Playing Hooky

Mae

I walked into the office, a little harried after the new twist in my morning routine. It had been a long time since I had been a thirteen-year-old girl. Sixteen years to be exact. Hayden was a sweet girl and asked for nothing. I had offered her breakfast and the answer was tears. I hated that she was going through so much. I hated my parents for putting her through it.

It had taken some time to get her settled, her face cleaned up and then dropped off at school. I promised her a shopping trip on the weekend. The girl was in desperate need of new clothes. I wasn’t sure where my mom had gone shopping for her current school clothes, but the poor thing looked like a confused three-year-old going off to the eighth grade.

“Sleeping in?” Patrick asked. “You didn’t show up yesterday and then you’re late today. What is this world coming to when the perfect employee doesn’t do her job?”

“I’m not your employee,” I shot back, putting my to-go cup on my desk in the small office space we shared.

“I’m the owner.”

“Then pull your weight, Mr. Owner.”

“You’re cranky this morning,” he commented.

I shrugged. “Hayden is living with me.”

He stopped typing on the keyboard and looked up at me. “What happened?” he asked, completely serious.

I shrugged. “You were right. I went over there and got the book. Dad was passed out and Mom was stoned. Hayden didn’t get up for school in time and neither of them could take her. It was the last straw. I couldn’t leave her there.”

“Shit,” he muttered. “How is she?”

“I don’t know. This morning was a little rough. She needs some new clothes. I told her I would take her shopping this weekend.”

He was shaking his head. “We should have gotten her out of there a long time ago.”

“I know, but we also didn’t want to put any more stress on her than was necessary.”

“Did Mom threaten you again?” he asked.

I smirked. “I didn’t give her the chance. I told her I was taking Hayden and that was that. If she calls the cops on us like she did last time, it’s going to end badly for her. Hayden will get removed from their care one way or another.”

He blew out a breath. “So, what now?”

I sat down. “I don’t know. I didn’t really think. I just reacted.”

“It was the right thing to do,” he agreed. “We’ll figure it out. You have the spare room. It’s probably more appropriate for her to live with you.”

“I don’t mind. I’m not sure how to raise a teenager, but I guess we’ll figure it out. It isn’t like Hayden is a troublemaker. She’s a good kid.”

“Yes, she is, and she doesn’t deserve our parents.”

“I hope there isn’t too much damage,” I commented. “We turned out okay, but they weren’t like they are now.”

He looked like he was spacing out. His hands were poised over the keyboard, but he wasn’t typing. He was staring blankly at the screen. “Let’s go get her. We’ll go shopping and make a day of it.”

I looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “You want to go shopping? At the mall? For clothes? For a teenage girl?”

He gave me a dirty look. “You don’t have to say it like that.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know how else to say it. You are a thirty-three-year-old guy’s guy. Your idea of a shopping spree is you in front of your computer with your credit card out.”

He laughed. “True, but this is different. I want her to know she has people who care about her and will be there for her. If that means I have to be the purse and bag holder while you girls do your thing, so be it. There’s nothing going on here anyway. It will be good for her.”

I grinned. “You don’t have to tell me to go shopping twice.”

“This won’t all be on you,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll help. Financially. And in whatever way I can. If Mom and Dad pull any bullshit, I’ve got your back. We aren’t going to let them take her back to that shithole.”

I smiled at my brother, who could be kind of annoying. “You’re such a good big brother.”

He groaned. “Don’t start getting sappy with me.”

“Never,” I said and grabbed my coffee once again. “Are we going?”

“Yes. My car. I can’t fit in your tiny piece of metal.”

I rolled my eyes. “It isn’t that small. It’s an average car.”

“I’m not an average man.”

“If you are expecting me to agree or say something to boost your ego, you will be waiting a very long time.”

He chuckled as he walked out of the office. “I don’t need your compliments. I already know the truth.”

He drove us to Hayden’s school. I went into the office, claimed there was a family emergency, and checked her out for the day.

When she met me outside, she looked scared and confused. “What happened?” she whispered. “Did one of them call the police?”

“No,” I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Patrick and I were thinking we would play hooky today. We’ll go shopping and just have a day off. ‘Mental health day’ I think is what we’re calling it these days.”

She smiled. “Okay. That sounds fun. What kind of shopping?”

“For starters, some new clothes for you,” I told her.

“Patrick is going with us?” she asked with the same confusion I had felt earlier.

I laughed. “Yep. It was his idea.”

I led her to Patrick’s SUV. He was on the phone when we both got in but quickly ended the call. He turned to look at our little sister, who shared many of our same features, but instead of the green eyes, Hayden had a pretty hazel. “Are you ready? Mae has her credit cards on standby. We are going to show her how to really shop.”

Hayden and I both laughed together. Patrick’s hatred of shopping was widely known. “I’m ready,” Hayden agreed. She already sounded much better.

I hoped we weren’t too late to save her from what could have been a horrible fate. I needed to spoil her to assuage my own guilt over the situation. “The Roosevelt?” I asked, looking at Patrick.

“I’m on my way,” he answered and put the SUV into gear.

We started at one store and meandered through the many stores, letting Hayden lead the way. “I feel like the porter,” Patrick complained as I handed him another bag. “Or a Sherpa. Maybe we should have rented a donkey.”

Hayden giggled. “I can’t believe how much stuff you guys are buying. Can you afford it?”

“Absolutely,” I told her, trying not to think of the credit card bills that would be coming next month. “Besides, it has been way too long since I’ve had a good shopping spree.”

“Me too,” Patrick chimed in.

“Why don’t we get some lunch?” I suggested. “I’m starving.”

With our bags filling the back of the SUV, Patrick drove us to one of our favorite restaurants. We enjoyed a great lunch, keeping the conversation light and friendly and never mentioning our parents. The idea was to take Hayden’s mind off the situation. We didn’t want her worrying about her future. It was important she could have this time to be a carefree teenager.

Patrick dropped me off at the office to pick up my car before we all headed to my apartment in Chestnut Hill. Hayden eagerly took all of her bags to what I was now calling her bedroom. My apartment wasn’t large, but it was adequate for the two of us—for now.

“That was a good idea,” I told Patrick.

“Thanks. She seems to be doing okay.”

I nodded. “I think she will be, but you know this is just a reprieve. Once they sober up, they are going to pitch a fit.”

“And we’ll be ready for them,” he said, keeping his voice low.

“I hope they just go away and let us live our lives,” I whispered.

He sat down on my couch, staring out the window of my eighth-floor apartment. I could tell something was on his mind. I sat down and waited.

“The phone call earlier,” he started.

My stomach dropped. My immediate reaction was it had to have been my parents. They were coming after Hayden. “What? Are we in trouble? Am I in trouble?”

“No, not that. I’ve been in talks with someone. I’m thinking about selling the company.”

I did my best to hide my reaction. It was technically his company. He had picked up the pieces my father left behind and went through all the legalities to make it his. After I graduated from NYU, I had come home to help him run it. It was his business. Despite my statement to the contrary, I was his employee. “I see,” I said, trying to think of something supportive to say.

“You don’t think I should,” he said.

“No. I think you need to do what makes you happy. This business was never the thing that made you happy. You did it because it was the family business. You pulled it out of the hole and made it into something profitable. It has supported us both.”

He looked at me, his green eyes troubled. “Do you think I should? Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear. Tell me your honest opinion.”

I smiled. “I think you should do what makes you happy,” I repeated. “I will support you no matter what you decide.”

“What about you and Hayden?”

“What about us?”

“You just took her on. If I sell, you might be out of a job. I don’t know if they will keep you on.”

I shrugged. “I can get a job anywhere else. I’m good at what I do. Philadelphia is a big city. There are plenty of companies and even rich guys that need a public-relations person. That’s me. Hell, they might even pay better.”

He smiled. “Maybe. But then you would have to show up on time.”

“What do you plan to do if and when you sell?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I’m not sure. I’ve been doing this for so long, I never really thought about what else I wanted.”

“But you know you don’t want this?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because it was Dad’s thing. It was never my thing. Or maybe it’s because it’s Dad’s thing and I want to sever those ties.”

I nodded. Inside, I was torn. I knew legally it was Patrick’s business, but I felt like it was mine as well. It was the family thing. I had put a lot of time and energy into the business. There were a lot of good memories associated with it. Back in the good days before my father’s alcoholism dominated his life.

I remembered being younger than Hayden and helping him sort through new shipments of antiques and artifacts. I remembered the smell and the excitement. It was a connection to the good part of my childhood.

I didn’t want to let it go.