Gary dropped his purse on the seat next to him and headed off, thinking about some alone time with his husband.
With his youngest now going to go to the library and hang out with new friends, all of his kids would be out of the house for a bit.
He'd already sent quick text messages to Timothy and Bert...He scowled at the name Bert. That girl Gillian was nice enough, but was worrisome. She'd been the one who started calling Roberta 'Bert' in grade school, and it stuck.
By his math, they would have three hours of alone time. It wasn't enough, but it would have to do.
Timothy scowled, as he saw the message come in. He knew exactly why he needed to make himself scarce. Maybe Zuleika's parents would let him stay for dinner.
Roberta Rogers, or Bert, saw the message. He was glad he'd asked Gillian already.
"I thought cell phones weren't allowed at school," a voice said. Bert turned. It was the new kid, Courtney something or other.
"They aren't, really. But it's a stupid rule and even the teachers ignore it as long as we don't use them during class. If they do, most of them will make us pull the battery out. They are supposed to confiscate it and make our parents come for it, but no one ever does. That was just my mom texting me anyway. She thinks its a stupid rule too. She wants me to be able to call her."
"I'm Courtney, by the way," the new kid said.
"Bert."
"Bert?"
Bert blushed, a bit, embarrassed. "It's short for Roberta. Everyone calls me Bert though. Since I was little. Except my parents and some of the teachers."
"Wasn't making fun of you or anything," Courtney said. "Would you rather I call you Bert or Roberta?"
Bert thought about that. No one had asked him that in a long time, to his recollection. He was glad Gillian wasn't in this class with him. Gillian did tend to scare people off sometimes. "Whatever," he said, as if he didn't care.
"I have one of those names too, you know. There are boys and girls with the name Courtney."
