Page 51 of Mr. Broody

Twenty-Two

Henry

On the morning of Bodhi’s birthday party, it’s clear I’m not cut out for this class party thing.

“You’re doing it all wrong,” Mack says, snatching away the goodie bag in my hand. “Just let me do it.” He shoos me away with his hand. “Go get the cake or something.”

“The cake is being delivered to the trampoline place.”

“Then find something else to do that’s not right here.” He has a whole system laid out in front of him, getting five done to my one.

“You know I’m your boss, right?”

He glances at me from the kitchen table. “And?”

I throw my hands in the air and head into the bedroom to change.

A trampoline party with over twenty kids. What was I thinking? I definitely bit off more than I can chew.

My phone rings, and I pick it up off the bed and see it’s a number I don’t have programmed into my phone. These aren’t my favorite calls to answer, but I figure it’s a local number, so I will.

I slide my thumb across the screen. “Hello?”

“Henry?” I don’t recognize the woman’s voice.

“Yes, this is Henry.”

“This is Trina, Micha’s mom.”

“Oh, hi, Trina.”

Bodhi’s taken to Micha, and the two of them like to compete to see who can get into the classroom first. Come to think of it, Bodhi hasn’t even tried to get to school early the last couple of weeks. Which is fine because it gives me an excuse to send him inside with a huddle of kids without me having to interact with Jade.

I’m still thinking about how to handle the Jade situation. She hasn’t reached out, but why would she? I pretty much told her she couldn’t be a part of my life. Which I’m now thinking I may have worded wrong. I don’t know. I’m so fucking confused right now.

“I heard Bodhi was having a birthday party today, and I’m wondering why Micha was the only one not invited?”

I tilt my head, thinking I had to have heard her wrong. “We invited everyone in the class.”

“Well, I talked to a bunch of the other moms, and they all got invitations. I’ve searched Micha’s backpack three times, and there’s no invitation in there.” I can tell by her tone that she’s the type of person I really hate to deal with.

“Maybe he misplaced it?”

She huffs. “Um, no, Micha is very organized. We have rules for when he gets home. We have designated boxes where he needs to put the things he’s brought home from school that I need to see. So, I’m pretty sure Bodhi didn’t invite him just because Micha beats him to school in the morning.”

My hand squeezes the phone tighter. “Bodhi isn’t like that.”

She lets out a sarcastic laugh. “Oh, you’re one of those.”

My forehead wrinkles. “Excuse me?”

“You know, the ‘my kid is perfect’ parent.”

Didn’t she just say her kid was perfect?

After taking a deep breath to curb my frustration, I say, “I have to get ready for the party. Micha is invited?—”

“Now that I called,” she interrupts.

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