Chapter 15
I kept my sweater on at the kitchen table even though the house had gotten warm. The sleeves were pushed up just past my wrists and the ribbed neck still sat high against my throat. The wood of the table was cool under my forearms. The pendant light above us hummed a little. Daylight came in flat and warm across the hardwood and up the staircase behind us.
Tara stood on the other side of the table with her hands flat on the back of a chair. She hadn't sat down yet. Her purse was on the table where Marcus had left it after we found the folded fifty tucked in the inner pocket. He had smoothed it out and put it back inside, zipped the pocket closed, and then left it there so we could all see it.
Marcus pulled out the chair next to me and sat down. He didn't touch my shoulder right away. He just looked at me and then at Tara.
"I was wrong to say what I said to you, Maya," Tara said. Her voice was even. She didn't rush it. "I accused you of taking money you didn't take. And I told your dad I wanted you out of this house. That was wrong. I'm sorry I said it and I'm sorry I put you in that position in your own home. There is no excuse for it."
I felt my throat get tight. I had been holding my breath without realizing it. I let it out slow. The tears that had been there before were gone, but my eyes still felt hot.
She didn't add a because. She didn't say she was tired or stressed or that she thought she remembered something different. She just kept her hands on the chair.
Marcus nodded once, more to himself than to anyone else. Then he looked at Tara and then at me.
"Thank you for saying that directly," he said. His watch caught the light when he moved his hand to the table. "I need to say how we do this going forward. No one in this house gets told to leave based on a suspicion. Not you, not Maya, not me. If something is missing, we check first. We look together. We retrace where it was last. We check coats, cars, counters, everything before anyone is accused. That's the rule from now on. We handle it calm and we handle it together."
Tara pulled the chair out and sat down. She folded her hands on the table. She looked at me again, not past me.
"Do you understand what your dad is saying?" she asked me quietly. "If something like this ever happens again, we do it his way. We search first. We talk. We don't blame."
I nodded. My sweater sleeve brushed the edge of the table. I tugged it down a little with my fingers.
"I understand," I said. My voice was small at first and then steadier. "I didn't take it."
"I know you didn't," she said. "I saw where it was. I was wrong."
Marcus reached over and finally put his hand lightly on my forearm, just above my wrist where the sweater ended. His palm was warm.
"Maya stays here," he said, not loud, but clear. "This is her home. That doesn't change when we're frustrated or confused. I meant what I said earlier. You deserve the truth before anyone decides anything about you. You got it today. You'll get it every time."
I looked at the purse on the table. The zipper was closed. The fifty was back where it belonged. It felt strange how small it looked now compared to how big it had felt when she first said it was missing.
"Okay," I said. I swallowed. "I accept your apology. But I need it to stay like this. I need you not to say that again. That you want me out. Even if you're mad."
Tara didn't look away.
"I won't," she said. "You have my word. You live here. I won't threaten that again."
I felt my shoulders drop a little. I hadn't known they were up so high.
Marcus squeezed my arm lightly and let go. He stood and picked up the purse and handed it back to Tara. She took it and set it on the chair beside her instead of holding it in her lap like a barrier.
"Are we good to clear the table and make some lunch?" Marcus asked. He said it like a normal question, not like he was trying to rush us.
I nodded. Tara nodded too.
May you like
"I could eat," I said, and it surprised me that I meant it.
We stayed at the table a minute longer with the light falling across the wood and the staircase quiet behind us. No one had to search anymore. No one had to prove anything else. I kept my sweater on and kept my place at the table, and my dad stayed right next to me where he had been since he walked in from the hallway.
