I Came Home Unannounced After Four Years Abroad and Found My Wife Starved and Shaved in the Backyard. My Mother Said She’d Brought It on Herself. I Didn’t Yell

Chapter 13 — The Escrow and the Consolidation

“The company in Canada settled,” I said, keeping my arm around Phedra, keeping my voice low and confiding, the way you’d share good fortune with people you loved.

“A safety violation — the thing that hurt my shoulder two years ago.

They settled out of court rather than fight it.

One million dollars.”

I watched the number land.

I watched my mother’s eyes go, to dollar signs, and I watched my brother’s whole posture change, the sneer melting off him and something oily and eager sliding into its place.

“But it’s complicated,” I went on, before either of them could speak.