She gives a wide-eyed look. “Of course not. I’m his mother. A mother scolding or bossing her son emasculates him.”
I nearly choke on my own shock and appall. Swallowing hard, I close my eyes, wishing myself out of this situation. I’m not the right person for this job. “Can I ask him to come out of there?” I ask.
“Sweetie,” she calls in a cajoling tone. “Would you like to come out and have a snack?”
“No,” Aiden yells as he crawls further under the house.
She grits her teeth in a forced smile. “I really don’t want him to get close to that cat. Who knows what diseases it has?”
“Can I insist he comes out so I can work?” I ask.
She tilts her head to the side, confused. “Of course not. Only a man can tell him what to do. That’s why we homeschool him. Too many of the teachers in the public schools here are women.”
I’m not sure how she teaches him anything if she can’t scold or boss him. Maybe the husband does the homeschooling? Seems like that would be a weekend-only thing, since it’s a weekday and he’s not home with his wife and son.
There’s probably a nice, polite way to handle this situation, but I can’t come up with even one. “Aiden,” I call. “Get out of the crawl space so I can get that animal.”
Next to me, Mrs. Simms gasps. “You can’t—”
“It’s a kitten,” he yells without moving. “Not some animal.”
“Okay, then,” I say. “I guess I’ll be going.” I’m not going anywhere, because I’m not going to live with that animal on my conscience if Mr. Simms gets home and shoots it. But, as the mother of a four-year-old, I know a thing or two about manipulating kids.
“What?” Mrs. Simms says, her eyes going hazy with tears. “You can’t leave.”
I’ve reached the end of my patience, and it’s never very long to begin with. “I don’t get paid to stand around and not do my job, Mrs. Simms. Procedure is to leave a trap, but you’ve said you don’t want that. I was willing to break that rule for this special circumstance, but until you remove your child from the crawl space, I can’t do that either. If you change your mind, you’re welcome to call my office and request someone else to come out. Maybe a man you’ll allow to scold your son.”
I stalk toward my truck as Mrs. Simms sputters in shock and anger behind me. There’s no sound from her child, so I slow my stride to give him time to rethink his behavior.
“Aiden,” Mrs. Simms says in a beseeching tone. “Don’t you want to come out and let this nice woman help the kitten? She’s going to leave if you don’t.”
“She can’t leave,” he screeches. “I’m the man of the house, and I haven’t said she can.”
My stomach roils with horror at the man this boy is being raised to become. I’m definitely going to have to warn Harper about these sorts of boys and men when she’s old enough. “Sorry, kid,” I say. “I work for the county, not for you.”
“You can’t talk to my son that way,” Mrs. Simms says, her voice raised for the first time since I met her thirty minutes ago.
“Okay,” I say. “I’m heading out, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Come back,” the kid yells. “I don’t want Dad to kill the kitty.”
Thankfully, when I turn around, the kid is scooting backward out of the crawl space. Gripping the cat carrier tight in one hand, I hurry over before he changes his mind.
I lay in the grass on my stomach and shine my flashlight into the darkness. Two bright eyes shine at me from the farthest corner. The animal doesn’t hiss or move. My heart aches for the poor little thing, alone and scared and probably hungry.
There’s no way that animal is leaving the safety of the crawl space, and I really don’t want to go in there without knowing exactly what it is. Unfortunately, there’s no other option.
No animals die on my watch, darn it.
I get up, pull on the thickest gloves I have, and get back down on the ground.
“Do you see him?” The little boy is on his knees next to me, peering under the porch.
“Yes,” I say, doing my best to keep the annoyance out of my voice. “I need you to go stand next to your mother, okay?” I glance over my shoulder at the mother, who’s frowning at me like I just told her kid Santa isn’t real. “It would be best if you both waited on the porch.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “Aiden wants to see the kitten. Stop telling him what to do.”
I manage to turn my face away before I roll my eyes. People. Ugh.
