Trouble-Maker

"So," Frida questioned, "What are we doing today?"

I glanced over to her and realized that I'd have to take her with me all day. She offered me a fake grin when she noticed that I was watching her. I just shook my head at her with a chuckle. "I have to go into work for a couple hours. One of the parents requested to speak with me."

"To speak with you?" Frida pondered out loud, "Does that mean you're in trouble?"

I shrugged and turned my vision back to the stretch of high way in front of me. "Lets hope not."

It took about twenty minutes to get to the La Petite daycare that I work at. I pulled into the closest parking spot and turned off of the car. "Let's go," I told her, Frida causing her to look up at me, confused.

"I have to come in?"

I nodded, "I'm not leaving you out in the car alone for two hours."

She groaned but listened to me anyways. "Are there a lot of little kids here?" she asked as we walked in. I nodded as the sound of children playing met our ears. "They're loud!" Frida told me in an exasperated tone, all her hopes of peace and quiet being shot down instantly.

I shrugged with a sly smile. "They're kids."

I walked over to the front desk and smiled widely when Jamie, our receptionist was sitting there smiling back. "Morning Atticus! Who are these lovely girls?" She questioned in a bubbly tone, like always.

"These are my sisters. This is Frida," I motioned, "And this is Nico Moon." I introduced, causing Jamie to grin even wider and stand up, placing a clipboard on the ledge in front of me. I shuffled Nico to my left arm as I signed in and Jamie spoke again.

"Your parents sure chose some interesting names," she laughed and took the clipboard back again, "You have a brother too, don't you?"

I looked up to her and nodded. "Maxamilian," I confirmed, "My dad likes to make things up and stick his children with them."

"Well, I think he's pretty creative."

"See you later, Jamie. I have an appointment with Mrs. Kent. Jonas's Mom. She called yesterday and scheduled and appointment with me today." I said while rolling my eyes, "That woman always has something to say."

"You got that right," Jamie laughed as she waved goodbye to Nico causing the little girl to giggle and cover her eyes with her hands.

Frida followed me down a hallway silently, only the sounds on the kids playing could be heard. I pushed open a door and peaked in on the playroom, seeing at least 15 or 20 kids running around, playing with things. When I didn't see a child that looked like they were choking, hurting anyone, or being hurt, I shut the door and wandered into a different room, one that looked like an office, where I kept all the kids' files.

I set Nico on the floor and she wandered over to the little couch in the back of the room. I smiled as she climbed on top of it and sat down, patently like she had done so many times before. I went to a filling cabinet and looked for the file labeled 'Kent, Jonas.' I pulled it out and set it on my fair sized desk.

"So what do you do around here?" Frida asked with a bored expression.

I smiled at her. "I'm in charge of the safety and health of the kids around here. Granted, we all are. But I make sure they don't eat anything they're allergic to, play with anything that might give them a rash. I tell their parents if they get hurt and how it happened, like if they're playing with a plastic truck and the edge scratches them or something."

"Oh," she murmured, "Is it a fun job?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I get to play with children all day. What more could I ask for?"

Frida said, "A mother who isn't about to come in here and complain."

We both laughed, similar sounds coming from our lips. "Touché," I acknowledged with a smile, causing Frida to laugh and Nico to giggle because we were.

A knock came to the door and I directed my attention over there quickly. "Mrs. Kent! Hello," I greeted as I immediately straightened up.

"Hello Ms. Gurewitz," she said formally as she walked in and stood behind a chair that was in front of my desk. "

I smiled. "Please just call me Atticus."

Mrs. Kent looked surprised for a moment but then nodded and offered a tight smile. "Okay, well, Atticus, can we talk about my son, Jonas?"

I nodded with a smile and walked around the desk with Jonas's file in my hand. "Fri, why don't you take Nico and go either to the play room or there's a break room down the hall, the door should be open, there's a snack machine in there if you're hungry. I know you haven't eaten very much at all today."

Frida nodded and picked up our youngest sister. "Lets go, Moon," she murmured as he disappeared out of the room and shut the door behind her.

"Sorry," I apologized, "I'm watching my sisters today. Please have a seat. Do you want me to go get Jonas?"

She shook her head. "Oh no, it's alright. His father will be picking him up later, but I just want to speak with you about his interaction with the other children. I'm afraid that he's being picked on."

I was surprised. "Really? You think that Jonas is being bullied? He's such a sweet child and he has many friends here. Why do you suspect that?"

She looked upset. "He came home two days ago with a large bruise in the center of his back. Like someone punched him."

I was relieved, "Oh Mrs. Kent. I'll assure you that Jonas is not being bullied. He fell out of the castle that's in the play room and landed on a toy. I informed Mr. Kent when he picked Jonas up, I assumed that he would tell you."

Mrs. Kent looked relieved and then worried again. "No, I was not informed on what happened. Jonas's father doesn't live with us, he merely takes Jonas while I'm at work and drops him home later."

I thought of an idea quickly. "Well, would you like to be informed personally whenever something like this happens? I could call you."

She nodded and brushed a strand of hair back into place. "Yes, thank you. That would stop me from worrying so much. Well," the she stood, "Now that is settled, I should be leaving."

I stood up and nodded my head once. "Thank you for stopping in, Mrs. Kent."

"Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I'm assuming since you're watching your siblings that today was your day off. So thank you."

I shrugged, "It's not a big deal. I'm babysitting even on my days off. It's not much different. But I'll be seeing you. Have a good day."

Mrs. Kent nodded. "Same to you," she said before exiting my office.

Once she was out of view I sighed noticeably and relaxed. I put Jonas's file away and then wandered down to the break to search for Nico and Frida When I walked in they weren't there. I sighed and turned to walk back down the same way I had just come. I opened the door that led into the room full of kids. I waved a a few of the women who were in there, some standing and watching over and others getting on the floor and playing with the kids.

"Hey, Heather," I greeted as I walked past the blonde woman who was crouched down on the floor, running a brush through a little girl's hair and putting little braids in.

"Atticus! What are you doing here?" She questioned warmly.

I smiled. "I had a meeting with a parent. But now I can seem to find my sisters..."

Heather looked around the room, searching for Nico, seeing as I had brought her here with me a few times before. "Ah," Heather smiled, "There she is!"

I followed her pointing and rolled my eyes when I saw the little girl clambering to the top of a little plastic slide with Frida standing behind her, with bored expression on her face.

"I'm guessing that the older girl is your other sister?" Heather said, but it was still a question.

I nodded. "That's Frida."

The little girl who was sitting in front of Heather spoke. "Come on, Heather. Braid my hair."

Heather smiled at me as I turned to walk away. I navigated around small children as I made my way to my two sisters. One unhappy and the other one having the time of her life. "Hey, do you guys want to head out? Dad should be getting done soon, I think. I need to drop you off at the studio before he leaves."

Nico shook her head and ran to the stairs of the blue and orange slide again but Frida side-stepped so that she was in the way. "No!" the baby shouted in her little voice.

Frida shook her head and leaned down to attempt to pick Nico up. But Nico wasn't having any of it and she threw herself backwards and landed on the ground, her head hitting the foam that was covering the floor. She immediately starting crying.

I sighed and walked forward to yank her up and cradle her head against my shoulder. "That's what you get when you toss yourself to the floor."

She kept crying although it couldn't have hurt that bad. She wailed, tears running down her face as she pointed an accusatory finger at our sister.

"Calm down, Moon," I said as I approached the front desk again, "You're alright, I promise. See you, Jamie," I added as I waved goodbye. "Do you guys want to stop at Burger King for lunch?"

The tears seemed to disappear at my words and Nico nodded, going quiet as Frida agreed.

By the time we got to Burger King it was one o'clock and there was a text from my father telling me that he would be done, hopefully, in about 30 minutes and to meet him in the lobby at Epitaph Records.

"Guys, we're going to have to go through the drive-thru, we don't have time to sit down and eat," I said to them. Neither minded much. We weren't really a sit and eat together kind of family.

"Thanks, enjoy your food," the young boy said, looking into the car. Frida ignored him and reached to take the bags from me.

I drove forward while trying to hand the food to them. There were two bags and I told Frida to rip up Nico's chicken nuggets and give her the box with them in there. She did that and soon enough we were all eating on our way to Epitaph.

"Come on guys," I rushed, "Hurry up." I put Nico's food back into the bag and carried her and the food as Frida followed behind me quickly, trying to get signed into the building and into the lobby.

The receptionist was one we knew well and when she noticed me, she waved the three of us past, into the main lobby were the elevators were and the two hallways on either side of the room, leading back to the recording studios where our dad said he was today.

I set Nico down on a couch in the lobby and handed her her box of chicken, telling her not to spill. Frida sat down in a chair next to her and sipped on her Frappe patiently. "I'll be right back," I told them, "I need to use the restroom."

Frida waved her hand at me, not even bothering to look in my direction.

"Okay then," I grumbled as I turned and crossed the room, making my way towards the right-hand hallway where the first set of bathrooms were.

As I exited the bathroom a few moments later, wiping my hands on my jeans, I bumped into someone. "I'm sorry," I said automatically and then looked up. The man in front of me had long black hair and was looking down at me with a playful apologetic smile on his full lips.

"Excuse me," he said, dark eyes flicking down to me, "I didn't mean to smash into you like that. The fucker shoved me." It was only then that I noticed that there was even anyone else around us. The second man looked shockingly similar the the one who I crashed into, but his face was slimmer and I could tell that they were of no relation, it was just their similar styles made them look alike.

"I'm Ronnie," the first one introduced, "This is Jacky."

"I'm Atticucs," I said. I glanced past them down the hall to where my sisters were waiting and then looked back to the two boys before I spoke. "I'm sorry, but I have to get back. Nice, umh- running into you."

The man, Ronnie, nodded as he grinned. "And we must get back to the studio. See you later, doll."

I watched as the two of them walked past me and disappeared down the hallway. Passing by all the records that were on the walls in cases and gold and platinum in color. I forced my feet to move and began walking away, catching Ronnie's eye as he looked over his shoulder. That same crooked smile appeared on his face and I tried not to smile back or shake my head at him. I just kept walking as the hallway opened back up to the main room.