Chapter 5
Maya came home on Friday.
Dad picked her up from the bus station. I waited by the window until I saw his car.
She got out carrying a backpack and the same purple suitcase she took to college.
I ran down the porch steps.
She hugged me before I could say anything.
“You got taller.”
“You always say that.”
“Because you always do.”
I held on.
Inside, she asked Dad whether there was news.
He told her some of the withdrawn money had been frozen in an account Darius controlled. The rest would take more work to trace.
Maya sat down.
“How much is still there?”
“About nine thousand.”
She closed her eyes.
That left nineteen thousand.
I did the subtraction in my head and wished I hadn’t.
Dad noticed.
“You do not need to solve this,” he told me.
“I know. I just know math.”
Maya laughed once.
Then she cried.
I sat beside her on the couch.
She told Dad what happened before the kitchen call.
Mom said the payment was delayed. Then she said Dad hadn’t sent it. Then she told Maya she should think about taking a semester off if school was becoming too expensive.
“I thought you were embarrassed to tell me,” Maya said.
Dad’s face twisted.
“I wasn’t.”
“She said you were working extra and didn’t want me asking for more.”
“You weren’t asking for more. We had agreed on the payment.”
Maya wiped her eyes.
“I almost packed.”
I imagined her empty bed at college.
All because Mom had said Dad hadn’t sent the money.
I felt angry enough to stand up.
Nobody told me not to.
I walked into the kitchen and drank water until my hands stopped shaking.
Maya followed.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
“Mom said you needed to manage things yourself.”
Maya looked at the floor.
“She’s said that before.”
“When?”
“After I left for school. Whenever something cost more than expected.”
“Did Dad know?”
“Not all of it.”
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
“I thought she was stressed. I thought I could make it easier by needing less.”
I leaned against the counter.
“I thought I could make it easier by not wanting the shoes.”
She touched my shoulder.
“We shouldn’t have to make ourselves smaller so adults will tell the truth.”
I didn’t fully understand the sentence then.
I understood it later.
That afternoon, Mom asked to visit.
Dad told us separately and asked what we wanted.
Maya agreed to talk with her if Dad stayed nearby.
I wanted to see her too.
I missed her.
Being angry had not stopped that.
Mom arrived without her usual jewelry. She wore jeans and looked tired.
When she hugged me, I nearly started crying.
Then I remembered the black phone screen.
She sat across from Maya.
“I’m sorry.”
Maya waited.
“I should have forwarded your payment.”
“Yes.”
“I thought Darius could replace it before you needed it.”
“You told me Dad didn’t send it.”
Mom looked at her hands.
“I panicked.”
“You told me I should leave school.”
“I never wanted you to leave permanently.”
Maya stood.
“That doesn’t make it better.”
Dad moved closer but did not interrupt.
Maya’s voice shook.
“You knew I would blame myself before I blamed you.”
Mom’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
It was the first time she said it without adding an excuse.
I sat very still.
Mom turned to me.
“I lied to you too. Your dad sent the money. I used it.”
“And Grandpa’s money?”
“Yes.”
“Did Uncle Darius ask you to?”
“He told me his business needed temporary funds.”
“Why didn’t he ask Dad?”
“Because your dad had already refused to lend him money.”
The room went silent.
Dad looked at her.
“You knew why I refused.”
Mom nodded.
I turned to Dad.
“Why?”
“He hadn’t repaid earlier loans. I couldn’t verify what he said he was doing.”
Mom had known that too.
I stared at her.
“You did it anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Were you going to tell us?”
She took a long time to answer.
“I kept thinking I could fix it first.”
Maya sat down again.
“That’s how you kept making it worse.”
Mom agreed.
I wanted the conversation to end because hearing the truth hurt.
I also wanted it to continue because the lies had hurt more.
Before leaving, Mom asked whether she could take me for ice cream.
I looked at Dad.
He let me answer.
“Not today,” I said.
Her face fell.
Then she nodded.
“Okay.”
She left without arguing.
That evening, Maya and I played a board game on the floor.
Dad ordered pizza.
Halfway through dinner, his phone rang.
It was Ms. Carter.
Darius had tried to move the frozen funds.
May you like
The financial company stopped it.
And investigators wanted to speak with him.
