Chapter 6 - The Card Shop
Michael took Ethan to a sports-card shop across town.
Ethan looked suspicious the moment they parked.
“You said not to sell it.”
“We’re not.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Bring the card.”
Ethan hugged his backpack.
“No.”
Michael almost smiled.
“Good.”
They went inside anyway.
The owner knew Ethan.
He had bought the Curry card there with birthday money and half a year of saved allowances.
Michael explained quietly.
The owner nodded.
Then looked at Ethan.
“You trying to sell?”
Ethan glared at his father.
“No.”
“Good.”
The owner pointed toward the display case.
“Because right now I’d pay you less than you paid me.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why?”
“Market’s down.”
“So I’d lose money.”
“Probably.”
Michael said:
“That’s one lesson.”
Ethan rolled his eyes.
“What’s the other?”
Michael took a breath.
“Your stuff is not our emergency fund.”
Ethan looked away.
“If we get kicked out, I’m living there too.”
“We are not getting kicked out this week.”
“Week.”
Michael heard it.
He changed the sentence.
“The rent will be paid by Monday.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
This one had a plan behind it.
The owner moved away, giving them privacy.
Ethan whispered:
“What if your company needs money again?”
Michael felt the shame of that question.
“It doesn’t get house money again.”
“Mom said that.”
“She was right.”
That answer surprised Ethan.
“You’re not mad at her?”
“I’m angry.”
“At her?”
“At a lot.”
He sat on a stool beside a display case.
Ethan remained standing.
“Is she leaving you?”
Michael’s chest tightened.
“Why would you ask that?”
“She has an apartment.”
Michael stared.
Ethan’s face changed.
He realized he'd revealed too much.
“How do you know?”
“I heard.”
“Last night?”
Ethan nodded.
Michael sat quietly.
“What do you think it means?”
“That she wants another house.”
“It’s an apartment.”
“Same thing.”
Fair.
“And if she has one, you’ll live here.”
“I don’t know.”
“Then Noah and I go where?”
Michael looked at his son.
Twelve-year-olds want maps.
Adults were giving him fog.
“If your mom and I ever live separately, we figure that out together.”
“Are you?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan’s face tightened.
“You guys say that about everything.”
Michael almost defended himself.
Instead:
“Yeah.”
Ethan stared at the floor.
“Does Mom know you lost all that money?”
“Yes.”
“Did you lose it gambling?”
Michael blinked.
“What?”
“Ben Harris’s dad lost their money gambling.”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
Michael could have said business debt.
Meaningless to Ethan.
He tried again.
“I borrowed money to keep my company going after Mom and I had agreed I wouldn’t risk family money again.”
Ethan watched him.
“So you lied.”
Michael swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Did Mom?”
That one was harder.
“She kept some money private.”
“Is that lying?”
Michael thought of the apartment.
The freelance work.
Her fear that he would spend everything on the company.
“Yes.”
He looked at Ethan.
“And I gave her reasons not to trust me with money.”
Ethan sat beside him.
“Who’s worse?”
Michael almost laughed.
“That is not how marriage works.”
“It’s how fights work.”
Good point.
Michael looked through the store window.
“You shoved Noah yesterday.”
Ethan stiffened.
“He kept grabbing it.”
“Why did you shove him?”
“Because I was mad.”
“Does the rent problem make that okay?”
Ethan looked down.
“No.”
Michael nodded.
“Same idea.”
Ethan understood more than Michael wanted him to.
When they returned home, Sarah was alone in the driveway.
The landlord had left.
“What happened?” Michael asked.
“He’ll wait until Monday.”
“Any late fee?”
“Seventy-five.”
“Fine.”
Sarah looked at Ethan.
“You okay?”
He nodded.
Then:
“Mom, are you moving out?”
Sarah froze.
Michael closed his eyes.
No more secret staircases.
Sarah looked at her son.
“I don’t know.”
Ethan gave both parents a look of exhausted disgust.
Then walked into the house.
Sarah watched him go.
“You told him?”
“No.”
“He heard.”
“Everything.”
She rubbed her forehead.
Michael said:
“I’m selling the trailer tomorrow.”
She nodded.
“And Northline gets moved off joint checking tonight.”
Another nod.
Michael looked at her.
“What about Friday?”
The apartment.
Sarah’s expression changed.
“I’m going there tomorrow.”
“To sign?”
“I said I’m going there.”
Michael took a breath.
“Can I come?”
She stared.
“Why?”
“To see what you were planning.”
Her face hardened.
“I wasn’t planning against you.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
She studied him.
Then:
“Fine.”
It was not an invitation back into her trust.
May you like
It was an address.
For now, Michael took it.
