“But Mary Pat—”
“No, Cal, this isn’t about Mary Pat. This is about
you. You gave me your word and you broke it.”
“I don’t care!” His head came up angrily. “You’re not
my mother and you’re not the boss of me!”
It was the first time he’d snapped at me and we were
both taken aback. Defiance was all over his face, but I
think he had shocked himself as well.
I took a deep breath. “You’re absolutely right, Cal. I’m
not your mother, but now that you’re living here—”
“I didn’t ask to come here and I don’t have to stay.”
His eyes filled with involuntary tears and he wiped them
away with an impatient fist. “I can go back to Virginia
and live with Nana.”
“No, you can’t,” I said with more firmness than I felt.
112
HARD ROW
“That’s not an option and you know it. I may not be
your mother, but I
gives me the right to haul you up short when you step
over the line.”
He glared at me.
“Unless you want me to let him handle it?”
That got his attention.
“No! Don’t tell him. Please?”
Uncomfortable as this was for both of us, I knew
that something had to be done, but this was going to
take more than a simple time out or an early bedtime.
Besides, there was no way I could send him to bed early
without Dwight’s knowing and for now I was willing to
respect Cal’s plea that he not be involved.
“You know that what you did was wrong?”
He gave a sulky half nod.
“When your mother punished you for something se-
rious, what did she do?”
His eyes widened and he turned so white that the
freckles popped out across his nose. “You’re going to
spank me?”
Even though my parents had occasionally smacked our
bottoms or switched our legs when it was well deserved,
I was almost as horrified as he. “No, I’m not going to
spank you. But you know we can’t let this go.”
He thought a moment. “I could not watch television
for a whole month.”
“And what’ll you tell your dad when the Hurricanes
play an away game and you don’t watch it with him?”
As soon as I’d said that, I knew what would be
appropriate.
“Here’s the deal,” I told him. “You hurt Aunt Kate’s
