“Taking? I earned it.”
“You called it payment.”
“Exactly. I walked you boys around for hours.”
“And we hated it.”
Richard scoffed.
“You survived.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then what is?”
Michael pushed the bucket toward him.
“Look at that. Ethan carried it around all evening. He was proud of what he’d collected. You took the things he was most excited about, and when he asked you to stop, you called him ungrateful.”
Richard folded his arms.
“Children need to learn to share.”
“Sharing means someone chooses to give you something. You didn’t give them a choice.”
Carol, who had been standing by the counter, lowered her eyes.
Richard turned toward her.
“Are you going to tell me I did something terrible too?”
She hesitated.
“I did think you took too much.”
“You could’ve said something.”
“I should have.”
Michael looked at his mother.
“Mom, you used to tell us to let him have the candy.”
