glanced in the rearview mirror as Max wiped his nose on his sleeve. God, this was not a conversation she wanted to have. “Um, well, that’s not very nice to say about anyone. I’m sorry they didn’t want to let you play with them today. That must have hurt.”
Max nodded. “Why’d he call you that?”
“I don’t know, honey.” Because his parents were assholes, probably.
Max sniffed again. “What’s a gold-digging slut?”
Kia exhaled audibly. How the hell was she supposed to answer that? How was she supposed to explain to her five-year-old son what a gold-digging slut was? “Well. honey, I’m not one.”
“That’s what Layla said,” Max muttered.
Fantastic and now her nieces and nephew knew that’s what people were saying about her.
Max met her eyes in the mirror. “Layla said Luke was stupid, but she didn’t tell me what it meant. She said ask you.”
Awesome. “Well, a gold digger is someone who typically dates somebody for money.”
Max’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Why would he say that you were that?”
“I don’t know, honey, people can be mean sometimes.”
Max just looked at her, confused. God, he was so innocent. How was she supposed to discuss this? “Honey, I’m guessing he maybe said it because of who your dad is.” Oh God, she was not cut out for this. This was not a conversation she thought she’d be having today.
Max’s head cocked to the side again. “But why would he call you a gold digger because of dad?”
“Um…well, um…because your dad makes a good living playing baseball.”
“Don’t you make a good living?” Max asked.
Her heart warmed hearing him say that. Now that Max had seen where Jeff lived, she’d worried he’d compare what he had at her house to his dad’s place. But her innocent little man didn’t seem to get the reality of the situation yet.
“We do okay on what I make. You have some cool toys and a nice yard to play in.” She smiled. “There’s always good food to eat.”
“We have better snacks than Aunty Vika.”
