Page 39 of The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly

I’d like to say I was heroic enough to not struggle with the choice, but that’s a lie.

“When can you get me this money?” I ask Layla.

“You can have it within a week if you’d like,” she says. “Going to put it toward Marquette?”

“Something like that,” I reply.

17

WE TRAIN HARD ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. BY Thursday morning, I’m painfully sore from all the falling, hitting, riding, and practice, but I think we’re getting better. Each of us is good at some part of knighthood, and Chris has been helping choreograph a very basic routine that can work for the tournament. Jett’s got a few hours of video, which he’s working on editing for the next few days. He’s promised to keep the David Attenborough–style voice-over to a minimum, but I’m betting he won’t be able to help himself.

After I arrive home from practice on Thursday, I find Mom sitting at the kitchen table. She’s got a stack of bills beside her computer and stares at the screen with a dismayed expression.

“Hey Kit-Kat,” she says. “How was school?”

I shoot her a look. “It’s spring break, Mom. I’ve been at Layla’s most of this week.”

Chris and I both agree it’s best not to tell Mom about the training and my goals for knighthood. At least not until we’re sure it will work. No reason to worry her unnecessarily.

“Ahh, that’s right. Spring break. Sorry.” She lets out a tired sigh. “I’ve been working as much overtime as the office and the diner will let me. I lost track of the days.”

“What’s all this?” I ask, sitting down next to her.

“Bills. Always so many bills.”

“Can I help with anything?” I really want to ask her more about the unpaid mortgage, and what that means for us. Like, will we have a place to live at this time next month? But I did some googling, and even if we default on that loan, we would have months before the bank took the house.

“You’re doing enough already,” she says, squeezing my hand. “We just have a lot of unexpected expenses lately.”

I take a deep breath for bravery. It’s no good to be trying to inspire change at the Castle if I can’t figure out what’s going on with my own mom.

“Speaking of that … I saw the late notice on the mortgage. What’s going on, Mom?”

She runs a hand across her eyes. “You saw that?”

I nod.

She sighs. “I was trying to keep it from you. So you didn’t have to worry about it on top of college applications and finishing your senior year.”

“Why aren’t you paying it?”

“How would you feel if we didn’t live here anymore?”

I look around the house that’s been my home since I was a kid. It’s everything to me. Family. Home. The place I finally felt secure.

“I suppose it could be okay,” I lie. Trying to keep my voice steady. “If we had somewhere else to go. And I guess this would be a lot of space for you if Chris and I were away at school.”

“Exactly my thought,” Mom says. “Downsizing has been my goal since your father left. To that end, I hired a lawyer to officially get the divorce from your father going. But, in order to pay the legal fees, I’ve had to skip a few mortgage payments. But maybe it’s serendipitous. A smaller place could be a really good thing. I know I’d like less house to take care of. And you and Chris won’t have to worry about helping out around here so much.”

“Won’t you miss living here?”

“Sure,” Mom says. “But when the divorce finalizes, that means we’re free of your dad, and your financial aid should be higher because it’ll pull from my income only. Plus, I want you and Chris to have your own lives. I want you to get out of here. See the world. Figure out who you are and what you want without worrying about me. And who knows, maybe getting rid of this place will help me move on to new things. I still have dreams too, you know.”

Of course I knew that on some abstract level, but it’s strange to think about my mom with dreams that don’t involve Chris and me.

But I don’t say all that. “What do you want to do?”

Mom bites her bottom lip for a moment. “I always wanted to be a writer. And go to Asia. And go to college. I had you and Chris so young, I never got to do any of those things. But now, I’m thinking that since my baby girl is leaving the house, it’s time for me to try some new things.”