***
I drove home with my hands shaking on the wheel.
The printout sat folded on the passenger seat as if it were breathing.
"She's been carrying this alone."
***
Kathleen was on her bed when I got home, her phone beside her, staring at the ceiling.
I thanked Mandy, and she went home.
I sat on the edge of the mattress and set the paper down between us.
My daughter looked at it, then her whole face crumpled.
"Mom..."
"Come here, baby."
She went home.
She fell into me and cried the way she used to as a small child, all of it at once. I stroked her hair and waited.
When she could finally speak, my daughter pulled back and wiped her cheeks with the heel of her hand.
"It wasn't Brenda, Mom."
"I know. Mr. Paulson told me."
"Brenda tried to make her delete it. That's why they were fighting." She swallowed hard. "I didn't know how to tell you it was Maya. I didn't know how to tell you any of it."
