“That’s paying, Brent,” Janelle said. “That’s like… that’s like a movie. A weird movie. Is she pretty? Is she mean? Is this a prank? It sounds like a prank.”
“It’s not a prank.”
Mom was quiet. She was looking at me across the table with a little line between her eyebrows.
“Brent,” she said. “You don’t have to do this. Not for the money.”
“It’s not just for the money,” I said. “He’s my boss. He asked me for a favor. And he’s been good to me.”
“Do you have a suit?” she asked finally. ShopMen’s Suits
“I have the suit from Grandpa’s funeral.”
“The gray one?”
“It still fits.”
“It does not still fit,” Janelle said. “You’ve grown like three inches since then.”
“It fits enough.”
“Go get it,” she said. “Let me look at the sleeves.”
She stayed up until one in the morning letting out the sleeves and the hem of the pants. She did it by hand at the kitchen table, with her reading glasses on and a cup of tea going cold beside her. I offered to help, and she told me to go to bed.
