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“Just now?” I felt a guilty pang. “Mom, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I’m worried, after last night.” Her expression was tender, if strained. “I love you, honey.”
“I love you, too.”
“Youhaveto go back to rehab. I know it will work this time.”
“I don’t need to—”
“Please, I’ll pay for it. You don’t have to ask your father.”
“I thought you had joint accounts.”
“So does he.” My mother lifted an eyebrow.
I smiled. “I didn’t know you were so gangster.”
“Keep up.”
I laughed, but she was deadly serious. Something about her manner was different, as if she was stripped down, almost raw.
“TJ, no more excuses. You’re going to rehab.”
“Mom, I’m not drinking.”
“I don’t believe you.” My mother folded her arms, her lovely features stony. “You need to go back to rehab. Otherwise, we can’t even talk. Your father wants to start tough love.”
“The only love he has is tough.”
“I’m here to talk about you, not him. You attacked John. Youpunchedhim in the face.” My mother softened. “You don’t know what it’s like to see your sons at each other’s throats. You’re brothers. We’re afamily.”
“Mom, John and I are not close.”
“You used to adore him.”
“The question is, did he adore me? No.”
“Why, because he used to tell you to get lost?” My mother scoffed. “That’s normal.”
I remembered the other day, in Norwood. “He beat me up when I was little. I got stitches over—”
“Whatever happened doesn’t matter now.”
“I think it does.” My chest went tight. “When you tell me how close we are, that’s not my lived experience, as they say.”
“Still, it doesn’t justify hitting him last night.” My mother’s dark eyes widened, incredulous. “You turned on him, your own brother!”
“Mom, he turned onme—”
“Tell me, then, what did he do? How? You said he caught Runstan’s accountant stealing. He said that’s crazy talk.” My mother leaned over, placing her palms on the table. “If he’s lying, then tell me how. Explain it to me. You’ve been keeping something and it’s time to get it out.”
“Okay, I’ll tell you.” I’d already broken the seal telling Daniel, and she deserved to know as much as he did. So I launched into the story from the beginning, telling her everything except that I was a looseend. She listened quietly, taking a break only when I got her a glass of water, and by the end, she seemed terribly sad and, oddly, lost.
My mother sighed. “So John…made it all up?”
“Yes.” I felt validated, but I hardly felt good. It just made the awfulness real.
“I believe you. It makes more sense. And it jibes with what I’ve been seeing lately in him. Something’s come over your brother.” My mother looked away, her gaze unfocused. “Now I know why he’s been so excited about the Runstan acquisition. Nobody told me about the premium billing. Your father kept it to himself.” My mother slumped. “None of this justifies what he’s doing, what he’s become, to keep the acquisition on track. This is obstruction of justice. This iscriminal.”
