"You don't have to but, for better or worse, she is your mother." Carey said. "You only get one of them." She found herself in the unenviable position of defending a woman she personally disliked. "Grace, I know she's made mistakes."
The teen snorted. "Just a few."
"I don't see a halo over your head," Carey said. "How many times did she have to come pick you up from school because you managed to get yourself suspended? How about the police station?"
"So I'm a lousy daughter," Grace said, still staring at the glass egg. "She should be happy to get rid of me then, right?"
Those walls go up so fast, don't they? "If she was happy to get rid of you she wouldn't have shown up here on the first visitation day," Carey said. "She loves you, Grace. It may be hard to see sometimes but she does." She waited for a response but none came. "Uncross your arms and look at me. You think I don't remember how excited you were that day when you were waiting for her to come? It may be hard to admit it but under all that pain you love her, Grace. Don't look away." She waited for the teen to focus on her again. "You do."
"You want her to get a copy of the scores? Fine, I don't care."
"Watch that tone with me," Carey warned. "I'm not the one you're mad at." Actually at the moment you're probably pretty pissed at me, she thought, seeing the teen glaring at the paperweight. "The decision is yours, Grace. I know you're hurt and angry with her now, but that doesn't mean you have to cut her out of your life."
"I'm not ready to forgive her."
"I know, but someday you will," Carey said. "It's a lot easier to fix a bridge if you don't bum it first." She reached out and took away the paperweight. "Up here, Grace."
There was a long silence before Grace spoke. "I suppose if I saw her I could be civil," she said. "But not if he's with her."
"He won't be," Carey said. "Not here, anyway. But once you're out in the real world that's a problem you're going to have to face."
"No I won't," Grace said. "I’ll just tell her if she wants to see me that she has to leave that jerk somewhere."
"So you're willing to work at fixing your relationship with your mother?"
Grace shrugged. "If she wants to."
"I didn't ask that," Carey said. "I asked if you were willing." Look at those gears turn, she thought as she waited for Grace to answer.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"So you'll send your mother a copy of the SAT scores along with a note telling her she can come visit?"
“Just her," Grace said.
“Just her," Carey repeated. "You know, if your mother and father both came for visitation, it would be an excellent time for a family conference."
"You mean put my mother and father in the same room together?"
Grace shook her head vehemently. "No way."
"Why?"
"Because they'd fight. They can't stand the sight of each other. I don't want to listen to them yelling. I'd rather visit with her for a little while and then spend the rest of the time with Dad."
"Don't rule the idea out completely," Carey said. "A family conference could be very beneficial." There was a quick rapping, then the door swung open.
"We've got a problem," Instructor Gage said from the doorway. Carey knew from her friend's look that it was serious. "Waters, we'll talk later."
"Yes, ma'am."
Waving Sue in, Carey closed Grace's folder as the teen left. "What's going on?"
"Our little saboteur struck again. Broke into the shed and punctured every ball."
Carey sighed and reached for her cap. "And I was hoping it would be a quiet day."
With Carey working late and her homework done, Grace decided to go to the rec room and hang out for a while. She was pleasantly surprised to see Jan playing solitaire at the table. "Hey."
"Hey there," Jan said. "Thought maybe you forgot this place existed."
"I get bored with jigsaw puzzles and checkers," Grace said. "So have you heard anything?"
"Nothing more than the usual," Jan said. "Most think Grenner and her toadie did it, but no one saw them."
"So those bitches get away with it again, right?" Grace picked up a paddle. "You serve."
"Looks like it," Jan said as she retrieved the ping pong ball and the other paddle. "And we suffer with no more basketball, soccer or volleyball."
Grace spun the paddle in her hand. "So what are we supposed to do for PT? Run every day?"
"Unless Scary and Short Shit decide to set up more obstacle courses," Jan said. "Ready? Zero serving zero."
“Oh please no,” Grace said as she returned the serve. "Anything but obstacle courses."
Jan hit the ball hard, grinning when Grace missed it. "My point. Hey, walking piles of shit coming in."
Grace, who had been kneeling down in search of the ping pong ball, glanced at the doorway. Lauren Grenner and Sally Dawson entered while several girls decided the barracks would be a better place to hang out and left. There's gonna be trouble, Grace thought as she tossed the ball to Jan.
"Well look who's here," Grenner said. "If it isn't Scary's bitch."
"Go away, Grenner," Grace said. "Jan, serve."
"Scary must be working night tour tonight," Lauren Grenner continued. "Why else would her little slut have time to hang out here?"
Three more girls left the room. "What's the matter, Waters? You deaf or something?"
Carey will be pissed if I get in a fight. It was that thought that kept Grace from snapping back at Grenner. "Come on, Jan. Let's go," she said, tossing the paddle on the table.
"Hey, bitch, she's talking to you," Dawson said.
"You got something to say, Toadie?" Jan said, moving between Grace and the other two girls. "I'll kick your ass from here to Mohawk and back."
"Stay out of it, Bowen," Grenner said. "Don't you have to give Gage her nightly licking or something?"
"Ignore her," Grace said to Jan. "She's just trying to get us into trouble." She looked to see a handful of girls still in the rec room. They're hoping for a fight, she thought. "Come on, Jan."
"Yeah, these two assholes aren't worth it," Jan said, making a false lunge at Dawson, then smirking when the smaller teen ran behind Grenner for protection. "That's right, Toadie. Hide behind your mistress like a good little fraidy cat."
This isn't going to stop, Grace thought as she walked to the door.
"Oh look," Grenner said. "Scary's little slut is leaving."
"What the hell's your problem?" Grace snapped, turning around and glaring at her adversary. "Why do you always have to start trouble?"
"Ignore her, remember?" Jan whispered as she ushered Grace out the door and down the steps.
"Fucking bitch," Grace hissed, kicking at one of the loose stones lying on the asphalt. "Can't even play a damn game of ping pong without her causing trouble." She heard the rec room door open. "Ah damn."
"Where you going?" Grenner taunted as she and the others came outside. "Gotta hurry back home and get ready for Mistress Scary?"
"Go to hell, Grenner," Grace said, stopping halfway across the paved lot.
Grenner laughed. "Go to hell, Grenner," she mimicked. "Make me, bitch."
Grace heard the doors of the barracks open and knew others were coming to see what they hoped would be a fight. "Naw, you're not worth the effort," she said, glancing around for any sign of an instructor.
"No, come on, you big-mouthed bitch," Grenner said. "You think you can beat me?"
Grace shook her head dismissively and started walking away, trusting Jan to watch her back. "I'm not going to fight you."
"Fucking coward," Grenner snarled. "You don't want to fight me because you know I'll kick your ass."
"I don't want to fight you because you're not worth getting in trouble for," Grace said. "Come on, Jan."