destroyed’ the moment the woman stops cleaning up everyone else’s mess.”
Three days later, Joe came to my parents’ house.
Dad met him at the gate.
“I want to see Tommy,” Joe demanded.
“Tommy doesn’t want to see you.”
“He’s ten! He doesn’t know what he wants!”
Dad looked at him steadily.
“After your mother’s party, he seems to understand the situation better than most adults.”
I stepped onto the porch.
Joe immediately began complaining that I had “left him no choice.”
I walked toward him.
“What choice did I
