“I was going to tell you first.”
“When? After your mother secretly took Oliver?”
Jason looked away.
“You said you needed me somewhere else.”
“At the appointment.”
“Then you could have asked me.”
“I knew you’d ask why.”
“Of course I would.”
“And then I’d have to explain everything.”
I stared at him.
He rubbed his forehead.
“I panicked.”
“What did Diane know?”
“Most of it.”
“How long?”
“A couple of weeks.”
His mother had known we were in financial trouble before I had.
“She gave you money.”
Jason nodded.
“You went to her house last night for more.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She refused. She said she wasn’t giving me another dollar until I told you.”
I thought about Diane sitting in the school office.
“Then why did she go?”
“Because I asked her to keep Oliver while I took you to the appointment.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
“You could have asked me to let her watch him.”
