“I hear that shit,” I say. “Good to see you, man. You locking up the playground? We’ll get out of your hair if it’s closing time.”
Nick shakes his head. “Nah, it’s fine. If there are families here, I let them stay until class is out. I’ll lock up when the classroom buildings close for the night.” He looks at me and cocks his head. “I didn’t know you had a family, Vito. Congrats, man.”
“I wish I could take credit for her,” I laugh. “This is Juniper, my uh…girlfriend’s daughter.” I jerk a thumb behind me even though the instructional center is quite a ways away. “My girl’s visiting a class tonight. She’s thinking of enrolling.” I don’t know if Eden considers herself my girlfriend, but I’m a guy alone with a kid who isn’t mine, so saying anything else seems like asking for trouble.
If I’m honest, I’d be more than happy with that label for Eden.
Nick takes a few steps closer and then holds up a finger when there’s a crackle at the radio on his chest. He reports in to dispatch with his location and then returns to our conversation. “All good,” he says. “We had a teacher lose her phone and laptop, but she found it.” He grins. “Exciting work when the case solves itself.”
I chuckle, but since Nick doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere in a hurry, I decide to ask the question on my mind. “Hey, you mind if I ask you how it is? Going to school when you’re not, like, eighteen years old?”
Nick nods. “I got to be honest, I was scared shitless. I barely made it through high school. I passed, but I didn’t care about learning. Had no clue what I wanted to do with my life.” He shrugs. “This is an easy gig, but if I ever want to support a family, buy a house, I got to be okay with a little discomfort. You know?”
“Nah, I get it, man. You doing good now? Classes hard?”
Nick shakes his head. “It all depends on the teacher. Some are great. They really care about helping adult students succeed.”
I extend a hand to him and clap him on the shoulder. “You ever want to grab a meal at Benito’s, let me know. My treat.”
Nick grabs my number and saves it in his phone. “I’ll do that. You end up taking some classes, let me know. I’ll give you a campus tour.” He laughs and points to the playground. “Have fun, little lady. I’ll come back after class to lock up.”
Nick wanders off, answering yet another crackling call on his radio, so I wheel the stroller through the small fence and park it on the spongy rubberized ground that covers the play area.
“Do you want to go on the swing?” I kneel beside the stroller, and Juniper holds her arms out. But when I don’t move fast enough, she starts scrambling out of the stroller.
I grab her hand and swoop her up with a happy shout. She giggles and settles into my arms, and together, we walk over to the baby swing.
She slides into the swing seat without a problem, and I start slowly, giving her a few small pushes.
She delights in the movement, kicking her legs and looking back at me. “Yeah.” I cheer. “Is that fun, Junie? You like the swing?”
I have just given her another little push when my phone buzzes in my pocket. Thinking it might be Eden, I grab it and answer without checking who it is.
“How’d it go?”
“No clue what you’re talking about, bro.” My brother Franco sounds confused.
“Ah, dickhead, I expected somebody else. What’s up?” I tuck the phone against my cheek and push Juniper with one hand.
“I thought I’d see if you want to grab a drink at Benito’s. You’re off tonight, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m babysitting. Eden had a thing, so I’m at a park with Juniper.”
“Huh,” Franco grunts. “You getting tied down finally?”
It’s the word finally that has me shaking my head. “Fuck, man, you’ll never guess who we ran into tonight.”
I explain everything to Franco and leave nothing out.
“Well, that’s freaking fucked up. Did Eden bail?” he asks.
I roll my eyes at the big brotherly support. “She went into class, so she didn’t bail on school. Or do you mean bail on me?”
Franco is quiet for a minute, as if he just, for the first time, heard what he said and how it sounded. “Fuck, sorry. That’s not what I meant. How did you feel seeing Michelle? Did she look as good as ever?”
I chuckle. “Yeah, of course. Michelle could wear a paper bag, and she’d be hot as hell.”
“And?” Franco presses.
