Father's Day by Simon van Booy Page B

and hold her hand. She asked if he knew any songs, but the only one Jason knew by heart was “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath.
    â€œSing it,” Harvey said.
    When her grip loosened, Jason knew she was asleep, and he went outside for a smoke. The night was cool and there were many stars.
    T HE COURT OFFICIALS wanted to know how Jason made a living, intrigued by his eBay business. Jason explained it as basically an online yard sale. When they asked about his problems with the IRS, Wanda said that Social Services was working with them directly to sort it out.
    â€œI don’t really understand this Internet business,” the woman said, “but as legal guardian, it’s also your job to support the child financially, and that means filing your taxes once a year.”
    Jason said he had applied for a job at a hardware store near the house. He said if they hired him, he could work while Harvey was in school.
    The man laughed and asked if the hardware store had a name.
    â€œHome Depot,” Jason said ironically.
    The man wrote it down and asked if Jason could give him the name of someone in human resources.
    â€œYou think I’m lying?” Jason said.
    â€œWe don’t think that at all, Jason,” the woman said.
    Jason ripped a folded piece of paper from his pants pocketand threw it on the table. Nobody moved. Then the man picked it up and handed it back to Jason without unfolding it. “I just asked because I was going to call over there and put in a good word for you.”
    â€œOh,” Jason said. “I didn’t know.”
    â€œThis interview is about how you look after Harvey,” the woman explained, “and what’s best for her.”
    The man nodded. “We have to be thorough because—as I’m sure you understand—we’re here to act in the interests of a minor, and we answer to Judge Thomas, who quite rightly errs on the side of caution.”
    â€œYeah, I get it,” Jason said. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œRemember this,” the man went on. “There is no perfect parent. We all make mistakes. You just have to do your best, keep them safe, and—you know—feed them from time to time.”
    â€œAnd love them,” the woman added. “Above all else, you have to love them.”
    Wanda took out the letters of reference from Shawn Mullen of Hempstead, Rhonda Jales of Hempstead, Taquisha Suarez of Farmingdale, and Reverend Desmond Cox of East Islip. Wanda also had an Excel spreadsheet showing how Jason had spent the Social Security payments on Harvey’s behalf.
    When it was Harvey’s turn to be interviewed, they kept her in the room for only fifteen minutes.
    On the way out, Wanda called her husband to tell him how it had gone. Then she said that Uncle Bill was taking them for lunch at Chuck E. Cheese’s.
    â€œI used to go there with my dad,” Harvey said.
    An hour later, as Harvey was shooting plastic ducks with apink gun, Wanda got a call from the courts to say they were extending the trial period to six months.
    Jason couldn’t believe it. “We gotta go through all that shit again?”
    â€œYou think it’s easy to get custody of a child?” Wanda said fiercely. “Think about it, Jason!”
    Harvey’s game ended and she reappeared, holding the tickets she’d won from the machine.
    â€œGo trade them at the counter for a prize,” Wanda said.
    â€œYou guys come too.”
    â€œWe’ll come in a minute, honey, you go on.”
    â€œThey could have been real hard-asses,” Wanda said as Harvey walked away. “They could have busted your ass. I’ve seen it happen, and it ain’t pretty, let me tell you . . .”
    â€œI was hoping today would be it,” Jason said.
    â€œThat’s just not how it works in New York. But whatever anyone says, you are her guardian, Jason. You see anyone else lining up to take care of her?”
    â€œWhat