Free Joe by H.D. Gordon

which wasn’t very often. Yet Davis continued to ask for him, and
that hurt her feelings more than she would ever admit. The deadbeat didn’t
deserve their love and affection. He didn’t deserve the air flowing through his
lungs.
    But Mina did not believe in bad-mouthing
the boys’ father. She didn’t want them to know that the man was a selfish
bastard who only cared about himself. She had to consider their feelings. Her
own didn’t matter so much. “He’s very busy. I’ll let you know when you can see
him again,” she said.
    When they returned home Mina put a
frozen lasagna in the oven and told the boys to go wash up. Tomorrow was Friday
and she had classes all day and work after that. Their neighbor, Mrs. Hubert, a
retired widow, watched the boys for Mina at night when she had to work at the
restaurant, but she had no place for Davis to go during the day. She was
graduating at the end of this semester, and finals were approaching. This was a
huge problem.
    While the boys were cleaning up for
dinner, Mina went to her computer and sent an email to all of her teachers. All
she could do was hope that they would be understanding, but knowing her luck,
they wouldn’t be.
    By the time she had Dominic in bed and
asleep she had received a response from all four of her teachers. She went to
Davis’ bedroom after she read the replies. His light was off, but he was
sitting up and holding a flashlight to a car magazine. He placed it down on his
lap when his mother poked her head in.
    Mina came in and took a seat at the foot
of her son’s bed. “I’ve worked out a solution,” she said. “But you are going to
have to promise me that you’ll do as I say if it’s going to work.”
    Davis frowned. “What is it?”
    “I sent an email to all of my teachers
asking if they would allow me to bring you to class with me,” Mina said. “They
all agreed, but with the understanding that you would be in no way disruptive.”
    Davis gave no response. Mina sighed.
“Davis, you have to do this for me. I can’t bring you to class if I don’t know
you’ll behave. It was generous of the professors to agree. I need you to
do this for me, baby.”
    The boy’s chin dropped a fraction.
“Okay, Mom, I promise, I’ll be good,” he said.
    Mina wrapped her child in her arms and
kissed the top of his head. “Thank you, sweetheart. I love you so much,” she
told him. “Tomorrow’s Friday, so I only have one morning class, but Monday I
have classes all day.” Mina’s arms tightened around her son and she gave a
small smile. “It won’t be so bad. You’ll get to see what college is like.”

Chapter
Thirteen
    Michael
    “Come
on, Bro. This is what college is all about,” Trey said.
    Michael looked up at his best friend and
smiled. “Really? I thought college was about getting an education. I’m so
stupid,” he replied.
    Trey rolled his eyes and flopped down on
the couch. “Funny. But for real, dude, we have to go.”
    “ You can go,” Michael said. “I
just don’t want to.”
    Trey snorted. “Yeah right, like I’m
going without you. Fine. It’s your birthday. Where you want to go?”
    Michael shrugged. “Just to a bar or pub
or something and get some beers. I don’t feel like spending my birthday with a
bunch of drunk people I don’t know.”
    “It’s not a ‘bunch of drunk people you
don’t know’. It’s a frat party, dude,” Trey said. “It’s a bunch of hot chicks
acting stupid.”
    Again, Michael shrugged. “No interest in
such things. Just a bar, a few beers, and happy birthday to me.”
    Trey threw up his hands. “All right,
bro, whatever you want, but I think you’ve lost your mind. Wait….is it because
Sara might be there?”
    “No,” Michael said, “but now that you’ve
mentioned it, that’s double the reason not to go.”
    “Dude, what happened with her?” Trey
asked. “That girl was fucking gorgeous. Shit, if you don’t want her, I’ll take
her.”
    “You can have her. She’s