“I’ve had three kids. I think I know what to do.”
If she had paid the slightest bit of attention to us, she might know. But she didn’t. It was a miracle we all survived. It sure wasn’t because of her tender loving care.
“I have full custody of Josie. And I’m not giving her up. You can tell your lawyer to stop wasting his time.”
Josie chose that moment to pop her head up. “Mimi, need potty,” she said and tugged on my hand. Now of all times she decided she wanted to go use an actual toilet. And since it had been a struggle to get her to use the toilet I had to take her.
Mom pounced the second she saw her. There was no way anyone could refute she was Nate’s, having inherited his deep blue eyes and dimples.
She leaned down, the tight tank she was wearing straining to hold her boobs in place. Ugh, not a view I would want anyone to be subjected to. I resisted the urge to cover Josie’s eyes. She was too young for a peep show. “Hello pretty little thing. I’m your grandma.”
Oma had been silent throughout the exchange but when Anna bent down she stepped forward. “You should go Anna. She has no idea who you are and we both know as soon as the newness wears off you’ll discard her just like everything else. Let’s save everyone the trouble and go where the pepper grows. Or crack, in your case.”
And that’s why I could count on Oma. She always had our back.
Josie looked up at me, unsure. She had never met another relative other than Oma and Freddie.
I did not want to introduce them. No good would come of her being in Josie’s life. The only thing that came with Anna was heartbreak and devastation. She was selfish and cold-hearted.
I didn’t believe for a second that she wanted to take care of Josie. There had to be an ulterior motive. And I had to find out what that was before she destroyed Josie’s life.
“I’ll see you in court then,” I said, my voice clipped, my body rigid. I grasped Josie’s hand and she wiggled in my grip when my hand tightened. I shot her an apologetic look and released some of the tension.
The loud roar of the crowd halted our conversation. The football game had ended during our argument and people were coming down the stands. It worked in my favor and I quickly disappeared into the crowd, ignoring mom’s shouts. A look over my shoulder confirmed that Oma was blocking Anna’s way and not even Anna would be bold enough to push Oma out of the way.
“Let’s find you a bathroom,” I said and managed a half smile at Josie to reassure her that everything was okay. “Maybe we can have pizza for dinner tonight.”
“Pizza,” Josie exclaimed. She loved her food and anything unhealthy made it high onto her list of favorites. We went to the bathroom and made it back to the booth without incident. The evil witch had left, most likely getting bored at waiting for us to come back. After I made sure the coast was clear, I packed up all the hats, Oma and Josie waiting off to the side. Most people had now left the stadium and it was quiet except for the hum of the lights. Unfortunately, the crowd had witnessed the standoff earlier and the gossip mills would run wild. McAllister’s made great gossip.
I heard footsteps running down the walkway and looked up to see Freddie sprinting towards us. “Is she gone? What did she want? Is she going to take Josie away from us? Do I have to go back? What are we going to do?”
“Freddie,” I hissed and inclined my head towards a wide-eyed Josie.
“Shit, sorry,” she said and dropped down to her knees in front of Josie. “Hey little bean, you gonna help me decorate my backpack this weekend? I was thinking of lots of glitter and I even got some glow in the dark glue.”
Josie being her big-hearted, not a worry in the world self, immediately jumped at the opportunity to not only help her auntie but also at the thought of using glitter, enthusiastically nodding her head, her hair flying everywhere.
“We’ll talk later,” I said and squeezed Freddie’s shoulder as I walked past.
Jerry was supposed to be here with his truck to load the boxes, but he was nowhere in sight. “Why don’t you guys go home and I’ll get the bus. Jerry should be here soon.” I held out my keys.
“Those who are late will get punished by life,” Oma said, earning puzzled looks from Freddie and I. Noting our confusion, she smiled. “We’ll wait with you. Safer that way.”
“For who? You or me?” I said and had to work hard to suppress the laugh bubbling up.
“I’m a great driver,” Freddie defended herself. “None of the accidents were my fault.”
“So the tree just moved by itself?”
“Exactly. Totally not my fault. We should have reported it to the Ranger. I can see the headline in the paper,rogue tree strikes again.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t respond. Freddie’s driving skills were a topic of contention. I practiced with her to make sure she’d pass her test but so far I had my doubts.
“I’ll call Jerry to see how far off he is.”
Turned out, I didn’t have to since he came walking towards us as I was about to pull my phone out. We loaded the boxes up, barely fitting them in.
“Did you sell any hats at all?” he asked and I poked my tongue out at him.
“Hey,” I defended myself, “I sold one hat to Mrs. Whitaker.”
“She is legally blind,” he deadpanned.
“I tried my best. Scouts honor.”
He grunted in answer and got back in his car. We both knew I’d have to face the committee soon enough, no point in telling me off now. They would do a thorough job. I regretted the day I ever agreed to be a member. But Oma was pushing me to get more involved in the community, since she deemed me antisocial. She offered me food if I promised to give it a go. Nobody has ever said no to food from Oma. That was a year ago and I had been trying to get out of it ever since.
“Let’s go, girls, I’m starving,” I said, taking Josie’s hand, Freddie taking the other side so we could swing her in between us. Her giggles made us forget the past few hours, her shrieks of delight when we threw her up were the best part of my day.
