“If I withdraw before Friday, I get sixty percent of my tuition back.”

I lifted a wooden dining chair to check the leg joint and set it back down on the floor.

“You’re not withdrawing from anything,” I said.

“It’s four thousand dollars, Dad,” Mark said.

“That’d cover a retainer for a property lawyer downtown.

I found three of them on my phone.”

“Get your hands out of your pockets,” I said.

Mark pulled his hands out, but he didn’t step away from the table.