Shay smiled at us and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m good with the bread. Thanks.” She glanced back at her friends, who were very busy pretending they weren’t listening. “We’re going to walk around. See what’s here.” To Gennie, she added, “I’ll see you Monday. I’ve got a bunch of cool shipwreck stories for us.”
Gennie and I watched from behind the table as they strolled through the park, stopping occasionally to visit vendors or fall into conversation. Lillian returned, and she and Gennie were busy with a late surge of customers.
Shay and her friends left the market shortly before closing time. We usually stayed open as long as we had goods to sell and people were still buying but it was hot and humid, and a dense mass of clouds was moving in, the sure sign of an impending thunderstorm.
“Let’s pack it up, Lill,” I said.
It was quick work since we’d cleared almost all of our stock, and Lillian and I got the tent and table folded up just as the first rumbles of thunder started.
Once Lillian had met up with her boyfriend, Gennie and I settled into the truck. As casually as I could manage, I said, “You know, Shay’s birthday is next month.”
From the back seat came an unhinged screech of “What!”
“Yeah, later in the month. After school starts.”
“Ugh. Fucking school.”
I glanced at her in the rearview. “I have a job for you. A secret task, actually.”
“Is it about Shay’s birthday?”
“Yes.”
“Good, because I don’t want any stupid school jobs.” She crossed her arms and pouted.
“What do you think about having a birthday dinner for her? Maybe after one of your playdates?
“I love it,” she said. “Do we have any juice?”
I tossed her the lunch box she’d ignored all morning. “I need you to get some information from Shay but you have to use all your pirate skills to do it. She can’t know that we’re planning a birthday party for her.”
I heard her slurp a juice box. “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“Right. You need to find out her favorite special meal and get some ideas for a gift.”
God knew I couldn’t keep forcing bread upon her. I could but that move was already obvious. If Shay didn’t know it, her friends were sure to explain it any minute now.
“I can do it,” Gennie replied.
“I know you can.” I glanced back at her again, juice box straw clamped between her teeth and her head resting on the seat belt.
In this single moment as fat raindrops slapped against the windshield, Gennie and I understood each other. More than that, we knew we were on the same team.
It gave me a strange jolt of confidence, as if I could make it through this parenting thing without losing my mind. At the very least, I could conspire with my niece—and that was enough for me today.
chaptereleven
Shay
Students will be able to kick up their heels and lose their minds.
The final daysof summer break always followed a similar pattern for me. I’d expected this year to be different since I didn’t have a roster of new students to meet or a curriculum to prepare. But that all changed first thing Monday morning, before I’d wandered through the old tulip beds or treated myself to coffee and cookies, when Friendship Public Schools called regarding a long-term subbing assignment. One of the second grade teachers had elected to extend her parental leave and would I mind visiting with the principal that morning for an interview?
I’d paused long enough for them to ask if I was still on the line. Then I said to myself—not the school secretary, thank god—fuck it.
That was it. Fuck it.
A long-term gig wasn’t the plan and it changed everything I’d mentally prepared for but fuck it. Fuck the plan. Fuck the mental preparation. Fuck everything because believing I had any control over my life was an exercise in comedy.
