A kid doesn't really understand child support.
All Jessica knew was that she only saw me on the weekends and many times not even then. I didn't have one of those plush nine-to-five jobs that most people took for granted, probably the main reason Daddy didn't live at home any more, and two weekends in a row I'd been out of town making the money I gave her mother.
Jessica hadn't said a word to me since getting into the car. Instead she choose to stare out the window. I knew she was hurt but I wanted to get past the pain to a better place. "I've missed you."
Jessica picked at an invisible spot on her knee.
"Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"
Dead silence. My usually talkative eight-year old daughter had become the Sphinx. "Did anything bad happen?"
Jessica mumbled at the dashboard.
"Sorry, but I didn't hear you."
"Somebody stole my bike."
After checking the rearview mirror, I pulled to the side of the road and stopped. "Your bike was stolen?"
She nodded, and finally turned to face me. "Last weekend I rode to the park and when it was time to leave my bike was gone."
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