“So you lied.”
“Yes.”
“And when lying became too difficult, you blamed me.”
His eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than another excuse would have.
I looked at him for a long moment.
Then I said, “Why shave my head?”
Daniel’s face crumpled slightly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“I was angry.”
“At what?”
“Myself.”
“Then why was I the one being punished?”
He had no answer.
Eleanor sat on the bottom stair.
“I encouraged him,” she said quietly.
I looked at her.
She clasped her hands.
“I thought if you left the job, Daniel would feel useful again.”
The words hung in the room.
No apology could make them harmless.
But at least the truth was beginning to have shape.
I picked up the folder.
“I’m taking this to my lawyer.”
Daniel looked up sharply.
“You have a lawyer?”
