Chapter 9
Mason’s school counselor found the first opening.
Not evidence.
A question.
The teacher assigned the class a short writing exercise:
Write about a rule you would change if you could.
Most children wrote about bedtime or homework.
Mason wrote:
I would make it so kids can say no when grown-ups tell them to be mean.
The counselor contacted Daniel.
Daniel contacted Dr. Carter.
Nobody interrogated Mason.
They simply gave him time.
Several days later, he asked to see Raffaele.
Claire recommended that the meeting happen with Daniel and Dr. Carter present.
Raffaele agreed.
Mason entered the room carrying nothing.
He sat across from Raffaele and stared at his own hands.
“Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
“You don’t know yet.”
“Then tell me first.”
Mason’s eyes filled.
“Mom said I’m the reason Lily does shoe mornings.”
Raffaele felt anger rise.
He kept it away from his face.
“Why would she say that?”
“Because they’re my shoes.”
“That doesn’t make it your fault.”
Mason shook his head.
“You don’t understand.”
Dr. Carter spoke gently.
“You can take your time.”
Mason looked toward Daniel.
His father nodded.
Then Mason looked back at Raffaele.
“Sometimes Mom made me tell Lily she did it wrong.”
Raffaele said nothing.
“She made me sit in the chair.”
Still nothing.
“And if Lily stopped, I had to tell her to keep going.”
Mason began crying.
“I didn’t want to.”
Raffaele’s hands tightened beneath the table.
“You could have told me.”
The moment he said it, he regretted it.
Mason flinched.
Dr. Carter looked at Raffaele.
He corrected himself.
“No. That was unfair.”
Mason wiped his face.
“Mom said if I told, she’d tell you it was my idea.”
Raffaele went completely still.
“She said you’d hate me.”
The room changed.
Daniel leaned forward.
“What else did she say?”
Mason shook his head hard.
“I can’t.”
Dr. Carter stopped the questions.
The meeting ended shortly afterward.
But Raffaele finally understood what had been sitting in front of him since brunch.
Mason had not pulled his feet away because he suddenly felt sorry for Lily.
May you like
He had pulled them away because he already knew the ritual.
And because he knew exactly what role Vanessa expected him to play in it.
