Chapter 13 - Saying It Out Loud
The police station smelled of burned coffee and floor cleaner.
I sat across from an officer and described what my mother had done with my information.
He didn't tell me whether a crime had occurred or what would happen to her.
He took my report and gave me a number to reference when dealing with the bank.
That was enough to make my hands shake.
Renee drove me home afterward.
"Are you okay?"
"No."
"Me neither."
We stopped for fries at the diner where Dad used to take me after soccer games.
"When I was twelve," I said, "Mom told me I was the strong one."
"You were a child."
"I thought being strong meant never making things harder for her."
Renee pushed the ketchup toward me.
"Being strong can mean telling the truth even when somebody hates hearing it."
At four, Mom called.
I answered because Lila and Jo were due home from camp.
"Did you go to the police?" she demanded.
"I reported the use of my identity."
"You'd send your own mother to jail?"
"I didn't decide what you did."
Her breath came fast through the phone.
"If something happens to me, who's going to take care of your sisters?"
The old panic rose in my throat.
Then I remembered Renee sitting beside me.
"We can make a plan for them," I said.
"But I won't keep a secret that could ruin my future."
She slammed the phone down.
That night, Mr. Flores called Renee instead of me.
Mom hadn't opened the catering kitchen all day.
May you like
Two workers were waiting for paychecks.
And somebody had taped a notice to the office door.
