Chapter 3
For several seconds, Brenda said nothing.
I turned on the kitchen light. She winced and looked up at the scrap in my hand.
“It isn’t what you think.”
“I don’t know what to think. Tell me.”
She folded her hands on the table.
“Victor said Leo could help us qualify for a family savings program.”
“What program?”
“He handled the paperwork.”
“Did Leo agree to open an account?”
“He signed the form.”
“He thought he was signing a receipt.”
Brenda’s face hardened. “I was going to tell him once everything was settled.”
I sat down because my legs were unsteady.
“Was money taken out in his name?”
“I don’t know what Victor did after I sent him the forms.”
That was the first answer she had given me that sounded close to the truth. It was also the worst one.
The lawyer called at eight the next morning. Her name was Evelyn Price. I sent her photographs of the receipts, transfers, and envelope scrap. She asked me not to confront Victor and arranged to see me that afternoon.
Before the meeting, I went to Maya’s house.
Leo was at the kitchen counter eating toast. He looked relieved when I walked in, then worried when he saw my face.
“Did she tell you?” he asked.
“Some of it. I’m finding out the rest.”
Maya poured me coffee. “He told me he’s been working four nights a week.”
I had thought it was three.
Leo stared at his plate. “She said I owed an extra month because I was late once.”
“You don’t owe Brenda rent,” I said.
“She gave me a chart.”
“What chart?”
He pulled out his phone and showed me a photograph. Brenda had listed monthly amounts beside due dates. At the bottom was a line marked Balance.
The number was one thousand dollars.
I felt sick.
“I couldn’t pay all of it,” Leo said. “That’s why I took the Thursday shift.”
I wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“You’re done paying. We’ll work out the job hours together.”
“I like the people there,” he said quickly.
“I know. I’m not taking away something you like. I want you to have time to be sixteen.”
He nodded, though I could tell he didn’t quite believe the problem was over.
At Evelyn’s office, I showed her the photograph of the chart. She asked whether Leo had his own bank account. He did. I had helped him open it on his fifteenth birthday.
“Check his credit reports,” she said. “As his parent, you can request information about accounts opened in his name. We should also contact his bank.”
The word credit made me grip the arms of my chair.
“Can someone borrow money using his information?”
“It is possible to try. We need records before we know what happened.”
I had brought Leo’s birth certificate and Social Security card from our home file. Evelyn checked them and asked where they were usually kept.
“In a cabinet upstairs. Brenda knows where.”
She wrote that down.
By evening, I had spoken to Leo’s bank. His own account was safe. A separate inquiry showed that an account had recently been opened with his information elsewhere. We would need to request the records.
I told Leo what we knew while we sat in Maya’s living room.
He looked at me for a long time.
“So my signature could be on something I didn’t agree to?”
“Yes. If it is, we’ll tell the bank exactly what happened.”
“Will they believe me?”
“I’ll be beside you when you tell them.”
He nodded. Then his expression changed.
“Dad, Victor called the house once.”
“When?”
“About two weeks ago. I answered because Brenda was outside. He asked if my school address was still the same.”
“What did you say?”
“I asked who he was. He said he’d call back.”
I called Evelyn. She asked Leo to write down everything he remembered while it was fresh.
That night, Maya insisted I stay for dinner. I almost refused. Leo was helping her chop vegetables, and I wanted one hour with him that didn’t feel like an interview.
When he laughed at one of her jokes, I realized how long it had been since I’d heard that sound at home.
After dinner, Brenda called.
“Is he there?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“I want to speak to him.”
“He’s resting. You can send him a message, and he can decide when to answer.”
“He’s my stepson.”
“He’s also the person you lied to.”
Her breath caught.
Then she said, “Victor knows you’ve started looking.”
“How?”
“I called him.”
I stepped into the hallway.
“What did you tell him?”
“That you found the papers. He said if you go to the bank, they’ll blame Leo for signing.”
I looked through the doorway at my son, who was drying dishes beside Maya.
“Tell Victor he can speak to my lawyer,” I said.
May you like
Brenda’s voice dropped.
“He already knows where Leo works.”
