Kindergarten Baby: A Novel Read Online Free Page A

bricks had suddenly crushed the life from her petite body. She silently gave thanks that the end of the school day was near. She could hang on for another thirty minutes. She had to.
    “Miss Lindsey!” whined Bobby.
    Lindsey shook her head for the millionth time. “Bobby, you know I don’t call on students that are being noisy.” Maybe by the end of the year he would finally get the idea.
    He sat quietly while the next student shared his picture, then she did call on him.
    “Um, um,” he said in his shrill voice, “I worked really hard on my picture, and I like it. It’s me. I’m sick, and I’m wearing my favorite Rug Rats pj’s. I had to stay home from school.”
    Bobby’s art was always a little on the bizarre side, and this picture was no exception. He definitely had a style: chaotic. He could make a picture of a flower look like a monster. If he drew a cat, it became a devil-cat, with daggers for claws and spikes for teeth. In her opinion, Bobby’s pictures were far more appropriate for a Steven King movie than a kindergarten classroom.
    “Thank you, Bobby,” she said sweetly. “We have time for one more. Who else would like to share?”
    “Miss Lindsey, who is that the man in Bobby’s picture?”
    Without hesitation, Bobby answered. “That’s my dad.”
    “Wow! Your dad gets to stay home with you when you’re sick?” asked Connie. She sounded slightly envious.
    “Just when he’s sick, too.”
    “What’s he holding?” Joseph asked.
    “His medicine and the big stick. He carries it because he’s the big dog at our house,” said Bobby, pleased to share.
    “That’s a pretty big thermometer, Bobby. I’m sure your dad took good care of you.”
    “Oh no, Miss Lindsey. It’s not a thermo…‌nomo…‌mometer. It’s his power stick. It gives him power, and it makes mom be good and—”
    The buzzer rang, and the kids jumped to their feet, forgetting all about the power stick. Saved by the bell. Lindsey said ‘goodbye’ and ‘see you tomorrow’ to each of her students as they left, and she made sure that Bobby received a giant-sized smile. Lindsey was suddenly concerned that he would tell her something that could not go unreported. She could tell he was getting close.
    He’d never mentioned his dad before, and the man had never come to school. Not even for Open House Night. And now she had to wonder about this ‘power stick.’ Was it a sign of violence at home? Lindsey hoped it wouldn’t turn out to be a CPS (Child Protective Services) case, but on the other hand, Bobby was a strange kid. Maybe it was nothing more than that, she tried to convince herself. Maybe she was just overreacting because her own life was so unbearably awful.
    If only she had her own power stick. A little superhero talent, maybe some Pokémon energy…‌something! With supernatural powers she could right all the wrongs she witnessed at school. She could spin the earth around backwards like Superman had done in the movie, undo the catastrophic event that had plagued her since childhood, and go back to the happy days when her marriage was new, fresh, and alive. When Anthony had loved her, and only her.

CHAPTER FOUR
    They’d been married in a setting perfect for Snow White, complete with woodland creatures chattering all round them and the Big Thompson River gurgling just a few feet away. Beside Lindsey stood the handsome prince. Her handsome prince. They exchanged simple gold bands and spoke traditional wedding words, pledging to always be faithful to one another. Everything had been perfect.
    Now he stood before her, a completely different man. A man she didn’t know. He’d taken most of her heart, and today he’d come back for the rest of it.
    “No, Anthony. You can’t take him,” she pleaded. “Please don’t take him. He’s all I’ve got.”
    He’d run off with another woman then come back to take the dog, too? Who stooped that low? But how could she stop him? Call the police? No, they wouldn’t