She was staring at the pool, her face completely blank.

“Did you know?” I asked her.

She did not look at me.

“Did you know they were using my surgery money, Mom?” I asked again, louder this time.

Mother’s shoulders shook, but she kept her eyes on the blue water.

“We had to save the house, Maya,” Mother whispered.

“The business was failing.”

“Your father said we would pay it back.”

“You never paid it back,” I said.

My voice felt cold, like ice.

“You let me hide in long sleeves for five years because you couldn’t afford the skin grafts.”

“We did what we had to do to survive,” Father said, his voice hard.

“You have a roof over your head, Maya.”

“You eat the best food.”

“You go to a private school.”

“I wanted my skin back,” I said.

The patio went completely silent again, except for the dripping ice swan.

The older officer cleared his throat.

“Mr. Vance, Mrs. Vance, we have another unit on the way.”

“We are going to need you both to come down to the station for formal questioning.”