He jumped so hard his blanket slid off.
I hurried toward him.
He looked toward Mom’s bedroom.
“What did you just say?”
His eyes filled with tears immediately.
“Nothing.”
“Tyler.”
He looked toward Mom’s bedroom.
“Mom, promise you won’t tell anyone.”
I lowered my voice.
“What won’t you let Uncle Jason do again?”
His mouth started trembling.
“Mom, promise you won’t tell anyone.”
Every bad possibility entered my head at once.
“Uncle Jason keeps making Grandma sign things when you’re not here.”
I sat beside him.
“What did he do?”
Tyler covered his face.
Then he leaned toward me and whispered,
“Uncle Jason keeps making Grandma sign things when you’re not here.”
“What things, Tyler?”
For a few seconds, I didn’t understand.
“Sign what?”
“I don’t know.”
“What things, Tyler?”
“Papers.”
“He brings a folder upstairs when you leave.”
I stared at him.
He wiped his face.
“He brings a folder upstairs when you leave.”
“How do you know?”
Tyler hesitated.
He told me that one afternoon he had been reading in Mom’s room when Jason arrived carrying a folder.
“Because I saw.”
He told me that one afternoon he had been reading in Mom’s room when Jason arrived carrying a folder.
Jason told Tyler to go downstairs.
“So I went.”
“Okay.”
Instead of returning to the bedroom, Tyler had hidden near the landing.
“But then I came back.”
“Why?”
Tyler looked ashamed.
“I didn’t like how he said it.”
Instead of returning to the bedroom, Tyler had hidden near the landing.
Jason apparently placed papers on Mom’s blanket.
From there, he could hear them.
Jason apparently placed papers on Mom’s blanket.
Tyler imitated his voice.
“‘It’s just so I can help with everything while you recover.'”
My stomach tightened.
“She kept asking where to sign.”
“What did Grandma say?”
“She kept asking where to sign.”
“Was she awake?”
“Kind of.”
That answer scared me more.
“She signed a bunch. Then Uncle Jason folded them really fast.”
Tyler continued.
“She signed a bunch. Then Uncle Jason folded them really fast.”
I stood.
“Anything else?”
Tyler began crying harder.
“You were asleep.”
“He came back at night once.”
“What?”
“You were asleep.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. Last week.”
“I thought you’d get mad because you told me to stop following him.”
“How did he get in?”
“With his key. I heard the front door.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I thought you’d get mad because you told me to stop following him.”
That hit me hard.
“He went into Grandma’s room and said she signed in the wrong place.”
Tyler rubbed his eyes.
“He went into Grandma’s room and said she signed in the wrong place.”
I looked at the pillow beside him.
“Is that why you’ve been sleeping here?”
He nodded.
She startled when I turned on the lamp.
“I tried to stay awake.”
I opened Mom’s bedroom door.
She startled when I turned on the lamp.
“What happened?”
“Mom, I need to ask you something.”
“Has Jason been bringing you documents?”
She pushed herself upright.
“At four in the morning?”
“Has Jason been bringing you documents?”
She frowned.
“What documents?”
Her face changed slightly.
“Papers to sign.”
Her face changed slightly.
“I don’t know.”
“Think, please.”
She closed her eyes.
“Why would Jason bring you bank forms?”
“Maybe some forms.”
“What forms?”
