Quentin offered her a glass of water—which she declined—before saying, “Oh yeah. You started telling me something about that, but Mom...”
“Needed you. Yeah, it’s a long, complicated story, and I’m in prettydesperate need of money to pay back my bail fees.”
Addison composed herself and narrowed her eyes at me.
“It would be temporary,” I rushed on. I hadn’t gotten my bachelor’s degree to clean houses, after all. “But I could totally get this place all spic and span for you in no time.”
“Wait, bail fees?” Quentin asked.
It seemed as good a segue as any, so I gave him my most innocent smile andlaid out the details of my arrest. Then Addison pulled out her phone and played him the recording of the guys from my apartment. He took everything surprisingly well... until we got to our plans for getting the new spreadsheet.
“So... you want me to help you break into the place you were fired from in order to get something that will keep you out of jail?” he asked.
“Yes.” I nodded. “And theirony is not lost on me.”
“This is crazy,” he said, looking from me to Addison.
But... he didn’t say no.
“I know! It’s the system. They say innocent until proven guilty, but I’m innocent and having to prove my innocence. How messed up is that?”
Some sort of alarm went off. Quentin cleared it from his smart watch with a sigh. “Mom. I have to go... clean her up. I’ll be right back.”
Then hedisappeared beyond the laundry pile, leaving Addison and I to wonder what “cleaning her up” entailed.
“Like change her diaper?” Addison asked, sounding horrified.
“I’d imagine so.” And I really didn’t want to think about it. However, the interruption did make me realize how selfish I was being by even asking Quentin to help us. My stomach sank. I’d have to find some other way to get the spreadsheet.By the time he returned with my laptop, I had my speech all prepared.
He set the laptop in my hands, but did not let go, forcing me to look up at him. There appeared to be a few more lines around his eyes than there had been when he disappeared. I’d always admired Quentin for basically giving up his life to take care of his mom, but until that moment, I’d never really thought about his sacrificeand the toll it took on him.
“I’ll do it,” he said.
I objected. “No. I’ve been thinking about it, and I never should have asked you. You’re all your mom has, Q. If you get locked up trying to help me—”
“If I get locked up, it would be like a vacation,” he said. “I’m in.”
He got out his laptop and looked up the Bridge City Property Management’s security system. Addison ordered us pizza andwe spent the next two hours hammering out our plan.
