She never once broke eye contact with me as she spoke. “Yes, I’m sorry for the late hour, Mrs. Cho, but this couldn’t wait. I don’t need you to come in tomorrow.”
“Mom,” I said, my voice more breath than sound as I clutched the edge of the island, my heart plummeting.
“My financial situation has become more difficult of late and I won’t be able to keep you on any longer.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll look at Dad’s papers, whatever you want. Please. Please don’t.” For a second I thought she heard me, not just my voice but the plea that came straight from my heart.
“Yes, of course. Thank you for understanding.”
She ended the call and replaced her earring. “You think that woman cares about you? Ask me what she said when I fired her. Ask me what her concern was.”
I shook my head, feeling like I might throw up the last thing Mrs. Cho would ever make me.
“A reference letter.Notyou.” She strode across the kitchen until she was right in front of me. “She didn’t even say your name.”
My lungs emptied in a sob and my arms came up to wrap around myself.
“Look at me.”
And when I couldn’t, she lifted my chin herself.
“One day, you’ll thank me for teaching you the most important lesson you’ll ever learn—caring about people who can’t get you anything in return is a waste.”
Then she pressed her lips against my forehead and told me to clean up the kitchen before I went to bed.
ADAM
The second hand of my bedroom wall clock was passing the nine, ten, eleven, and the moment it ticked past the twelve and hit midnight, I pressed Call on my phone. The lateness of the hour made the phone slip in my slightly sweaty hand as I waited for her to pick up.
And waited.
Waited.
I was beginning to wonder if she was asleep when her voice, low but clear, replaced the continuous ringback.
“Adam. It’s midnight. Are you dying or super rude?”
“No,” I said, and then I laughed. “You can’t think of a single reason why I’d be calling you at exactly midnight on this particular day?”
“Let me think for a moment,” she said, but I could hear that she was smiling.
“Happy birthday. I wanted to be the first one to say it to you.”
“Well, congratulations. That honor belongs to you.”
“How do you feel? Older? Mature? Too cool for fifteen-and-eleven-months-old guys?” I heard Jolene shifting, and for some reason I imagined her flipping around on a bed I’d never seen with her legs propped up on a padded headboard.
“I don’t know. I’ve been sixteen for like a minute, so maybe? Although I’ve always been too cool for you, so definitely yes to the last question.”
“I would take issue with the use of the wordalwaysin that statement, but come morning, I’m not going to be able to argue with a driver’s license when I’m stuck riding a bike. You’re still going, right? Gabe is taking you?”
“Yeah, we were going to blow off first and second periods, but there was some damage to the roof from the snowstorm over the weekend so there’s no school tomorrow. Want me to call you after?”
“No. I mean, yes, normally I would want that, but my mom decided we should take an impromptu drive up to Lancaster for a couple days to visit my grandparents. We’re leaving in the morning and they’re conservative Mennonites, which is only a few steps away from being Amish. They don’t go for a lot of technology around the farm. My mom wants us to leave everything with a battery at home. I know, I know,” I said, forestalling a predictable remark from Jolene. “It’s like traveling back in time instead of driving a couple hours away.”
“I wasn’t going to say that.”
“Why not? It’s true.”
