Page 11 of Leo
It was also the first time she’d talked about Gaynor Beach, even tangentially, without appendingI hate this place so muchto the comment in some form.
She hesitated another moment, then dropped her bag and sank back into the desk chair.“Hey,” I murmured.She glanced up warily, lips in a thin line and jaw set, ready for a fight.“What were you talking about when I came in here?You asked me if I’d given it any more thought and we got, um, sidetracked?”
“Oh!The YouTube channel!Remember?I asked you about it in June, when Mika started that one with her boyfriend about nail stuff and makeup?They got, like, ten thousand followers before school startedandshe’s writing these freelance articles now for some websites, all about how to do neat stuff with eyeliner and nail art that actually looks cool and not like, cougar on the prowl for fresh meat.”She made claws and uttered arawrsound.
“Okay, one, I never want to hear you make that noise again because there’s not enough bleach in the world to get that out of my head.”She laughed—a small snort, but I was counting it, damn it.“And two… I didn’t think you were serious about that.”
She rolled her eyes, her burgeoning good humor snapping out like a light.“Oh my god.Seriously?Just because I’m younger than you—”
“It has nothing to do with that, Bethany!I’m just not a video type person.I never know what to do with my hands and I always look like someone caught me trying to smuggle cheese across international borders or something.Besides, you never mentioned it again, so I thought you’d forgotten.”
Shehumphedat me, returning her attention—at least superficially—to her math notebook.“Well, seriously, think about it.It’d be huge for Nice Buns.I mean, you still want to write that cookbook, right?”
“Yeah,” I drawled.“But that’s kind of the opposite of videos.”Though I had seen some pretty funny and interesting TikToks and short form videos on YouTube where people made unusual recipes, and they really got my attention.But… “But I don’t have the time to do all the filming and shit, Bethany.I’m worn thin as it is with this place, and if I take time off to make videos that’s time away from keeping our heads above water.”
She made a face, like she wanted to scowl but stopped herself.“You have no scope,” she quoted.
I smiled, turning back toward the front of the shop.“Alright, Anne.Do your pre-calc.”
As I walked off, I heard her mutter, “Maybe Anne.Better than Bethany, anyway.”
* * *
As if summonedby the intensity of my daydreams, Leo and Edward came into the shop about an hour before we closed.Edward had a face like a thundercloud and Leo looked as frazzled as a person could and still be standing.“Hey!Just in time!”I pulled a small tray of bite sized cupcakes out from the display case and held them out toward Edward.“Bethany and I made some really cool bug-cakes.Want to try one?”
My sister’s passion for art and insects had led to some odd cupcake designs recently but little kids loved them, and they tended to sell out pretty quick.We only had a few left at the end of the day so Edward had his choice of a ladybug, a scarab beetle with some pretty awesome sparkle frosting if I did say so myself, or a leaf cutter ant holding a tiny fondant leaf in its mandibles.At a nod from his dad, he shuffled forward to pick a tiny cupcake, going with the ladybug.“It has really nice antennae,” he murmured.
“Bethany would love to know that.Want to tell her?”
He looked to his dad again.When Leo nodded, Edward mirrored the action.
“Bethany, someone wants to talk to you about your bugs!”
Leo waited at the counter while Bethany emerged, her scowl disappearing at the sight of Edward clutching her ladybug cupcake so carefully.“Hey,” she said.“That one was my favorite to make!Do you like ladybugs, too?”
“I like all beetles,” he said with a sniff.Bethany barely hid her smile, looking happier than she had in days.She offered to show him her art notebook with all her drawings of beetles and other bugs in the area, and within minutes they were set up at one of the small tables at the front of the shop, poring over her drawings while Edward nibbled his snack.
“What’s up?”I asked Leo as soon as the kids were distracted.“You look like shit.”
“Ah, good, my outsides match my insides.”I glanced over at Edward to see him kneeling on the chair, Bethany sitting beside him with one hand on his back to steady him as they pored over her art book, pages open to a truly realistic scarab beetle.I smiled—Edward’s love of creepy crawlies for the win in this case.“Just had a go-around with Edward’s teacher,” I murmured.Ambrose made a sympathetic sound.“She insists on ignoring his IEP because it’s ‘too hard’ for her to do while teaching the other kids.For fuck’s sake, I’m just asking her not to treat him like an untrained puppy,” he hissed.“Quiet hands, look at me, stop fidgeting,” he mimicked in what was supposed to be a teacher’s tone.“He’s not hurting anyone!”
“Oh, fun,” I drawled.“Sounds like exactly the sort of person who should be teaching kids.”
“It gets better.”He sighed.“I found a note in Edward’s bag that he says he forgot to give me.Ms.Webb wanted a meeting to discuss a bullying issue.He didn’t want to tell me specifics, but I finally got it out of him that some kids found out his diagnosis and were calling him the r-word and it just sort of snowballed.Into mutual name calling and apparently, some of the kids got really physical, shoving him into the coat cubby and tripping him on the playground.Nobody seemed to think that was enough of a problem to actually call me or the other kids’ parents though.”
“Nobody being this Ms.Webb,” I posited.
“Bingo, give the man a brand-new car and the deluxe dining set, Merv.”
“I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this.”I leaned on the counter, my hands itching to reach out and soothe him, offer him a hug, stroke his hair.So, I made sure they were tucked against my stomach, pressed between me and the glass countertop.Better safe than sorry, until you know he wants you to touch him.“I wish I could help.Isthere anything I can do?”
He shook his head.“No, I just need to keep hammering away at this.And Edward’s needing some extra support right now, so we’re having a fuck it afternoon.Sugar snack”—he nodded toward where Edward was still carefully eating his cupcake—“then just hanging out and maybe cartoons or something till Naomi and Mike come for dinner tonight..”
I nodded.“Sometimes being a soft place to land is the best thing you can do.”
He grunted.“I wish it was enough, though.”
Edward slid to his feet then and padded over, Bethany in tow.“Dad, can we go home?I’m tired.”
