Naomi looked like she was about to have an aneurysm. “Get it together,” I warned her, tucking her behind my back.
I put my hand on Waylay’s shoulder and squeezed.
“Look, kid. I think we all get that you’re not used to havin’ an adult around who has your back. But you need to get used to it. Naomi’s not goin’ anywhere. You’ve got your grandparents too. And you’ve got me and Liza J and Nash. But you scared the shit out of all of us running off like that.”
She scuffed her foot on the asphalt. “Sorry,” she said sullenly.
“What I’m sayin’ is you have a lot of people in your corner now. You don’t need to go it alone. And your Aunt Naomi can do a hell of a lot more than leave some mice in a teacher’s desk drawer.”
“I was also gonna give her computer a virus. One of those annoying ones that adds extra letters and numbers when you’re typing,” she said, her cheeks pink with indignation.
I hid my grin by biting the inside of my cheek. “Okay. That’s pretty good,” I admitted. “But it’s not a long-term solution. Your teacher is a problem that you can’t solve on your own. You need to tell your aunt this shit so she can deal with it like she just did in there.”
“Mrs. Felch looked scared,” Waylay said, chancing a glance behind me at Naomi.
“Your aunt can be real scary when she stops taking her screaming into pillows.”
“Am I in trouble?” Waylay asked.
“Yes,” Naomi said firmly.
Just as Amanda insisted, “Of course not, sweetheart.”
“Mom!”
“What?” Amanda asked, wide-eyed. “She’s been through a traumatic few days at school, Naomi.”
“Your mother is right,” Lou said. “We should call an emergency appointment with the principal and the superintendent. Maybe they can convene a special school board meeting tonight.”
“This is so embarrassing,” Waylay groaned.
I didn’t know what the hell I was doing wading into a family disagreement, but I did anyway. “Why don’t we let Mrs. Felch stew for the weekend? Naomi already laid it out for her real clear. We’ll deal with whatever needs dealt with Monday morning,” I said.
“Why are you even here?” Lou demanded, turning his anger on me.
“Dad!” It looked like it was Naomi’s turn to be embarrassed as she stepped to my side.
“Waylay, go let the mice out over there on the tree line,” I ordered.
She shot me a wary look before scampering off toward the skinny strip of woods between the school and Knockemout Pretzels. I waited until she was out of earshot before turning back to Lou.
“I’m here because Naomi was walking into a situation she didn’t know anything about. Felch has had a hard-on for Tina ever since her husband banged Tina this summer. The whole town was talking about it. Now, once again, Naomi’s cleaning up a mess that Tina left behind. Something I get the feeling she’s spent her whole life doing. So maybe you can cut her some slack or, better yet, help her out with the clean-up this time around.”
Lou looked like he wanted to take a shot at me, but I saw my words had landed with Amanda. She put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Knox is right, Lou. Us second-guessing Naomi isn’t helping anyone.”
Naomi took a breath and blew it out slowly. I ran my hand up her back, then down again.
“I need to get back to work,” she said. “I’ve already missed an hour of my shift. Will you two please take Waylay home and try to keep her from running off again?”
“Of course, sweetheart. And now that we know that she’s sneaky, we’ll keep a closer watch on her.”
“I’ll take the front tire off her bike,” Lou decided.
“I need to skip ahead to the chapter on discipline in my library book,” Naomi decided. “Damn it! I hate reading out of chronological order.”
“Judith’s daughter changes the Wi-Fi password on her kids and doesn’t change it back until they’re ungrounded,” Amanda suggested helpfully.
Waylay returned with a now empty jar, and I felt Naomi take another deep breath.
“Mrs. Felch is in way more trouble than you are, Waylay. But Knox is right. You have to come to me with this stuff. Don’t tell me everything’s fine when it’s not fine. I’m here to help. You can’t be sneaking out and exacting revenge on everyone who wrongs you. Especially not with innocent little field mice.”