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Glancing around the restaurant, I notice it’s nice. As much as I don’t want to admit it, Kip has a pretty good thing going here. All the tables are filled and the customers look happy.
Well, all but one. When I look over to Callan, he’s just staring down at his pizza picking at it like it’s some sort of science experiment. This wouldn’t bother me so much if one, pizza wasn’t one of his favorite foods and two, I can see Kip’s son beside him elbowing him like he’s trying to get him to do something he doesn’t want to do. This is also the friend of the kid who kicked his magazine out of his hand on Tuesday. He probably thinks I don’t remember that, but I do.
“Hey, bud.” I tap my knuckles to the table to get Callan’s attention. “Is everything okay with your pizza?”
“Um, yeah.” He pushes his plate away from him. “I’m not hungry.”
Madison turns to face Callan. “Are you feeling okay, honey? Pizza is usually your favorite.”
Callan turns a little red with embarrassment from his mom babying him and nods. “I’m fine. Can I go play the video games?”
I reach inside my pocket for quarters. “Yeah, here’s some money.”
Callan takes off, and the kid jumps up to go with him when my leg has a cramp. I straighten it out and send Kip Jr. straight to the floor.
“Easy there, buddy,” I say, helping him up. See? Nice guy sometimes. “You gotta watch where you’re walking.”
The kid glares a look similar to his father because he knows I tripped him, but nobody else in this place does.
Madison jumps up from her chair and starts looking around frantically.
Grabbing her hand to get her attention, I look up at her, “What’s the matter?
“Noah. He’s gone. He was right here and now he’s gone.”
I know what you’re thinking. We’re in a restaurant; there’s only one entrance, and he’s only three so he couldn’t get too far, but that’s where you’re wrong.
Noah’s a fucking ninja.
I’m not even kidding. It’s like he’s an escape savant.
Ten minutes later we find him with another family eating pizza with them.
“We weren’t sure what to do, so we gave him a slice of pizza,” they say, handing Wolverine and his pizza back to us.
I look at him, and then the nice couple and back to Noah in my arms. “You’re so weird.”
I'm not sure what’s weirder, them feeding him or Noah being completely comfortable with another family.
“I like them,” he says as I take him back to our table and hand him to Madison.
“Where was he?” she asks, checking him out and looking for scratches.
“With another family. Turns out, he wants a new family too.”
Okay, not my best line but damn it, Kit pissed me off.
“God, you can be such an asshole sometimes!” Madison says when we’re outside, keeping her voice down so the boys can’t hear us.
I hit a nerve, didn’t I?
“I’m just curious here.” I lean back against her car, my arms crossed over my chest. “When you said, and quote me here because I remember the words exactly, Kip said you’d react this way… what exactly were you referring to?”
“I just talked to him about it briefly,” she admits, her words shaking when she sees how pissed off I am about this.
Have you ever seen those movies where they stick an unsuspecting person in with a bull, and they have to try and escape with their lives?
That’s what today felt like. Gang up on Ridley because he works all the time. Well, fuck that. “So what, you complain to him about me and how fucking awful your life is? Does he let you cry on his shoulder so you’ll spread your legs for him?”