David tugged his seatbelt tight across his chest as I turned onto the suburban avenue.

“You pay the utilities yourself?”

“I put every automatic utility payment on my credit card so my mother never has to worry about late notices,” I said.

“And she pays you back out of the household budget?”

“She runs the joint checking account,” I said.

“I send three thousand dollars into it on the first of every month to cover the mortgage and food.”

David nodded once and looked out at the bare oak trees lining the curb, but he didn’t ask anything else.