“Because Vernon has a kitchen I’ve been standing in for ten years and I don’t want to stand in it.

And because Alder’s a duplex, and if I live in one side and rent the other, I have nine hundred dollars a month coming in that has nothing to do with him or with child support or with anybody’s goodwill.”

Ruth put her pen down.

“That’s the correct answer,” she said.

“For the record, it’s also the answer almost nobody gives.

Most people want the house.”