She stared at me.

“He did what?”

“Used my name to borrow seventy-five thousand dollars.”

“He said he was managing a few bills for you.”

“He wasn’t.”

Brenda opened the folder with my permission and read the application.

She had seen my handwriting on school permission slips, birthday cards, and notes tucked into lunch bags for nearly four decades.

“That isn’t yours,” she said.