“I kept myself safe,” I said.

“If Caleb goes to prison, it will be because of you,” she said.

“Your father is doing everything he can to hold this family together, and you are tearing it down.”

I did not answer her.

I set the receiver back on the cradle, the plastic clicking into place in the quiet room.

I walked into the kitchen and opened the lower cabinet.

The brown cardboard boxes from my last move were still folded flat behind the plastic recycling bin, covered in a thin layer of dust.