Free Forgivin' Ain't Forgettin' by Mata Elliott Page B

as needed. Of course, Derek’s mother thought her son purchased these items with the money he earned at the bakery, but Trevor had opened up a savings account for Derek, and that’s where most of the boy’s paycheck resided.
    “Yo, yo, yo.” A voice not quite a man’s ripped through the wires.
    “Hello, Derek. What’s going on?”
    “Aw, Coach, you ain’t gonna believe it. All my stuff for the awards thingy next Saturday is missin’. The suit, shoes . . . even the socks.” He lowered his voice. “I think Trudy might have sold everything . . . for more forties.”
    Trevor was accustomed to Derek using his mother’s first name. It was Trudy’s idea. Only thirteen years older than her son, she’d been heard to say, “I’m too young for you to be calling me Mama.” Derek’s voice shot up a few decibels. “What I’m gonna do? I ain’t got nuffin’ else nice to wear.”
    “Are you sure the clothes aren’t in the house?”
    “I done looked everywhere. Trudy must’ve got my stuff when I was at my cousin’s girlfriend’s sista’s house last night, gettin’ my hair braided. I gotta keep that Iverson look, ya know.”
    If Derek was near a mirror, Trevor imagined the teenager was looking in it—patting his head and grinning at himself.
    “So can you take me shoppin’ today, Coach?”
    Trevor looked at the time again. Following breakfast, Brandi was to be dropped off at a play date in the park, and Brittney had to be taken to a 10:30 dental appointment. Trevor prayed the dentist was running on time because he was scheduled to teach a twelve o’clock baking class at Seconds. At the end of the class, he would go back and pick up Brandi and drive both girls to Grace’s. She’d agreed to babysit after Penny phoned late last night and said she was feeling worse and didn’t want the kids to catch anything.
    Neither did Trevor. Two kids sick at the same time—he’d been down that harrowing road twice last winter. All the hot soup in the world couldn’t replace what his children really wanted. Their mommy.
    Trevor swung his feet off the bed. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he pinched the bridge of his nose, rushing his thoughts through the rest of today’s schedule, trying to find a spot for Derek. There didn’t seem to be one. This afternoon Trevor had a meeting with a potential client that he couldn’t cancel on again. And then he had to do laundry, or they’d all be staying home from church tomorrow. “We’ve got all week, plenty of time to figure something out. So don’t worry, okay?”
    Derek didn’t answer right away. “Yeah, okay.”
    Trevor disconnected, sorry he’d disappointed Derek, but he had almost more than he could carry on his back for one day. This single-parenting thing—well, he’d developed a new respect for it.
    Trevor exhaled a gust that seemed to come all the way from his toes, then reached for his Bible and slid from the bed to his knees. He quickly searched for the familiar scripture that reminded him where his help for today’s challenges resided.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
    Cassidy cringed and covered her mouth, smothering a scream as she walked into the kitchen and a ball of fur the size of a subway rat, wearing a red collar with a silver bell, skittered across her undressed feet.
    “Don’t be alarmed, that’s just Poopie.” Odessa watered the small potted plants on the windowsill above the sink. “She’s with the Monroes. Poor thing was accidentally locked in the basement. Guess that’s why you didn’t meet her yesterday.”
    Cassidy tightened her lips with a grimace. She was
not
a cat person. “That thing was in my room,” she complained. Cassidy had wanted to catch an extra hour of sleep, since Arlene, the senior center administrator, called last night and said a replacement volunteer had been scheduled, and Cassidy wouldn’t be needed at Caring Hands today. But the customary quiet of Cassidy’s morning had