Page 85 of Room to Breathe

“The meeting went okay,” Mom said, turning to look at Dad.

He rubbed at the back of his neck. “I just have to testify against a friend. Not something I’m looking forward to.”

“But they haven’t found anything on you?” I asked.

“It’s not that simple,” he said.

“If he testifies, the minor things they found will be dropped,” Mom explained.

I was confused. “They’re threatening you?”

He let out a single laugh. “No. It’s called a deal.”

“Oh,” I said. “Are you going to take the deal, then?”

“Yes,” Mom said, not letting him answer. “He is.” Mom was as ready for this to be over as anyone. After the news story came out, she’d been fighting rumors at work too. Coworkers whispering when they thought she wasn’t around, long stares, cut hours.

He cleared his throat. “I am.”

“This is good news, right?” I asked.

“This is as good as we can hope for,” Mom said.

“Things aren’t always good or bad,” Dad said. “Sometimes things just are.”

“I’m confused. If your friend was doing bad things, why shouldn’t he have to pay for that?”

“It’s not that,” Dad said, shaking his head. “He was making fraudulent claims against the government. He should be disbarred and charged.”

“But?”

“But he was a friend. AndIdon’t want to be the one to bring him down. I wish his own actions were enough to do that. But he was smart. Good at hiding things.”

“They need you?”

He nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sometimes we have to do hard things,” he said.

“And then everything will be fine,” I said. “Once you get through this.”

Neither of my parents responded.

I looked between the two of them. “You think taking the deal isn’t going to help your business?” I asked. “People still aren’t going to trust you?” Thingsstillweren’t going to go back to normal.

He gave a tight-lipped nod, confirming my guesses. I lowered myself onto the arm of the overstuffed chair next to the couch.

Mom crossed her arms, turning her attention to me. “We need to talk about consequences for whatyou’vedone.” She obviously wanted to change the subject. “For your actions lately.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Whatever you think.”

“A week no phone, no going out?” Mom looked at Dad to see if he agreed with this. He nodded and she held her hand out to me.

I gave a breathy laugh. I’d just gotten my phone back, but whatever. It wasn’t like I needed it much these days. I dug it out of my pocket and placed it in my mom’s upturned palm. “Oh, I cut up one of the school’s lock bags. They’ll probably be calling you about it. If you want to add on another punishment for that, I get it.”

My mom let out a tired breath. “A job.”