Best Friends Forever

“Oh… Fuck, right. Well, the school called me.”

Automatically I open my bottom drawer and yank out my handbag.

“I’m on my way,” I answer as I stride toward the elevator. “Seriously, I can be there in twenty minutes.”

“I’m already here,” she snaps back. “I’ll meet you at your place. I’m sure he’s fine. Don’t worry.”

“How can I not worry?” I ask as I mash the elevator button with my thumb over and over again. “Did they say what’s up? Is he okay?”

“Penny, if he wasn’t okay they would’ve called an ambulance. They only called me because they couldn’t reach you. He’s fine. I’ll bring him home. I’m already here. Bye.”

I stare at my phone as the call disconnects. The elevator doors slide open and I barely register anything as I plummet to the parking garage, get in my car, and drive home like a crazy person. Everything slips by like a dream. When I rush into the front door, flinging my purse and keys on the small hall table, I see them both waiting for me under the task lighting in the kitchen. Wanda steps away reflexively. Ethan just shakes his head and looks down, holding a bag of frozen peas to his forehead.

“What is this??” I ask frantically, my hands reaching out to the compress.

I want to see what’s underneath, and also I don’t want to see. Ethan gives me a stony look as I peel back the plastic and stare, horrified, at the egg-shaped, purple welt on his forehead.

“You’re taking this well, I see,” Wanda snarks as she uncorks a bottle of red wine and pours us both a glass.

Ethan lets me hold his face in my hands so I can inspect him. Though he is twelve already, I can still see the baby in him. Especially where his hair is plastered to his forehead. Especially in his pink cheeks and the petulant set of his mouth.

“Mom, I’m fine,” he growls stubbornly.

“You’re not fine! You’ve been battered! You’ve been assaulted! I’m calling the police!”

“You’re going to have the staircase arrested?”

I squint at him suspiciously. “Stairs. You’re serious. You expect me to believe that?”

He shrugs, but his eyes slide diagonally away.

“That’s the story he told the nurse too,” Wanda adds sarcastically. “Boy versus staircase again.”

“That’s what happened,” he mutters unconvincingly. “Can I have my frozen peas back? Or would you like me to be scarred for life?”

Helplessly, I drop the peas back in his hands and he cups them to his forehead and slides off the kitchen stool.

“I hate it when he’s sarcastic,” I murmur as I watch him walk into the living room and flip on the PlayStation.

“Yeah, it’s weird when he opens his mouth and your voice comes out,” Wanda shrugs. “Drink your wine. You’ll feel better.”

“Did the school say anything? Did they tell you what really happened? Was it that kid Justin again?”

“I don’t know, I’m just the emergency contact,” Wanda sighs. “They can’t tell me anything anyway. And that kid is like Fort Knox. Nothing is getting out of there if he doesn’t want to tell.”

I gulp my wine, then refill the glass. “You’re telling me.”

Helpless, I just watch the back of his head, reminding myself that if anyone had thought he was in any real danger they would have called an ambulance. If they had caught another kid, they would have let me know. But Ethan has had such a problem in this school, it just fills me with helpless fury.

“Maybe you should send him to Catholic school? Military school?” Wanda offers. “Something like that?”

“I wish I could. That’s more money that I make in a year. You know that.”

“You should ask for a raise. They don’t appreciate you.”

“Do you think I haven’t asked for a raise? Really?”

“Well, it’s not more money than his dad makes in a year,” Wanda mutters, not even under her breath.