Page 328 of The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The Second Collection
I’m no expert, but Naomi does not look fine to me.
Mac steps back and leans against the wall beside the door. He crosses his arms over his chest. “She’s completing the twenty-eight-day program, or I’ll have her committed.”
Amy shoots to her feet. “What?”
“You heard me. She’s a danger to herself. She finishes the program, or I’ll have her committed. I’ve already gotten advice on this. I’m within my rights as her next of kin and I’m not backing down this time?—”
“Mom,” Naomi interrupts, a wash of color blooming on her cheeks as she glances from me to her mother. “I’ll stay. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“We just talked about how much time you’re losing at school, Nay-Nay. You can’t afford to be out for a whole month.”
“Youtalked about how much time I’m losing,” Naomi mutters. “I told you, I’m keeping up with my classes. I’ve even gotten a tutor for multivariable calc now. We’re doing sessions over Facetime.”
Amy plants her hands on her skinny hips. “That is not a replacement for a classroom experience.”
Naomi looks distinctly uncomfortable and buries her face in her bouquet, sniffing the sharp-sweet, grassy scent.
“Mac,” Amy continues. “You’re damaging your daughter’s chances of getting a degree. As an educator, I can tell you how critically important attendance and classroom participation is. Don’t you care about her education?”
“I care about herlivingto get her degree. If that’s what she wants.”
Naomi shoots Mac a glance that I’d swear is grateful.
“Of course, she wants a degree. I won’t have you talking her out of finishing college just because you stopped at high school.”
“This isn’t about me,” Mac says evenly, although I’d be pissed at that dig if I were him. “It’s about Naomi deciding what she wants. If it’s a degree, she knows she has my full support. If it’s something else, I’ll support her in that, too. What she’s not doing is going back to school and starting up on the speed again.”
“It’s notspeed,” Amy hisses. “God, Mac, you can be so ignorant sometimes.”
“I know how to Google,” Mac responds. “And I can read an entry on WebMD. I also know you’re defensive because you’re using again. I can see it in your eyes and the way you can’t sit still for two minutes. You’re not mine anymore, Amy, and I don’t have a say in how you poison yourself, but I do have a say in Naomi’s future, and I’m telling you both right now, it’s going to be drug-free, whatever she chooses.”
Amy shoots a glare at me that’s so venomous I recoil in my chair.
“How dare you criticize me in front of thispre-teenyou’ve brought?—”
Mac pinches the bridge of his nose. “Amy, let’s take this out into the hall.”
“Oh, no, you brought her here. You can stand there and listen while she hears some home truths?—”
“Actually, I’ll go wait in the hall,” I say, starting to rise out of my chair. “Seems like you need to discuss things as a family.”
“Please stay.” Naomi’s thin hand circles my wrist. “Mom, if you’re going to yell at Dad, could you do it outside?”
Amy swings an incredulous glare at her daughter. I guess Naomi’s used to that medusian gaze because she just shrugs.
“Fine.” Amy grabs up her designer handbag and stomps past Mac, pushing open the door into the hallway.
With a sigh, Mac follows her.
I can hear Amy ranting at Mac before the door even closes.
Naomi and I sit in awkward silence for a long minute. Finally, she says, “I apologize for my mom.”
“Don’t apologize for her. You didn’t make her act that way.”
Naomi shrugs. “She says I did ... I do. She says I just need to get myself under control and everything will be fine, and she could stop treating me like a baby.”
“Do you feel out of control?” I ask.
