“You look so nice tonight, Dad. I love that shirt.” Jewel pulled out her phone. “Can I take a picture of both of you by the pond here?”
CT was always a good one for photos. Honey not so much. But she held to his arm, forcing a smile while Jewel took several shots. “Thanks,” she told her daughter. “If they’re any good, send them to me.”
Honey visited a bit more with CT, talking about the fish and wondering how many lived there. Then, finally, with him somewhat calmed and comfortably seated on the bench by the pond, she considered returning to her conversation with Donna. But unsure about leaving CT unsupervised, she waved tentatively to Jewel, who gave a nod of assurance followed by a thumbs-up. Consoled that Jewel could keep an eye on CT while he was preoccupied with fish counting, Honey patted him on the shoulder, then slipped back into the house. But she had a feeling her time here, though enjoyable, was limited. Might as well make the best of it.
19
Honey
Only minutes later, Honey heard the unmistakable sound of CT making a big fuss about something. “Excuse me,” she told Donna with a slight roll of her eyes. “I’m afraid I’ll need to take my husband home.”
“Oh, Honey.” Donna patted her shoulder. “I understand.” Then as Honey hurried away, Donna held up her hand like a phone and mouthed “call me.”
Promising herself she would, Honey rushed outside to discover CT over by the barbecue area now. This time, he was shaking a fist at Miguel and yelling. “You thief! I won’t eat poisoned food.”
“Daaad!” Jewel yelled at him. “Calm down.”
“I won’t!” CT shouted back at her. “I won’t eat poison.”
“I already told you there’s no poison!” Jewel shouted back. “You’re imagining things.”
“Poison!” he yelled loudly enough to get the attention of everyone on the property.
“CT,” Honey said as calmly as she could. “Let’s go.”
“Yes!” He continued to glare at Miguel. “I won’t eat his poison.”
“Miguel isn’t poisoning anything,” Honey replied. “Let’s go, CT. Now.” She spoke louder now, even though she knew volume never helped. Her cheeks were burning with embarrassment,and she felt blood rushing up her neck. This was not good for her blood pressure. She knew it. And yet, what could she do?
CT reached for a knife and waved it threateningly.
“Put that down,” she told him with all the authority she could muster. “Now!” Then she actually slugged him in the arm. “I mean it, CT. Put that down!”
To her relief, he set down the knife and turned to her with a gaping mouth. “Huh?”
“We’re going home.” She grabbed his arm and shoved him toward the side yard. “This way. Let’s go now.” Without giving him opportunity to respond or balk, she tugged, pulled, and shoved him through the yard and around to the driveway. But by the time they reached the car, she was boiling mad. “I can’t believe you,” she muttered as she got into the driver’s seat.
“Huh?” He slowly got in on the other side, huffing and puffing as he maneuvered his feet inside. “Honey?”
“I’m so mad.” She started the engine.
“Mad?” He looked at her with that innocent little boy expression. She knew it was genuine, that he really didn’t know what he’d done wrong, but she still felt angry.
“You behaved terribly,” she scolded. “Miguel would never poison anyone!”
She watched his expression change—going from the wounded boy to the angry man—and she regretted mentioning Miguel’s name. “Oh, forget it,” she said as she backed out. “Never mind.”
“Miguel is a thief,” CT growled. “He put poison in our food.”
“No, he did not,” she whispered, driving too fast down the driveway and feeling bad for the dust cloud she was leaving behind them. Fortunately, what little breeze was blowing pushed it away from the house.
“He did!” CT’s voice grew louder. “He put poison in our food.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She had just slowed down to turn onto their road when CT opened the door and started to get out.
“Stop that,” she yelled, but he wasn’t listening. With one footdragging in the gravel, she knew he could fall out, so she stopped and threw her hands in the air. “Fine.” She shook her head. “You want out? Get out. I don’t care!”
He gave her a questioning look and then, with a defiant expression, he climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut. And truly not caring, she drove home. Their house was easily visible from here. Perhaps a walk would do him good, and it would give her time to cool off. She needed to cool off. She hated to imagine what her blood pressure might be reading right now. She could feel a throbbing sensation high in her chest, and her ears were ringing. She needed to calm down.
