Page 222 of The Bonus

“I don’t care if you don’t stay. Fuck off home, then.”

“And I don’t care for food poisoning. Deal or no deal?”

“No deal,” I snap. “Leave my mother to me and stay out of my business.”

Alessio sips his beer. “If this tastes like shit, we’re going out to eat.”

I peer into the pan at the burned onions. “High possibility.”

Grace

I take one last look in the mirror; my hair is out and curled, and I’m wearing a pretty cream dress. Brown high-heeled sandals and matching bag.

It’s the school dance tonight and I’ve made an effort and dressed up to try to make myself feel better.

I don’t know why I’m so flat at the moment, it’s like every time Gabriel calls the children to speak to them on their phones, I die a little inside. Maybe I’m just a selfish cow who liked having the children all to myself.

Not maybe, probably… I’m kind of disgusted with myself, if I’m honest.

Ugh…stop thinking about him.

Who cares what he does?

Not me.

“You guys ready?” I call.

“I look so pretty, I can’t stand it,” Lucia calls.

I giggle, this girl’s got spunk, I’ll give it to her.

“Do I have to wear this dumb button-up shirt?” Dom calls from his room.

“Yes. It looks amazing.”

“I hate these pants,” he calls.

“You’re wearing them,” Lucia and I call back in unison.

“Come on, let’s go.”

The lightning crashes, the rain comes down as we pull into the school parking lot.

“Lucky we brought our umbrellas, Mom,” Lucia says from the backseat.

“I know, I’m going to drop you guys off close to the door and then go and park the car, no use all of us running in the rain and risking getting wet.”

I pull up under the awning that leads to the stairs, and the kids pile out. “See you in five minutes.”

“Okay.”

I drive over and around the corner and park the car, the rain really hammering down now. “Fuck’s sake.” I grab the umbrella and rush to get out of the weather. People are running and scrambling everywhere, why does it have to rain on tonight of all nights? I make my way up the stairs to get to the school hall and see the kids waiting by the door. The indoor basketball court has been transformed into a full winter wonderland.

Hand-painted trees in beautiful reds and golds hang from the ceiling, and fairy lights twinkle in the sky.

“Whoa.” The kids’ eyes light up when they see it. “This is so awesome.”

My heart soars as I look around. It’s so fun watching them experience everything for the first time, this is their first school disco.

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