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Thirty-Four

RINA

Imade Bacon and Ricky drive me to the school an hour before classes let out because I wanted to be sure that I was here the minute my boy came outside. I thought about meeting him at his classroom door, but if no one knew that something happened here today, I didn’t want to bring too much attention to myself.

But I need to get my hands on him and see for myself that he’s safe. I know that this school is the best when it comes to protection, evidenced by how well the administration handled the threat this morning, but I hate that it has to be an issue at all. He’s my baby. I don’t ever want him to be in harm’s way.

When I hear the bell ring, I step out of the vehicle, Ricky and Bacon both flanking me, and we wait for my towheaded kiddo to come bounding outside. It doesn’t take long before I see him, all smiles as he talks to his new friend Bryson, and when Charlie sees me, he runs to me with a huge, toothless smile.

“Hey, Mom,” he says. “Can Bryson come over to play in the pool this weekend? We wanna hang out.”

“I’m sure I can work something out with his mom,” I reply as I lean over to kiss the top of Charlie’s head. “Climb in. I’m going to talk to Clyde, okay?”

“Okay.”

He doesn’t even question me before he maneuvers his way into the tall SUV, and I shut the door and round on Clyde, who looks completely stoic.

“From now on, if something like today happens again, I’m one of the calls you make, Clyde.”

“Ma’am,” he says, and then clears his throat. “I don’t mean any disrespect to you, but the fact is, I work for Carson.”

“No, you work for my family,” I reply. “I’m a Mafia kid, don’t forget that. I’ll stay out of my husband’s business, but this is our child we’re talking about. My son. So if you want to continue to work for our family, you’ll remember that and keep me informed if something happens that pertains to my kid. If you fail to do that again, I’ll have your job.”

Clyde turns his gaze to mine, daring to look me in the eyes. There’s some frustration there, but I see respect too.

“Is that all you’ll have, ma’am?”

“Anything more than that is up to Carson. He’s your boss, right?” I blow out a breath. “Just call me. I’m not asking you to keep Carson in the dark, I’m asking you to loop me in. I have a right to know, and I know without a doubt that my husband will back me up on this.”

“I understand,” he says stiffly. “I will also double-check with the boss.”

“Yes, yes, fine. We can’t have a woman telling us what to do.”

I shake my head and climb back into the car, and when Ricky takes off with Bacon in the front seat, Bacon turns to look at me.

“May I speak freely?” Bacon asks.

“Sure.”

“Clyde’s not a screw up. He has to double-check with Carson because your husband is”—he eyes Charlie—“intense. We don’t want to go against orders.”

I don’t reply because I’m not going to get into this here, but Carson and I need to have a conversation when he gets home.

“Mom, will you call Bryson’s mom now so we can hang out?”

“I don’t have to do it right this second, buddy.”

“It’s Friday,” he reminds me. “Tomorrow is Saturday.”

“Are you a human calendar?”

He snorts. “No. I don’t want you to forget.”

“I won’t forget.”

He sighs and looks outside. “Can I swim when we get home?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”