Page 41 of Justice II

“I'll walk you out,” she said quietly.

I stood up before she could say anything else.

At the door, Alisha touched my arm.

“I'm sorry. I thought she'd at least give you a chance.”

“It's fine.”

“It isn't. Aubrey and Claire spoke highly of you.”

“Thank you. I hope you find somebody she's comfortable with.”

I went down the steps without looking back. The interview had lasted less than fifteen minutes.

Once I was in the car, I put the folder on the passenger seat and reached for my ginger ale. I had been thinking about a paycheck and somewhere to stay. Now I was going back to Aubrey's with neither.

Mrs. Patterson's question kept bothering me. If I was so good, why hadn't they kept me?

I missed Rita. She could be difficult, too, but I had gotten used to her. I knew when to give her a little space and when she wanted somebody to sit with her. I missed our conversations, even when she asked me something we'd already talked about.

I wondered who was helping her get dressed this morning. I hoped whoever it was had been patient with her.

I picked up my phone and texted Aubrey that it hadn't worked out. Then I set it beside my folder and started the car.

Something had to give. But there was something else more important at hand.

14

Melody

I stepped back from the curb when the first group of students came through the gate.

I’d been standing across the street from Kingsbrook for almost twenty minutes. If anyone noticed, I probably looked like a creep. But I wasn’t. I was just a mother longing to be with my son.

Every time the doors opened, I searched for Keenan. It’s been years since I’ve seen what he looks like. His father made sure that I wouldn’t be there for these formative years, watching my baby grow into a teenager.

My car was parked down the street. I could've stayed in it, but I needed to see him without the windshield or passing cars blocking my view.

Now I was standing beside a tree with my phone in my hand, pretending to look at something on the screen.

I wanted to call his name as soon as I saw him. I wanted to hold him and tell him that I loved him. I had imagined that part so many times that I hadn't spent enough time thinking about what came afterward.

What if he didn't want me touching him? What if he got scared and called Roman?

I didn't know what that man had told my son about me. I couldn't walk up in front of his classmates and expect Keenan to know what to do.

A woman got out of a car near the gate and waved at one of the girls. The girl ran over, barely giving her time to finish opening her arms before she hugged her.

Duke had told me Keenan took the bus. I kept checking the students walking toward the sidewalk, worried that he had already come out and I had somehow missed him.

Then I saw him.

He came through the doors alone, adjusting the strap of his book bag. He stopped near the fence while a group of boys went past him, then moved out of their way.

I nearly leapt off the curb to get to him.

My baby.