twice, three times, then answered.
“What?” I said.
No hello. No fake sweetness.
Just that.
“Wow. Good morning to you, too.”
He scoffed lightly, then lowered his voice as he slipped into his favorite role.
Peacemaker.
“Look, Mom told me what happened. She didn’t mean it like that. You know how she gets when she’s stressed.”
There it was.
The classic family translation.
She hurt you, but don’t make a mess of it.
“She said, ‘No one needs me,’” I replied. “She meant it.”
He insisted. “She just doesn’t want
