Okay, I didn’t know what to do about this but I did know I had to do something and whatever it was wasn’t going to be in front of the boys or my customers.

“Olivia,” I took a step toward her, “how about you come into the back and we can talk?”

She totally ignored me and snapped at her sons, “What’d I say?”

“It’s Slim’s weekend,” Laura told her, sidling close to her side and Olivia’s head turned sharply to her ex-sister-in-law.

“It is? Then where is he?”

“Like I said, he’s working,” Laura answered.

“Well, if he’s working then he’s working and that’s his problem but my sons are not with that…” she jabbed a finger at me, “bitch.” And at this there were a number of audible gasps.

Okay, now hang on a minute.

I was not a bitch and I was not about to be called one but definitely not in front of Rex and Joey and my staff and my customers.

“I cannot believe you,” Laura hissed, anger turning to fury as the attention around us went from curious to avid.

“That is way uncool,” Kalie stated from behind the counter.

“Totally uncool,” Nora chimed in.

“Like, off-the-charts uncool,” Suni put in her opinion.

“How about we take this to my office,” I suggested again, holding tight to my control on my temper, “or, if that doesn’t work for you, outside.”

Olivia’s angry eyes slashed to me and she declared, “You do not exist.”

I ignored that idiotic comment and replied, “For Rex and Joel, please, Olivia, let’s discuss this elsewhere.”

She ignored me again and looked to her sons, “Right now, what did I say? Let’s go!” Then she started marching to the door.

“Kalie, go get your phone, call your uncle,” Laura ordered. “Rex and Joey, you stay put.”

Olivia stopped marching and turned to Laura. “Don’t you tell my sons what to do.”

“I’ll do what I like and stop making a scene,” Laura snapped. “This is where Tess works.”

“Do I care?” Olivia retorted.

“No, but I do and so does Uncle Slim and everybody else,” Kalie entered the fray.

“What’s going on?” Kellie asked from behind me, I turned to her, saw her eyes on Olivia, her face scrunched and then she muttered, “Oh, I know what’s going on.”

“Mommy, what’s happening?” Ellie called, her voice shaky, her eyes and all the eyes of her mermaid friends riveted to the activity and not in a good way.

“It’s okay, baby,” Laura called back, “Mommy’s just talking with Olivia.”

“Please, please,” I cut in, sensing the situation was deteriorating and, getting desperate, my eyes moving to Olivia, “can we talk about this in the back?”

Olivia ignored me yet again, her face going stone cold and her voice dripping with ice when she clipped loudly. “Joel! Rex! Now!”

I moved closer to her (though not that close, she had nails and I was afraid she’d use them) and said softly, “I’ll ask again, Olivia, because you’re distressing the boys and Ellie and her friends, can we talk about this in the back? When we get back there, I’ll call Brock and you can discuss this with him.”

“Fuck Brock and f**k you! ” she suddenly shouted, my torso jerked back like she hit me, Laura’s pissed off energy snapped through the air, I sensed movement behind the counter so I knew Kalie and/or Kellie were on the go and I opened my mouth to speak but someone beat me.

And that someone was Joel.

“That’s not nice,” he whispered, his voice trembling and I stepped aside and turned to see his face pale and his hands clenched in fists at his sides. “You shouldn’t talk to Tess that way.

She’s a nice lady, she’s nice to everyone and that’s not nice.”

Taking him in and hearing his words my hatred for his mother achieved new heights.

“Joey, honey, get your brother and go into the back,” I ordered quietly.

But as I was speaking, Olivia moved quickly, closing in on Joel, she wrapped her fingers around his shoulder and gave it a yank, snapping, “When I tell you to do something, you do it!”

More gasps filled the air, including my own, both Laura and I moved in on her and Rex shrunk back but Joel ripped his shoulder from his mother’s hold and stepped back but at the same time stood firm so I stopped and so did Laura.

“It’s Dad’s weekend,” he declared.

“If it’s your father’s weekend, where is he?” Olivia returned.

“He has to work, Mom. He’s got a job. Somethin’ bad happened to someone and he’s gotta find out who did it. With Dad comes Tess and if Dad has to work then we get to be with Tess.

We’re havin’ fun here, we like it here. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’ll see me now and I’ll talk to your father later about who he allows to spend time with his children,” Olivia retorted.

Joel stared at her and I saw him battling, my heart went out to him but I was completely at a loss of what to do. He needed his father but his father was working, my phone was in the back and I didn’t want to leave the boys with Olivia to go get it and call him. And if I did and he knew this was happening, he’d lose his mind.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Laura’s phone was in her purse and she started digging into it.

Joel spoke again, quiet, soft, scared but determined. “We don’t wanna see you now.”

Oh man.

“Well I don’t care, I’m your mother and you mind me,” Olivia shot back.

“We’re havin’ fun,” Joel told her.

“I don’t care about that either,” Olivia returned.

“I know,” Joel whispered, my heart clenched and I’d had enough.

But even so, I couldn’t do what I wanted to do which was, I was ashamed to admit, get in a bitch-slapping fight with her. I didn’t think that would be good although it would feel good.

So instead, I had to try and play it cool, for Joey, for Rex and for Brock.

“Please,” I said softly, “can we talk about this in the back?”

Joel ignored me and told his mother, “You need to go.”

She blinked, her shock apparent, then she asked, “What?”

He didn’t answer his mother. He turned to his brother and ordered, “Go to the back with Kalie and Kellie.”