Chapter 4: The Money
“What money?””
Dad’s voice came through Marcus’s phone so clearly that Aunt Rachel must have heard it from the porch.
The knocking stopped.
Amanda stared at the front door.
Nobody moved.
Then Rachel spoke again, quieter this time.
“Amanda?””
Marcus walked toward the door.
“Don’t,” Amanda snapped.
He stopped.
“Why?””
“She has nothing to do with this.””
Dad answered from the phone.
“She mentioned money. I’d say she has something to do with it.””
Amanda grabbed the edge of the kitchen counter.
“Daniel, please. Come home and we’ll talk privately.””
“You’ve had plenty of chances to talk privately.””
“I’m your wife.””
“And Ethan is my son.””
Amanda flinched.
Marcus opened the door.
Rachel stood on the porch wearing jeans and a red sweater, her blond hair pulled into a messy ponytail. I had seen her at birthdays and Christmas dinners.
Usually she hugged everyone.
Today she looked terrified.
Her eyes moved from Marcus to Amanda.
Then she noticed Lily and me.
“Oh.””
Amanda stepped toward her.
“Go home.””
Rachel’s eyebrows lifted.
“You called me crying twenty minutes ago.””
“I said go home.””
“You said Daniel was going to find out.””
Marcus looked between them.
“Find out what?””
Rachel pressed her lips together.
Amanda pointed toward the driveway.
“Leave.””
Rachel didn’t.
Instead, she looked at the phone in Marcus’s hand.
“Is Daniel listening?””
“Yes,” Dad said.
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Oh, boy.””
Amanda lunged for the door.
Marcus blocked her without touching her.
“Rachel,” Dad said, “what money?””
Rachel stared at Amanda.
“I thought he knew.””
“Knew what?””
“Amanda…”
“Rachel, shut up.””
Rachel’s face hardened.
“No. You dragged me into this.””
Amanda laughed.
“I dragged you?””
“You told me it was temporary.””
“What was temporary?”” Dad asked.
Rachel looked sick.
“The withdrawals.””
Dad became silent.
Marcus asked, “From which account?””
Rachel swallowed.
“The education account.””
I didn’t understand.
Dad did.
His voice changed instantly.
“Ethan’s college fund?””
Amanda snapped, “It’s family money.””
“No,” Dad said.
I had never heard him sound like that.
“It was Rebecca’s life-insurance money.””
Rebecca was my mother.
The room seemed to shrink.
I barely remembered Mom’s voice anymore.
Sometimes that scared me.
I remembered her perfume.
Her yellow sweater.
The way she used to cut my pancakes into stars.
But every year, another part of her seemed to disappear from my memory.
Dad had once told me she left something behind for my future.
I never knew exactly what.
Marcus turned toward Amanda.
“You accessed an account funded by Ethan’s deceased mother?””
Amanda crossed her arms.
“Daniel gave me access to household finances.””
“Not that account,” Dad said.
Amanda’s eyes flashed.
“You’re acting like I stole it.””
“How much?””
Silence.
“Amanda.””
“Daniel—”
“How much?””
Rachel whispered, “Thirty-two thousand.””
Dad didn’t speak.
Neither did Marcus.
Even Lily understood something terrible had happened.
She squeezed my fingers.
Amanda spun toward her sister.
“You had no right!””
Rachel exploded.
“No right? You told me Daniel approved it!””
“I said he knew!””
“You said he agreed!””
“For what?”” Marcus asked.
Rachel looked down.
“Credit cards.””
Amanda laughed sharply.
“Oh, don’t pretend you weren’t happy when I paid yours.””
Rachel’s face reddened.
“That was four thousand dollars. You said it came from your savings.””
“And your rent?””
Rachel stopped.
Amanda stepped closer.
“What about that? Or the trip to Miami?””
“Stop.””
“The designer bag you just had to have?””
“Stop!””
I looked at Amanda.
Suddenly I remembered all the boxes that arrived when Dad traveled.
Shoes.
Handbags.
Clothes.
Whenever I asked about them, Amanda said grown-ups earned nice things.
But Dad had never seemed to notice those boxes.
Because Amanda usually hid them before he returned.
Marcus spoke carefully.
“Daniel, don’t discuss this further over speakerphone. Preserve your financial records and contact the bank.””
“I already am.””
Amanda’s face snapped toward the phone.
“What?””
Dad’s voice remained calm.
“While you were talking, I logged in.””
She went pale.
“There were more withdrawals than Rachel knows about.””
Rachel stared at her sister.
“How many?””
Dad didn’t answer her.
“Amanda, I’m freezing every account you have access to.””
“You can’t do that!””
“I just did.””
Amanda grabbed her phone from the counter.
She tapped rapidly.
Again.
Again.
Her breathing became faster.
“No.””
She tapped the screen harder.
“No, no, no.””
Lily whispered, “Mom?””
Amanda slammed the phone down.
“You embarrassed me in front of my children!””
Dad answered immediately.
“No. Your choices did.””
Amanda’s eyes landed on me.
For a second, I saw something ugly there.
Blame.
As if the empty bowl in front of me had somehow caused everything.
Marcus saw it too.
“Ethan,” he said, “go upstairs and pack a bag.””
Lily followed me before anyone could stop her.
In my bedroom, she sat on the carpet while I put pajamas into my backpack.
“Are you coming back?””
“I think so.””
“What if you don’t?””
I stopped packing.
She was crying again.
I sat beside her.
“You’re my sister.””
“But Mom said—”
“I don’t care what she said.””
She wiped her nose.
“Really?””
“Really.””
She hugged me.
Then I noticed something under my bed.
A white envelope.
I frowned.
“That wasn’t there before.””
I reached beneath the frame.
Dad’s handwriting was on the front.
FOR ETHAN — ONLY IF MARCUS COMES.
My hands started shaking.
Lily whispered, “Open it.””
Inside was a small brass key and a folded note.
I unfolded the paper.
There were only two sentences.
Ethan, if Marcus is in the house, give him this key.
Do not let Amanda see it.
A floorboard creaked behind us.
I turned.
May you like
Amanda was standing in my bedroom doorway.
And she was staring directly at the key in my hand.
