Brenda straightened.

“You’ve made a spectacle out of our family.”

I wondered how she could move so quickly from concern for a child to concern for a name.

“The spectacle began when formula became something Brandon wanted me to beg for,” I said.

Her mouth tightened.

She insisted that a wife ought to support a husband during financial difficulty.

I told her I had supported him through late work nights, emergency projects, and years of uncertainty.

Support was not the same as permission to steal or intimidate.