Red’s Hot Honky-Tonk Bar by Pamela Morsi Page A

know what it was about. She didn’t know these kids or what their problems were.
    “Look, it’s a summer thing,” she said, leaning forward to add sincerity to the lie she was forming to tell. “I wanted him to improve his Spanish, so I bet him he couldn’t speak just Spanish all summer long. If he makes it until class starts on Monday, he wins.”
    From the corner of her eye she detected both Olivia and Daniel staring at her in openmouthed disbelief. Ms. Kilheeny, however, was delighted.
    “Oh, I love at-home educational motivation!” she gushed. “I’m sure these children are going to fit in here just perfectly.”
    Red smiled back at the woman, pleased. As Ms. Kilheeny continued through the paperwork, Red relaxed back in the chair and caught the children looking at her. Daniel’s expression was confusion. But Olivia’s spoke volumes of silent disapproval.
    Red gave a slight shrug. Maybe she should have tried to explain why a boy with a mother at war, a father far away and a grandmother who’d had a stroke could choose not to speak his first language. But Red lived a life where she tried not to owe people explanations. She had no desire to change that now.
    “So all of this seems fine,” Ms. Kilheeny said, still shuffling through the papers. “I’ll put Olivia in class with Ms. Gomez. And Daniel…let’s see…Daniel, we’ll put you in Mrs. Reardon’s first grade. There’s a shortage of boys there, you can make up the numbers.”
    “Great,” Red said.
    “So that looks like everything…Oh, wait.” Ms. Kilheeny glanced up at Red. “I’ll need your proof of residence.”
    “Oh sure,” Red answered, pulling open her purse and fishing through it for her driver’s license. She handed the card over and the administrator glanced at it.
    “No, this has your old address on it,” she said. “I need something that proves you reside within the school district. Your mortgage papers or rental contract, even a water or electric bill will do.”
    Red stared at the woman for a moment. “I don’t have a written contract,” she said. “And my…uh…my landlord pays the utilities. But we live right up the street here. We’re within walking distance.”
    Ms. Kilheeny nodded and smiled. “Yes, of course, Mrs. Cullens, I just need something official to verify that.”
    “I don’t have anything official.”
    “Well, we have to have something or we can’t enroll the children.”
    “We have to be enrolled!” Olivia insisted. “It’s no good starting late. If you’re not there the first day, then you’re a new kid and that’s twice as hard.”
    Red didn’t know if Olivia’s desperate plea was meant for Ms. Kilheeny or herself, but the woman continued to simply look at her for an answer.
    “Could I…uh…could I go outside and make a phone call?” she asked.
    “Yes, you do that,” Ms. Kilheeny said, “and I’ll dot the i’s and cross the t’s on the rest of the paperwork.” Her smile was still pleasant, but Red knew that she’d messed up by not having some piece of paper from Cam. She was sure that other grandmothers would never fail to have everything that was required.
    “You kids wait right here, I’ll be right back,” she said.
    Red hurried out of the office and through the front door. Her cell phone didn’t actually require outside use, but she was in dire need of fresh air.
    The phone rang twice before he picked up. She quickly explained her problem to him.
    “So, do you have any ideas? Can you write me up some kind of rental agreement or something?”
    “Sure, I’ll run by there,” he said. “I’m on my way out of town, but I can swing by.”
    “Out of town? Where are you going?”
    “We’re playing Schroeder Hall tonight. I told you that.”
    “Oh yeah, right. You did tell me that.”
    He chuckled ruefully. “You know, Brian’s girlfriends always keep up with where he’s supposed to be and make sure he’s there,” Cam said. “I guess they’re checking up to see