Jo Miller tapped her fingers on the soft leather wrapped steering wheel of her Mercedes Benz ML320. The black SUV sat idling behind a long line of cars waiting in line to pick up children in the Friday Noon-Rush at BCS. It was another dreary and windy Fall afternoon in Ballard and the windshield wipers pulsated every 30 seconds to keep the light drizzle away. The vehicle was perfectly silent save for that noise.

Bob’s picture was crudely taped to the dashboard above and to the left of the heat register. She and their closest friends had staged an intervention that August and Bob had chosen to take the opportunity to go to invasive and intensive treatment in California until late January. Life had been hard with Bob’s abuse – and it had been hard with him absent.

People think money fixes everything; whatever… Jo thought as she looked forward to the line of cars filled with parents – many of whom she knew – many of whom who were wealthy – many of whom had similar problems she was experiencing.

As her car inched closer to the front entrance, Jo saw her daughter Alex jogging toward the late model SUV. If it had been a maroon Chrysler minivan, it would’ve stuck out among the late model luxury vehicles; but in this lineup, Alex had to look for the aftermarket polished chrome wheels her Dad had had installed before bringing the car home to her mom with a bow on top.

Opening the door, she tossed her bag in and silently buckled her seatbelt.

“It’s nice to see you too dear,” Jo said, as she proceeded to pull the car out toward the exit, “what’s eating you this afternoon? And what d’y’wanna eat for lunch?”

“Nothing mom.”

“Alex. Knock it off and talk girlfriend.” Having children young had it’s perks – Jo saw through the nonsense quicker than some older parents; and felt much more confidence in cutting through the crap.

“Well, Jordan and I got these today.” She showed her mom crafty invitation from Georgia.

“And…”

“Jordan says she isn’t going. And I know Georgia doesn’t have many friends and I know she spent a lot of time thinking about who to invite – and making these invitations – and carefully planning her party –and it’s going to really hurt her feelings if Jordan doesn’t go. But she’s so stubborn and she’s made up her mind.”

“Well why doesn’t she want to go? When is it?”

“It’s not the schedule. It’s something else….”

“Well what?”

“Mom – I don’t think I can say…she told me in confidence…”

“Alex you’re the one who brought it up – I’m not trying to pry – I’m not trying to drag gossip out. You should know that I’m the last person who wants to spread gossip.”

Alex knew how badly gossip had hurt she and her mom through her dad’s addiction, abuse cycles, and now his treatment. It wasn’t fun. She knew her mom was really a safe haven.

“Well – Jordan’s been wetting the bed. Like major. For a few weeks. She even went to the hospital and had this sleep test thing to check her sleep patterns or something. That was last night.”

“Oh?” Jo hadn’t heard this from Sally, but they hadn’t talked about the kids in the past month – only Ted and his escapades with that tramp Melissa. As far as Jo knew, Alex didn’t know about the affair.