linger there. Jun stepped out of the touch automatically, putting space between her and her boss. Sometimes Jun wondered if Tim had a crush on her or if he was just the touchy-feely type. Either way, she felt a smidgen uncomfortable when he closed in on her personal space. But Tim offered her a decent job, a steady one, and she spent a good deal of time convincing herself it was all in her head.
“Hey, if it’s a big deal, I mean, don’t worry about it...” Tim worked hard to backpedal. He put his hands up and backed away, and it was times like these she thought, I’m just imagining that he’s coming on to me.
“Let me see if I can get someone to watch Po,” she said. “If I can, I’ll do it.”
“Great.” Tim’s eyes lit up in a way that was a little bit too excited. Nope. Definitely not imagining it. Jun definitely did not feel the same way about Tim. Not that he wasn’t a nice guy, but Jun wasn’t interested in dating or adding complications in her life right now. She’d never yet met a man who was okay with Po being her first priority.
“I’ve, uh, got to head out.” Jun finished stuffing her bag and zipped it closed, itching to get some distance from Tim. She had only two hours of day care left and thirty minutes until her Tai Chi class on the beach.
“See you Friday,” Tim called as she walked out the door. Jun waved, but thankfully, her phone rang, so she could ignore Tim’s intense blue stare.
She glanced down at the screen and saw the number of Po’s day care. Instantly, her heart slid into her throat. What had happened now? Every time she saw Day Care on her caller ID, she felt as if she were right back in that moment a year ago when she had been told by a crying teacher that somehow they’d lost Po.
She took a deep breath, shoring herself up for bad news, and answered.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Lee,” said a crisp voice on the other end of the line. The director of the day care, Penelope Anne.
“Mrs. Anne, what’s wrong?”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to pick up your son.”
“Is he sick?” Jun’s heart thudded. Sick, or worse, hurt? He always played rough on the playground, swinging his little body dangerously off the monkey bars. Jun fumbled in her bag for her car keys. They jangled in her hand as she searched for the right one. Her car was so ancient it didn’t have automatic locks.
“No, no. He’s fine. I’m afraid he’s...” Mrs. Anne swallowed “...bitten his teacher.”
Jun froze, her key in her door.
“Oh, no.” Jun’s stomach lurched. “Not again.” White-hot embarrassment flared up her neck. She’d talked with Po often about biting, but nothing seemed to get through. Last week he’d bitten a boy who’d taken his crayon, and the week before, he’d bitten a girl who’d spilled water on him, and now this. She’d thought it was just a phase, something he’d grow out of, but now she was starting to wonder if it was related to the nightmares and the stress and everything else left over from the tsunami. “I am so very sorry. Is the teacher okay?”
“Just bruised, but I’m afraid you’ll have to come get Po. And we’ll need to talk.”
Jun didn’t like the sound of that. She’d already been warned twice before: third bite and he’s out. She swung herself into the front seat and flew to the day care, nearly running a red light, she felt so flustered.
Minutes later, she was sitting in Mrs. Anne’s tidy office, with the single computer on her desk and the row of children’s artwork pinned to a clothesline running the length of the window behind her. Po was still in his day-care room, playing with big foam blocks, building some kind of castle. She’d sneaked a look through the slit of a window in the door on her way by.
“Ms. Lee, we’ve been very understanding about all the trauma Po has suffered in the last year, and we understand it’s a process. Many of our children have been affected by that horrible day, but I’m afraid we haven’t seen much progress with Po. And, as I don’t need to remind you, this is the third incident in the month, and we have certain policies at Pacific Day Care.”
Jun’s throat went dry. “I’ve been working with him, Mrs. Anne. We’ve been reading the book you lent us, Teeth Are Not for Biting.”
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid, beginning tomorrow, you’re going to have to find new care for Po.”
It was one of the worst things a working single mom could hear. “But the other day-care centers are all full. Before we settled here, we were even on a wait list!” It was true. The tsunami had wiped out so many businesses on the west side of the island, and while some were still rebuilding, like their old day care, others had decided not to rebuild at all.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Lee. We’ve done what we can, but we have to think of the other children.” A soft knock came at the door.
“Come in,” the director called, and the door creaked open as Po’s teacher led him in. Just four, yet he seemed to know he was in trouble and he came sheepishly to his mother’s side, dark-haired head hung in shame.
Jun’s heart thumped as she looked at him. For that second, she thought the expression on his face was exactly hers. Of course, strangers in the supermarket felt differently. Po’s cocoa-colored skin was several shades darker than her own, a trait from his father, but he had her eyes and heart-shaped face. She saw the similarities clear as day, but others didn’t. She supposed it was a mother’s eye.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Lee,” Mrs. Anne said in a tone that didn’t sound very much as if she were sorry.
Jun stood, realizing it was pointless to stay. “Thank you, Mrs. Anne.” She took her son firmly by the hand and led him out. Once outside the school, she turned and kneeled by Po on the sidewalk.
“How many times have we talked about biting? Teeth are not for biting.” Jun grabbed her boy’s arms and squeezed. Anger bubbled up in her, as it did anytime he acted out.
Po shrugged, eyes down, kicking his small Spider-Man tennis shoe into the ground. He was wearing his favorite Spider-Man T-shirt, faded from too many washings and already beginning to be too short at the waist. But Po wouldn’t hear of parting with it. He’d wear it every day if she’d let him.
“Why did you bite the teacher?”
“She’s mean,” Po said, crossing his arms.
“Po, I’m sure she’s not mean.”
“She was going to throw me in the pool. I told her, I don’t want to!” Po shrugged again.
Jun sighed and dropped her head in defeat. The day care had a small pool in the back where they taught kids how to swim. Po hadn’t wanted to go near any water since the tsunami, not that Jun blamed him. It wasn’t surprising he’d lashed out at a teacher trying to push him in.
“Why didn’t the teacher let you sit on the edge? Just put your feet in?” Anger boiled in Jun’s chest. What were those teachers doing to her son?
“She said I’d done that enough.” Po shrugged. “She said I needed to join the class. So she picked me up and took me to the diving board and was gonna throw me. So I...” Po hung his head, not finishing. Jun could fill in the rest.
“They should not have done that. They were wrong.” Of course, Mrs. Anne hadn’t mentioned that in the exit interview.
She wanted to march back into the day care and ask them what they were doing trying to force a boy petrified of the water into the deep end of a pool. Po wouldn’t even take a bath. And they were trying to get him to swim in nine feet of water?
At the same time, she knew it wouldn’t make any difference, and besides, Po shouldn’t have bitten anyone.
Not that she couldn’t understand why he had.
She felt frustration well up in her as she stared into the face of