For several seconds, the only sound in the room was her uneven breathing.
“I helped with everything,” she whispered. “I took time off work. I drove him to appointments. I paid for things.”
“That still doesn’t answer me.”
“I only borrowed a little at first.”
My stomach turned.
“And then?”
Her silence was the answer.
Part Four: What My Sister Had Hidden
Marlene lowered her hands.
“I meant to put it back,” she said. “I swear I did.”
“How much?”
She began to cry harder.
“I was exhausted. I had bills. I thought no one would notice because you weren’t looking at anything. Then more expenses came, and I kept telling myself I would replace it later.”
“You stole from a dying child.”
“I loved him too!”
The words echoed through the room.
I looked at the woman I had trusted for forty years. She had brought food to my house after Ethan died. She had chosen his funeral clothes. She had held me while I sobbed.
