Page 22 of Work with Me

“Tomorrow? No, it’s Saturday.” But he wasn’t joking. He gave me a look that reminded me of Mom’s pissed-off-about-the-salt one.

“I’m serious. Can’t you homeschool me or something?”

“Oh.” A dozen scenarios shifted through my brain, all terrible. “No, buddy. I have to work full-time to support us and to save money for your college. Grandma Diane and Grandma Esmy work, too. School is the best place for you. Why don’t you want to go?”

He shrugged. “The kids aren’t nice to me.”

Not nice?What the hell? “What about your friends? Aren’t Tamika and Palmer nice to you?”

“Yeah, but the other kids make fun of me.”

Anger rose hot and swift inside me. “Why would they make fun of you?”

He shrugged again and started dissecting a piece of popcorn.

Who was I going to have to beat up? “I’ll schedule a conference with your principal. We’ll get them to stop.”

“No! Forget I said anything. I’ll handle it.”

For the thousandth time, I wished Melissa were here. Or that she’d appointed someone better, someone wiser, as Noah’s guardian. Or that she’d ever told us who his father was so I could drag him in here and make him talk to his son. Because I had no clue what to tell my nephew.

Tiannah was always telling me to let him fight his own battles so he’d learn to protect himself when he was older. Maybe that was the right path here. I’d certainly needed those skills.

“We’ll check in next week, see how things are going. If it’s not better, I’ll schedule that conference. Okay?”

He shrugged again. Kid was going to give himself a repetitive-strain injury with the shrugging.

Maybe a story would help. Esmy told a lot of those. “You know how I’ve told you there aren’t a lot of women in my field?”

“Yeah.” He started shredding another kernel.

“Sometimes people—guys—try to bully me because I’m different. Or exclude me.” Like Jackson had done yesterday when he’d taken the guys out for drinks. And, exactly like he’d planned, they came back this morning full of inside jokes and camaraderie. Jackson had a split lip, and Tyler, when he’d finally dragged in at ten, had a black eye. They’d assured me they hadn’t fought each other, but no one would tell me what had happened.

And now Tyler looked at Jackson like he’d hung the moon. I should’ve been proud of Jackson for finding a way to bond with his team. I guessed I was, underneath my disapproval of his methods. And my jealousy. Jackson was doing what he should’ve done three months ago when he’d come to Austin. I should’ve encouraged it. But all I’d been able to do was glare at him.

“So what do you do?” Noah tossed the popcorn confetti into his mouth and finally met my gaze.

“I show them I deserve to be there, same as them. I work harder than they do. I never miss a deadline, and my work is always top-notch.” I sat up a little straighter.

He wrinkled his nose. “That sounds like it sucks, never being able to make a mistake.”

All the starch left my spine. “It kind of does.”

“And what if they’re still mean to you?”

“Then you have to tell someone.”

“Like your friends? Or your family?”

If only it were that simple. “At work, same as at school, you tell someone in charge.” I wasn’t about to tell him that hadn’t worked for me, either. In my first job after graduation, an older programmer had harassed me almost from my first day. I’d finally told Melissa, and she’d hounded me until I’d gone to my manager. He’d stopped the inappropriate jokes and the touches that made my skin crawl, but he hadn’t stopped the dirty looks my male coworkers had given me, the grunt work I’d been assigned with no chance for recognition or advancement. I’d put up with it until Melissa died and I’d realized life was too precarious to stay in a job I hated. I’d quit, taken three months to get my head back together, and gone to work at a different company.

“Like a teacher?”

“Or the principal. One week, and if it’s not better, I’m scheduling a conference.” I’d stay on their asses until Noah felt safe again. No one was doing to Noah what had been done to me.

“What makes that guy so great?” I gestured at the superhero on the preview screen.

“He’s, like, really strong.”

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