Chapter 35
LIV
I went home that day thinking about Maya and Elliot and all that was going on inside the four walls of their home.
I was still annoyed that Elliot had called Finn names but now in light of what Maya had told me, it made sense.
The child was hurting and was lashing out.
The only problem was my son was being used as the scapegoat.
It was a really tricky situation. I didn’t want to upset Maya any more; she already had enough on her plate.
I had decided I would talk to Jay about how we should handle it. I needed to get his opinion on it all.
‘Tea and Treats time,’ Jay said, rubbing his hands together excitedly in the kitchen when we came back downstairs from tucking Finn up in bed. He began to fill the kettle while I rooted out the biscuits and waved a packet of Custard Creams and one of Jammy Dodgers in front of him.
‘Two packets of biscuits?’ Jay exclaimed. ‘It’s not even Friday night.’
I laughed. ‘It’s your lucky night, Jay O’Dowd.’
When we had made the tea, we sat down onto the sofa. I rested back against the cushions, with my legs draped over his lap. I took up the remote and flicked through the channels before settling on First Dates.
‘Guess what Finn said to me today?’ I asked. I had been waiting until Finn had gone to bed so that I could tell him without risking Finn overhearing our conversation. It had been replaying on my mind all day and I wanted Jay’s take on it.
‘What?’ Jay asked, brushing Custard Cream crumbs off his t-shirt.
‘He asked me whether I thought he was fat.’
Jay’s face dropped. ‘He’s only five. How does he even know that word?’
‘I know. It’s a word I never use in front of him but he said that Elliot has been calling him fat.’
‘The little shit. I don’t like that kid one bit.’
‘Do you think he has got a little chubby?’ I went on. ‘When I was looking at him earlier, I think maybe he has got a bit pudgy but I hadn’t noticed.’
‘I wouldn’t worry about it; I was the same at his age.’
‘Do you think we need to do something about it? Cut out treats, maybe? I don’t want him getting teased about his weight; I had enough of that in school – I don’t want that for Finn.’
‘Come on, Liv, he’s five years old. We don’t want to make an issue out of it. We could make everything worse if we start blowing it up into something bigger. It’s just a bit of baby fat; he’ll grow out of it.’
‘Maybe we should start him playing sports so he’s getting some exercise,’ I suggested.
‘I guess… but rather than putting the blame back on Finn, shouldn’t we be having a word with Elliot’s parents about this?’ Jay challenged.
I exhaled heavily. ‘It’s awkward… There’s a lot going on at home.’
‘So, we have to let him get away with being mean to our son?’ he challenged.
‘I was going to bring it up with Maya today when we went for coffee but then she told me that Elliot stumbled across porn on Hugo’s phone.’
Jay raised his brows. ‘Are you serious? How?’
I nodded and filled him in on the story that Maya had told me earlier.
‘No wonder the kid is confused,’ I went on. ‘That’s why I couldn’t bring it up with her. She already has enough on her plate.’
‘I get that but it’s not really our problem. He can’t be calling Finn names.’
‘I know Maya would be horrified if she knew.’
‘Well, maybe she needs to know. This isn’t the first time that Elliot has been mean to him and you said you would talk to her if anything else happened between the boys.’
‘I know.’ I sighed. ‘But Maya thinks he’s acting out because of the issues between her and Hugo. She doesn’t need this on top of everything else. She’s already really upset, trust me.’
‘Well, we can’t stand by and allow our son to be bullied just because Maya would get upset.’
I sagged back into the couch in frustration.
I hated confrontation; it always made me so anxious that I usually let whatever was bothering me go rather than deal with it head-on.
‘I know… but let’s just wait and see. Hopefully, it all blows over soon and Elliot forgets about it but if he does anything else, I promise I’ll talk to her. ’