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What I hadn’t told them was my ex was paying for it.
The place was great though. It was state of the art, with qualified teachers, lots of resources, and perfect for my little smarty pants, who could already write her name and read some basic books. She had friends here, the other kids not seeing her grubby, simple clothes and cheap shoes. At least not yet. She was happy and learning, and that was all I cared about.
I got her out of the back seat and smiled at her skipping toward the gated entrance. Her backpack jostled on her slim shoulders, and her ponytail swung side to side. When I caught up, I pushed the security buzzer and waited to be let in.
“Lyric?”
“Yep. It’s us,” I told the static-laced intercom.
“Uhhh…”
I frowned at the speaker and then pressed the button again when there was no further reply. “Sarah? Is everything okay?”
“Hang on a second, I’m coming out.”
Weird. Normally they just unlocked the doors, and we walked right in.
The young woman appeared a moment later, slipping through the doorway onto the covered patio with us. She patted Amelia on the head when she threw herself at the woman’s legs, wrapping her arms around them in a greeting hug.
“My grandma forgot my name yesterday, Sarah. She kept calling me Lyric. But that’s Mom’s name.”
Sarah smiled down at my tiny daughter, but it didn’t meet her eyes, nor did she respond to Amelia’s tales. “Have you spoken to Lleyton?” she asked me.
I cocked my head to one side at the mention of my daughter’s father. “I try not to make a habit of that.”
Sarah grimaced, and I knew I should have said something else, but I was tired and snappy and so ready for bed, the words were out before I’d even thought of them.
She cleared her throat. “This is awkward, but he didn’t pay her fees. As such, Amelia’s spot was cancelled as of last Friday.”
“What?” I roared.
Zero to a hundred in seconds. That was me all over.
Sarah winced. “Please don’t shoot the messenger. It wasn’t my decision.”
I took a deep breath, because it wasn’t Sarah I was angry at. “No, no, I’m sorry. It’s him I want to yell at, not you. Is there anything I can do to fix this? How much does he owe? I could pay some of it now…”
Like, the seventy-five dollars I made stripping last night. I had a feeling he was quite a bit more than seventy-five behind though, if it was bad enough for them to kick Amelia out.
Sarah covered my hand as I rifled through my purse for the money I’d made last night.
“Even if you had the money to pay the debt entirely, we’ve already given the position to another child.”
My heart sank. “You can’t have. It’s only been a weekend since she was last here.”
“We have a very long waiting list. The first person we called accepted the position.”
I groaned. I couldn’t blame the school or the parent who’d snapped up Amelia’s spot. I would have done the same.
I could blame my pain-in-the-ass, irresponsible ex, though.
“What’s going on, Mommy? I want to go play with Julie.”
I squatted to Amelia’s height and took her arms in my hands so I had her full attention. “I know, honey. We just need to sort something out with Miss Sarah. I’ll call your daddy, and we’ll get it fixed. Just hold tight, okay?”
A car pulled into the parking lot behind me, the tires squeaking on the blacktop.
Amelia raised an excited hand and waved. “Daddy! Katherine!”
