Henry was seated at a small desk in the school office coloring a picture of a long-eared puppy when Sonia arrived.
The principal, a small-framed woman with a tight, chestnut bun, got to her feet, relief flooding her face. “You must be Sonia, I’m Trish. Henry’s been waiting very patiently for you, haven’t you, Henry?” After checking Sonia’s ID and showing her where to sign him out, the principal escorted them both out to the car. She stood to one side observing as Sonia strapped Henry in, her eagle eye taking in the dusty booster seat. When Sonia closed the back door, Trish laid a hand on her arm and cleared her throat in a hesitant manner. ”I hate to trouble you any further, but perhaps you could remind Mr. Jenkins that he needs to bring in Henry’s birth certificate and immunization records on Monday. I realize circumstances have been difficult for him, with the recent deaths of his wife and mother. He mentioned he’s been going through boxes trying to find where he put certain documents. I let the paperwork slide for the first week, but, as you can appreciate, there are procedures I’m obligated to follow. I’m afraid Henry won’t be able to return to school on Monday unless we have all the necessary documentation in hand.”
Sonia gave a wary nod, her pulse thundering in her ears—little red flags fluttering in her head again. No matter which way she looked at it, there were too many pieces that didn’t fit together. Her brain was blaring a warning at her that something was wrong. Jessica’s words haunted her, he’s not Henry’s real dad.
She wasn’t even sure if she should take Henry home with her. Maybe she should call the police. If Ray really had disappeared, she couldn’t be responsible for a traumatized four-year-old who barely spoke and cried himself to sleep every night.
Trish glanced at her watch. “My apologies, I have to dash. I have a parent meeting in a few minutes. Thanks for coming so promptly to fetch Henry.” Before Sonia had a chance to respond, Trish turned on her sensible heels and marched briskly back inside the school.
Sonia took a deep breath and climbed into her car. She glanced in the rearview mirror as she pulled away from the curb. ”Did you have a fun day at school, Henry?”
He stared back at her, wide-eyed and solemn, offering nothing in response.
Sonia took a steadying breath, determined not to give up at the first try. She eyed the dried-up paint in his hair and took another stab at it. “Were you painting today?”
After a moment or two, he gave a nod so slight she half-suspected she might have imagined it. ”What did you paint?” she asked, restraining herself from offering up multiple possible answers as she had a bad habit of doing when a conversation lagged.
“Mommy.” His voice was little more than a whisper. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and turned his head to gaze out the window.
Tears scalded Sonia’s eyes as she turned down the street to Jessica’s school. She wanted nothing more than to pull over, take Henry in her arms and squeeze him tight. But that might make matters worse. He didn’t trust her, yet. He might think she was trying to replace his mother. While they waited in the car line, she made several more attempts to engage him in conversation before eventually giving up. She loosed a sigh of relief when the bell rang and kids began spilling out into the yard, their laughter replacing the silence she had tried to fill with her various Spotify playlists.
Moments later, Jessica yanked the car door open, squealing with delight when she spotted Henry. She scrambled in next to him and leaned over to tickle him. “You’re sitting in my old car seat! What a big boy you are!”
Henry pulled out his shriveled thumb and gave her a crooked smile.
“Is he coming to our house to play?” Jessica asked, wrestling with her seatbelt.
“Yes, but first we have to pick up Grandma. She went to visit her friend, Mary.”
“Can we feed the goldfish in her pond, please Mom?”
“Some other day, Jess,” Sonia replied. ”We need to get home—Henry’s dad will be back soon.”
“Where is he?”
“He … has an appointment.” Sonia plastered a smile on her face. “So, what do you kids want for a snack when we get home?”
She glanced in the rearview mirror as Jessica whispered something in Henry’s ear. He let out a shy chuckle followed by a nod.
“Milk and chocolate chip cookies, please,” Jessica announced.
“You got it,” Sonia said. “I’m pretty sure we have some in the freezer.”
Evelyn was ready and waiting with her coat buttoned when Sonia arrived. She clambered into the passenger seat with a grunt and turned around to greet Jessica and Henry. ”Isn’t this fun, kids? Another playdate.”
“Yup,” Jessica said, kicking the back of the seat in her excitement. ”Mom said we could have chocolate chip cookies and milk for snack today.”
“Much better than apple slices and peanut butter,” Evelyn said with a wink. She turned to Sonia, arching a brow. ”How was your day, dear?”
“Great,” Sonia replied, immediately launching into a rundown of the kitchen installation. As she talked, she cast the occasional glance in the rearview mirror at Jessica and Henry who were huddled together, giggling—playing some game Jessica had made up. Sonia lowered her voice. ”The principal at Small Steps said Ray hasn’t submitted all of Henry’s paperwork.”
Evelyn gave a small shrug, peering in the mirror on the visor as she patted her hair into place. ”There’s so much red tape involved in sending a kid to school these days. In my day, all you had to do was show up with your lunch pail.”
“He hasn’t turned in Henry’s birth certificate.” Sonia shot her mother a meaningful look. “What if he doesn’t have one?”
6
As soon as Jessica and Henry were out of earshot, Sonia and Evelyn
