Payslee was in a glass-enclosed room. There was a table with a sad little basket of toys on it.
"Well hello, Henry," she said when I walked in carrying him. Henry ignored her, tensing in my arms. "I haven't seen you in years," Henry's mother said. "Didn't you miss your mama?" I set Henry on the floor. Archer was pacing outside the glass-enclosed room.
"Come here, Henry." Payslee's voice had that angry edge that all of my father's wives ended up developing, the outcome of too many ill-behaved boys, too little money, and not enough time, energy, or resources to go around. "Henry, your mama is talking to you," she yelled. "Why don't you come and tell me how your day was?"
I clenched my fist. Henry shrank from Payslee.
"Don't you ignore me, boy!" Payslee raised up her hand like she was about to hit him.
"That's it!" the social worker said, throwing open the door. "This is a supervised visit. You do understand that, Payslee, correct? This is all being videotaped."
The tension in the room sent Henry over the edge, and he started screaming like someone had set his favorite toy on fire.
"We have to end the supervised visit for Henry's safety," the social worked informed me, ushering Henry and me out of the room.
"Of course," I said smoothly, but inside I was relived. This was one more mark against Payslee.
"Surely the judge will see she is unfit," I said to Archer while Henry screamed in my arms.
Archer winced. "He's almost purple. Are you sure he's okay?"
"He's just stressed," I answered. "He was up all night."
We watched as Payslee stomped out.
"That'smyson," she yelled at us as she left. "I will have him back!"
"I just don't understand why she wants him back so bad," I remarked to the social worker.
"Probably money," she replied, sounding disgusted. "But I'm requesting that she takes some parenting and anger-management classes before another visit with Henry."
Another reprieve.
"You know, there are people who genuinely want to be better parents," the social worker said. "And then there are people like her. I'm just mad we're wasting resources on her when they could be better used helping someone else."
"On that note," Archer said to me, "I'll see you in New York."
"Are you coming to the conference?" I asked him as we walked out the door.
"A good chunk of my hotels are booked solid for conferencegoers," he told me. "Of course I'll be there."
"Schmoosing and boozing," I said, slipping on my sunglasses.
"You'll have so much fun you'll want to move back to Manhattan," Archer said.
"I don't know. It's a little hectic for me. I like a slower pace," I said.
"You are so old," Archer said, adjusting my tie from where Henry had yanked on it. Now that we were out in the sunshine, my little brother had started to calm down.
"You want to go to the park?" I asked him. Henry shook his head. "A snack?"
"No," my little brother said.
"What do you want?"
"To see Josie," he said as I wiped off his face.
"Well isn't that convenient?" I told him. "Me too. Great minds think alike."
