Page 73 of Justice for JoElla

“William! What’s up?”

“Can I stay here?”

Brandon eyed him. “What’s going on? You and your mother have a disagreement?”

“Uh, you could say that.”

“Okay, it’s like this. You’re always welcome if you want to come and see me or stay with me. If you’re doing it because you and your mother are on the outs, you get that straightened outbeforeyou ask to stay with me. I’d love to have you around, but I’m not going to let you use coming to see me as a wedge between me and your mom. Not happening. So what happened?”

“I wanted to go to a concert this weekend, but she said no because my grades haven’t been what she likes them to be, so I thought maybe I could come here?”

“And what were your grades? In which class?”

“Well, um, I got an A in history.”

“Yeah. And what else?”

“And a C in biology.”

“Are you really my child?” He eyed William. “Why do I get the feeling this is going to get much worse very quickly?”

“Umm, I failed algebra.”

“Youfailedalgebra? Because you didn’t understand it? Or because you did poorly on the tests? Or because you didn’t turn in your homework?”

“Beeeecause I skipped school too many days.”

JoElla watched as Brandon scooted himself up on the sofa and stared at his son. “Let me give you a reality check. That perk of being the kid of a doctor? That’s gone. I can’t fund the rest of your life like you thought I would. You’re going to have to get a good enough education to make yourself a living, and you’re not going to do it by failing algebra.”

“But you’re not always going to be an EMT! You’ll be a doctor again!”

JoElla almost flipped when Brandon answered, “Who says?”

The boy was getting agitated. “What do you mean, ‘who says?’ You’re not thinking about being an EMT forever! You can’t possibly!”

“Really? Because there’s nothing wrong with being an EMT. I save people’s lives in ways that most doctors can’t. I get to make split-second decisions that really cause me to use my brain. It can be physical sometimes, and I like that. And I get to wear a cool uniform, which is just one of the many perks of the job. So yes, I might always be an EMT.”

“What will Grandmother and Grandfather say?”

Brandon glared at his son. “I don’t give a flying fuck what they say. This is my life, not theirs.”

“You sound just like UncleLandon.”

“Who’s turned out to be a much smarter person than I ever thought.”Boy, Landon would love to hear him say that!JoElla thought. “Now, call your mother and work something out with her. You’re welcome to stay the night, but you’ll have to sleep on the sofa. That’s all we’ve got right now.”

The boy threw his backpack onto the floor and plopped down on the ottoman in front of the chair adjacent to the sofa. “When are our lives ever going to get back to normal?”

“This is our normal. Learn to roll with the punches. I’ve certainly had to.”

They ordered pizza for dinner and, after he’d talked to his mother, William handed his phone to Brandon. “Here. She wants to talk to you.”

Brandon took the phone and set it to speaker. “Hello?”

“What did you say to him?”

“I told him he’s welcome here, but not if he’s only here because the two of you have had some kind of argument. I’m not going to be that dad the kids pit against their mother.”

“Good, because I won’t tolerate it. Now, I’m wondering if they can stay with you next weekend because I’m going to Barbados for the four-day weekend and?”

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