Bad Boy Judah

f o r t y s i x

                   

I watch a hyper Ryder run in the play area with the other toddlers. Jenny stops me before I leave.

"Yesterday, we were in a bit of a pickle," she informs me.

I fix my purse over my shoulder and frown, wondering what she's talking about.

"What happened?" I ask, glancing back at Ryder's head.

I begin to wonder what he could have possibly done.

"The young man that came to pick up Ryder..." she starts, circling her hands. "He wasn't on the pick-up list. So we tried to call you, but never got an answer."

Ugh. Why didn't Judah tell me this last night? I groan in my head. How do I deal with this now?

"Sorry, my phone was off. I was busy at work."

"It's fine, not a problem," she smiles sweetly, "I was just wondering if you wanted to add him on the list."

She then brings me Ryder's file from Yvonne's desk. Do I? That's a good question. But what's the point, if Judah will be leaving again soon?

Jenny says, "I took a photocopy of his ID, for security reasons."

"Right," I nod, staring at the paper.

My hands tuck my hair behind my ears, and I scan at the paper.

Next to Ryder's name on the sign out sheet is just my name and Mara's. My fingers take a hold of the blue pen.

As I add Judah's full name to the sheet, Jenny sticks her nose in.

"Is he... Ryder's father?" she asks, after reading the matching last name.

I laugh nervously, waving me hand, "Yeah, yeah."

Her eyes go big, for some reason. New problems arise.

"Oh, he's extremely handsome."

Here we go...

"Yeah," I shrug, jotting down his number as well.

"He and Ryder look so alike," she laughs, "When he first walked in, I was like, who's this? The first thought that came to mind what that it had to be Ryder's dad. Oh, little Ryder was gushing when he saw him walk in. I've never seen him so giggly. You should have seen him. You should have seen Yvonne. Her jaw dropped. It was funny. Oh, but he was so well dressed and everything. And the car he drove. My, oh, my..."

"Yeah..." I breathe out.

She lowers her voice, "I thought Ryder's father wasn't in the picture."

"Things... happened and..." I try to explain, "He's... here."

"It must be nice now."

My plastered smile has been on my face too long. I know she means well, but I don't feel like talking about Judah 'being in the picture' or view it as 'nice'. I grab my wallet and take out what I owe, handing it to Jenny.

"Uh, here's for last week. Anyway, I got to get going," I turn to escape quickly.

I rush to catch the bus for work. Why is the world infatuated with that man? So what if he's the father of my kid? It doesn't make him a good person.

Before Judah, they looked down on me or pitied me. They even looked down on Ryder. But Judah drives in an expensive car and walks about in a suit, and they all lose their minds. What? Now that Judah's 'in the picture', I'll gain respect from others?

I'm fine on my own, thank you very much.

♠♠♠

I dash around with a platter and drinks. Sweat sticks to my brow. My feet collect blisters.