Page 40 of Hot Puck
“I’m well aware.” Her gaze trails down to my feet before returning to my eyes, the sour look on her face pinching tighter if that’s even possible. “And it’s obvious the children left in your care are suffering?—”
“What the fuck?” Nudging the girls away from me, I turn them toward the car. “Get in. Close the door.”
They must know I’m about to explode or they’re happy to get away from this harpy of a woman, because neither of them argues with me. And once they’re in the vehicle, with the doors and windows closed, I turn back to the woman.
“Are you the head teacher here? Is there someone above you?”
Her back straightens and despite being half a foot shorter than my over six feet, she manages to look down her nose at me. “I’m the camp coordinator.”
“Well, let me say this and then we’ll leave, and you won’t be seeing the girls in a couple of weeks because I’m removing them from this joke of a camp. You are one of the worst human beings I’ve met in my life. How you got your job here is questionable, and let me say, when I’m done, it’s unlikely you’ll keep it. Your job isn’t to judge the children in your care, but you obviously have.”
“I’ve been running this camp for over twenty years, and?—”
“There’s your problem. You’re too old and behind the times to understand the younger generation.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“Nope. No pardon. You get nothing but what you’ve given. Those two girls have just lost both their parents and as their brother I’m now responsible for them. They are far better off being in my care than split up and put in random homes for the rest of their childhoods.”
“Those homes can offer them?—”
“No, they can’t. What they need is family. I’m their family and I love them more than anyone else ever could. And I’m done arguing with you. But you haven’t heard the last of this. I’ll be contacting the camp organizers and reporting your behavior and treatment of my sisters.”
She sputters behind me when I turn my back, but I ignore her and climb into Mom’s car. Slamming the door, I hit the start button and after checking my mirrors, reverse out of my spot.
Ignoring the many parents and children standing around staring, I leave the parking lot before I say anything to the girls. It isn’t until the camp disappears from the rearview mirrors that I speak.
“We’ll talk about what happened, what’s been happening, at camp, when we get home. If either of you tells me anything between here and there that will piss me off more, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself from turning around and running that woman over.”
“Mrs. Bertram.”
I’m not sure which of the twins speaks, the rage over the woman’s insensitive comments buzzing in my ears making it hard to hear anything.
It only takes a few minutes to drive home and when I open the garage door and pull inside, I’m surprised to see Natalie waiting for us, a look of concern on her face.
With the car in park and the engine off, I twist around and peer between the seats into the back and study my sisters.
I don’t see any visible wounds or injuries but have to ask anyway. “Are either of you physically hurt?”
“No,” they murmur in unison, their hands clasped together on the seat between them.
“Okay. What do you want to do? I was going to take you out to eat but I don’t think the conversation we need to have about camp can wait. And I’ll be honest, I don’t think I can sit through a meal and wait until we get home to talk about it.”
“I don’t want to go out,” Cass says through her sniffles.
“Can I get out?” Stell asks.
Shocked she feels the need to ask, I nod my head. “Of course you can. You don’t have to ask.”
She’s out of the car and racing across the garage toward Natalie before I finish speaking. And when she falls into Natalie’s outstretched arms, I can hear her sobs echo off the concrete floor. My stomach cramps and my fingers clench so tight they ache.
“Are you really going to get Mrs. Bertram in trouble?”
I look back at Cass. Find her eyes swimming in tears and my resolve to find out what’s been going on and take action grows so much stronger it just about strangles my throat.
Taking a deep breath, I try to temper my anger. “Yes. Let’s go in and talk, yeah?”
“Okay.” She nods, sniffs while wiping the tears from her eyes, before climbing out through the door Stell left open.
