Chapter 10 - The Price of Quiet
I didn't go to Tiffany's sister's house. Lena sent a preservation request to Good Order Studio and notified Tiffany's attorney that we disputed any claim of parental consent. Kelly contacted the retreat directly to make clear she had not approved an assessment or reservation.
Maya needed us to stop solving her life in rooms where she wasn't present. At dinner I told her, plainly, "There was a program Tiffany wanted you to attend. Your mom and I have said no."
"A school?" Maya asked.
"More like a place where kids stay for weeks. You're not going."
She picked apart a cinnamon roll with her fingers. "She said I was almost ready."
"Ready for what?"
"To stop embarrassing you."
Ruth turned toward the sink so Maya wouldn't see her cry. I couldn't look away.
"You have never embarrassed me," I said. "I was supposed to notice what was happening. I didn't. That's on me."
Maya's eyes narrowed with twelve-year-old precision. "You always say that when you're leaving again."
"I'm not leaving tonight. And you'll be able to see whether I mean it tomorrow."
She considered that. Then she asked if she could go back to orchestra. That was the first thing she'd asked for herself since I'd come home.
After dinner, Lena called. A preliminary review of our shared spending showed that Good Order had charged thousands in catering and production costs to a card I routinely paid without checking individual statements. Tiffany had used my money to run the sessions where Maya worked.
"Does that make me responsible?" I asked.
May you like
"It makes you someone who has a lot to answer for," Lena said. "And there's something else. Tiffany's attorney just sent a letter. She's claiming Maya volunteered, and that you knew the entire time."
Attached were screenshots of messages supposedly written by me.
