Page 19 of Foster

Sandra remains stubbornly mute.

“You think the judge made his ruling based on what Bowie Jane told him in private and you’re punishing her for it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she says dismissively. “I place the blame squarely on you and I’m not going to let this stand. Chet and I are going to appeal so—”

“This is none of Chet’s business,” I snap, cutting off her tirade. “He’s not her father. He’s nothing to her.”

Chet looks offended. “I care for—”

“Shut your fucking mouth,” I say, pointing a finger at him. “Stand there and look pretty all you want, but stay out of this.” He opens his mouth, but I glare at him. “I will fucking shut it for you.”

His teeth clack together hard and he steps in closer to Sandra. My gaze slides back to her. “You are a fucking mess, Sandra. I don’t know the how or why of it, but you are an absolute failure right now as a mother.”

Her blond eyebrows shoot up her forehead. “I love my daughter.”

“Yeah? Then act like it. You make this transition easy on her because there’s no changing it. You want her back, you go through the proper channels and prove to the court that you have her best interests at heart, because clearly the judge doesn’t think you do. And until that time, you better fucking make sure you don’t level any more guilt or reprisal on her tiny shoulders because she is the innocent in all of this.”

“You have no idea—”

I roll right over her. “I don’t want to hear a single thing. I’m going up right now, packing a quick suitcase and we’re out of here. I cannot trust her in your care another minute just based on how she’s acting and the way you’re treating her.”

Sandra’s eyes fill with tears and she lifts her face to Chet. “Do something.”

Chet’s gaze reluctantly moves to mine and I can tell he’s afraid to talk because he knows he’s in danger of losing his teeth. My stare is hard, unyielding, with an underlying level of promise that I will hurt him.

It falters and drops momentarily to the floor before returning to Sandra. “Let’s play this cool, babe. The law and facts are on our side. We’ll fight this out in the courts.”

Sandra collapses into his arms and wails against his chest. He wraps her up in a tight hug and coos baby words to her that turn my stomach when she wails harder in response. More ridiculous words like “I’m here for you, baby boo” and “Daddy will make it better,” all spoken in an infantile tone as if she were a child. They’re absolutely feeding off each other.

Jesus fuck, what has happened to her and how has this man changed her so much?

I shake my head, turn my back on them and hightail it up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

My heart squeezes hard when I find Bowie Jane standing at the side of her bed. Her open suitcase has nothing in it, but she holds her favorite teddy bear in her hands, as if contemplating whether to put him inside.

I move to her, gently take the bear and set it on the bed. “We’re taking him but he goes on the plane in your backpack. What else do you want to take?”

She lifts her face to mine, completely lost.

“We don’t have to take all your clothes. In fact, we can go on an amazing shopping trip back in Pittsburgh and buy you all new clothes. Maybe we focus on favorite toys, jewelry, stuffed animals?”

Bowie Jane’s face crumbles and tears fill her eyes. “Why is Mom acting like this?”

“I don’t know, honey. It’s definitely out of character.”

“It’s Chet. She changed when she started dating him.”

I know she’s not wrong about that so I try my best to put it into a perspective she can accept that might salvage her relationship with her mom. I squat in front of her. “Sometimes people do weird things, and sometimes that can get super weird when they care for another person. But that doesn’t mean she’s stopped loving you or loves you in a different way. No matter what’s going on with your mom right now, I know without a doubt she loves you as much as she ever did.”

“I don’t believe it,” Bowie Jane says, her little face screwing up in anger.

“Well, I do, and trust me… I’ve got more reason than you to doubt your mom. But I know one million percent she loves you. I think she’s just having a hard time right now and actually might be a little lost.”

“Because of Chet,” she says bitterly.

“Most likely. I promise I’ll continue to try to talk to your mom to figure out what’s going on with her.”

At this point, I think I’m doing pretty good with being fair to Sandra, attempting to reinforce the bond between her and Bowie Jane, as well as building an undefinable time frame to give her mom time to figure her shit out. I’m trying to have patience which is not easy for me under these circumstances. I’d still like to wring Sandra’s neck and punch Chet in his perfectly white teeth.

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