Mom arrived at our apartment forty minutes later with Paul beside her.
She knocked once, then used the spare key I had forgotten she possessed.
Theo covered his ears when the door struck the wall.
“You can’t come in like that,” I said.
“I’m his mother.”
“You remembered that today?”
Paul closed the door behind him.
“Watch your tone, Marcus.”
Ruth stood from our kitchen table.
“Let him speak.”
Mom stopped.
The color left her face, but only for a second.
“You followed them home?”
“They invited me.”
“I invited her,” Theo said.
“She needed tea.”
Mom looked past him.
“Theo, go to your room.”
“No.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“What did you say?”
“He said no,” I replied.
“You don’t get to order him around after six years.”
Mom dropped her purse on the counter.
“I allowed you to care for him because you begged me.
Don’t confuse that with legal authority.”
“You said you couldn’t handle him.”
“I said he needed stability.”
“I gave him stability.”
Paul stepped closer.
“And today you sent him alone into a store, where security was called.”
Theo’s hands froze over the sugar packets.
Ruth pointed at Paul.
“He saved my life.”
“That is not what the manager told us,” Paul said.
“How did the manager get your number?” I asked.
Mom glanced at Paul.
He answered too quickly.
“We have contacts.”
The cashier, Jenna, had written her number on Theo’s receipt before we left.
I pulled out my phone.
“Let’s ask someone who was there.”
Mom reached for it.
“There’s no need.”
I stepped back and called Jenna on speaker.
“Marcus?” she answered.
“My mother says the manager told her Theo caused trouble.”
“That’s not true.
Mr.
Keller apologized after you left.
We also saved the security video.”
Paul’s jaw tightened.
“Hang up.”
Jenna heard him.
“Who is that?”
“My mother’s husband.”
There was a pause.
“Then tell him the video shows Theo helping Ruth.
It also shows Mr.
Keller making a phone call immediately afterward.”
Mom picked up her purse.
“This is ridiculous.”
“To whom?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Paul does.”
Paul’s palm came down on the counter.
“That video belongs to the store.”
Theo jumped, and Ruth moved in front of him.
“You will not frighten him,” she said.
Paul laughed once.
“You still think money makes you important.”
Ruth’s hand tightened around her cane.
“No.
But it does make dishonest people careless.”
Mom turned toward her.
“You abandoned David when he needed you.”
“I refused to pay his gambling debts.”
“You always punished him.”
“I offered him work.
He wanted a check.”
Mom pointed at the letter.
“And now you come here with an old piece of paper and poison my sons against me?”
“Your sons?” I asked.
“You called Theo a problem and tried to send him away.”
Her face shifted.
“I was overwhelmed.”
“So you took his trust?”
“I protected it.”
“Show me the account.”
Silence filled the kitchen.
Theo looked up.
“Mom, show Marcus the account.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“I understand numbers.”
Paul picked up the letter.
“This proves nothing.”
Ruth snatched it back.
“The bank will have records.”
Mom’s expression sharpened.
“The trust was used for Theo.”
“I paid for Theo,” I said.
“Rent, food, therapy, school supplies.
Every dollar came from my wages.”
“You chose that.”
“You left me no choice.”
Mom moved closer until we were almost face-to-face.
“If you keep pushing this, I’ll take Theo back.
Legally, I can do it tomorrow.”
My throat closed.
Theo came beside me.
“I’m not going.”
“You’re fifteen,” she said.
“You don’t decide.”
Ruth lifted her phone.
“A judge may be interested in why his mother disappeared for six years.”
Paul smiled.
“A judge may be more interested in Marcus’s unpaid bills and today’s reckless stunt.”
He pulled a folded form from his jacket and placed it on the table.
At the top were the words EMERGENCY CUSTODY PETITION.
Mom took the spare key from the lock and slipped it into her purse.
