"Don't."
I did. I called the kids over and put them on the phone one at a time. When they were gone, I came back on the line.
"You shouldn't drag the children into this, Samantha," he said.
"Drag them into what, pray tell?"
He sighed. When he was done sighing, I heard a voice whisper to him from somewhere. A female voice.
"Who's that whispering to you?" I asked.
"Don't wait up."
"Who's that?"
But he disconnected the line.
We were late for Open House.
I had a hell of a time getting the kids ready, and had long ago abandoned any notion of making dinner. We popped into a Burger King drive-thru along the way.
"Tell me what you guys want," I said, speaking over my shoulder. We were third in line at the drive-thru. The kids were wearing some of their best clothes, and I was already worried about stains.
I looked in the rearview mirror. The kids were separated by an invisible line that ran between their two back seats. Crossing the line was grounds for punishment. At the moment, Tammy was hovering on the brink of that line, making faces at Anthony, taunting him, sticking her tongue out, driving him into a seething rage. I almost laughed at the scene, but had to do something.
"Tammy, your tongue just crossed the line. No TV or Game Boy tonight."
Anthony said, "Yes!" Then pointed at his sister. "Ha!"