Chapter 17 He Works Me Up #2
She shook hands and ushered her in and shut the door. There were chairs in the hall for parents to wait and this gave them privacy for the fifteen-minute one-on-one meetings.
By the end of the day, she’d had two no shows and one more to go. They were running late and she’d be leaving in ten minutes.
She turned when there was a knock on the doorframe.
“Are you Ms. Banks?”
“I am. Macy’s grandmother?” she asked, guessing. The woman was older and Macy had brought in the sheet saying someone would be here for her last appointment.
“Yes. I’m Rosie. We talked a few weeks ago.”
“It’s nice to meet you in person. Please come in. Will Macy’s father be joining us?”
“I don’t know where my son is,” Rosie said. “I called Richie three times from the parking lot. I didn’t want to miss this. Hopefully, he shows up, but he’s unpredictable.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “Please come in and have a seat. He can call me with questions.”
“He won’t have any,” Rosie said.
The woman looked frazzled. She’d obviously just come from work with her fast food uniform on. She had a tag that said assistant manager on it.
“Let me show you what Macy’s been doing and what we are learning. She’s such a bright child. A little shy, but she’s coming out of her shell.”
“She’s a good kid. Smart too,” Rosie said.
Meredith turned her head when a man walked in. He had jeans on that were ripped and dirty. Not purchased that way, but from years of use.
His white T-shirt under an open flannel shirt had seen better days. White was a thing of the past and now it was riding closer to tan with other stains mixed in.
“Richie,” Rosie said. “Where have you been?”
“I just woke up. Sorry,” Richie said.
Meredith stood and shook hands. “I’m Ms. Banks. I was just saying that your daughter is such a smart kid.”
“Yeah,” Richie said, waving his hand. “Is she still getting picked on or not?”
“What?” she asked.
“My mother told me you called that the kids were picking on her cuz she stunk and her clothes were dirty. Is it still happening?”
She held her smile in place. “It doesn’t appear to be that I can see. She is still very hungry.”
“We feed her,” Richie said. “I don’t appreciate the call from social services.”
“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.” This was news to her.
“Shortly after your call, social services called,” Rosie said. “I told you they weren’t connected, Richie.” Rosie turned to her. “Her after-school program said that Macy told them she only gets to eat at school. That’s not true. We cleared it up.”
At least she wasn’t the only one that saw signs in this family.
“I feed my kid,” Richie said. “If I’m not around, my mother does it.” Richie turned to his mother. “At least I hope you do. You probably bring her back food from work.”
“At least I’m giving her something,” Rosie said. “And picking her up and bathing her on Sunday nights. It’s more than you’ve done in years.”
“No one asked you to do that shit,” Richie said. His voice was rising.
Oh lord. She didn’t want to get into the middle of a family fight.
“Can we focus on Macy?” she asked. “We only have a few more minutes left.”
“I have nothing to say other than I don’t need people questioning me how I raise my daughter,” Richie said.
“Then step up and do something,” Rosie said. “I think we’ve finished here. If there are any other issues with Macy, just let us know. Let’s go, Richie.”
“You need to do a better job getting people off my back,” Richie hissed to his mother when they were leaving.
Meredith took a deep breath and sank back into her chair.
“Wow. Not the best way to end your night,” Cassidy said. “I heard them arguing in my room.”
“Yeah. Glad that is over with. That poor kid. Now I can understand.”
“I could smell the alcohol on him walking in his wake.”
“I wasn’t sure if it was just body odor or not,” she said. The guy was rank, but it wasn’t the first time she’d come into contact with it and there was nothing she could do.
Macy was cleaner than she’d been and had never made a comment about only eating at school to her.
There were plenty of kids who got two full meals from the school district and not much more at home. Sadly, Macy’s story wasn’t unheard of.
“Why don’t you gather your things and I’ll walk out with you,” Cassidy said.
“Why?”
“Because with the way drama is following you around, and that last visit, maybe I want to ensure you can get in your car without a brick dropping on your head.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks for that.”
But she grabbed her bag, shut her light and left with Cassidy.
The parking lot was only half full and the drive home was uneventful.
Yet when she was lying in bed that night, she jumped at every noise when she hadn’t days ago. It just seemed as if there were a lot more noises going on downstairs in her home now than ever before.
She yanked the covers up over her head to hide.
Why did she let Clay get in her head?
She better not have moved on with another man already.
She told me she was taking a break from men. She’d never lied to me before.
He didn’t like liars. That was right up there with being messy and losing control.
When he noticed the footprints in his carpet from his pacing, he stopped and sat.
His fists clenched and released. He thought he was winning her back. That she was ready for him to prove his love.
But two days ago a man showing up out of the blue like that didn’t sit well with him. He still couldn’t calm down from it.
And if it was a friend, he needed to know that too. He knew all her friends and always had.
How else was he able to figure out what Meredith liked or the things she enjoyed if he didn’t watch what she did or who she was with?
After several deep breaths, Karl pushed himself up from the couch and tiptoed to the laundry room to get his vacuum.
He must keep the place clean in case his mother ever stopped to visit.
Just because he hadn’t seen her in five years didn’t mean she wouldn’t want to see his place now. Always be prepared, she’d told him.
Which was why he had to get back to his plan for Meredith.