“You can’t do that,” I said.

“Watch me,” he said.

He turned on his heel and walked back to his SUV.

He climbed inside, started the engine, and accelerated out of the parking lot, leaving a cloud of exhaust behind.

I stood in the cold for a long minute, my hands shaking in my pockets.

I forced myself to walk back up the stairs to my apartment.

The silence inside was comforting, but the threat hung in the air.

I sat at the kitchen table and pulled out the folder of financial documents I had managed to keep.

There were old tax returns, bank statements from our joint account before the divorce, and loose receipts.

I needed to find something concrete before my meeting with the legal aid representative tomorrow.

My mother’s car pulled into the driveway twenty minutes later.

I heard Nolan’s laughter in the hallway before the front door unlocked.

“Mom!” Nolan cried, running into the living room.

He was holding a drawing of the constellation Orion.

“Mrs. Latham helped me trace the stars today,” he said, holding the paper up.