“No. He’s done some stupid shit before. But never anything like this. I’m not making excuses for him, but I think he was stressed about money and Pops and yeah, there’s no excuse. I’m going to stop talking now.”

“Does he carry that gun around with him?”

“No. And he says it wasn’t loaded if that’s any consolation.”

“. . .”

“Eliot?”

“He’s gonna get himself killed if he keeps doing things that stupid. What if I’d had a gun? A loaded one?”

“I know. It makes me sick to think about it.”

“You said that he’s had some substance abuse problems in the past?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you talked to him about rehab?”

“I’ve been thinking about it.”

“Now would probably be a good time. If this isn’t rock-bottom for him, well, do you really want to see how much farther down it goes?”

“No. You’re right. I just . . . with everything with Pops and this new job, it just sort of . . . I don’t know how to go about even having that conversation with him.”

“You’ve had to do everything on your own, Jessie. Take care of your dad. Your brother. All the tenants.”

“It’s still no excuse. Not when Jack needs so much more help and I can’t give it to him.”

“You’re not failing. I can hear in your voice that you think you are. But you’re not. You’ve got too much on your plate. Let me help, Jess. I’ll help.”

“. . .”

“Are you there?”

“What are you even saying right now? I just told you that Jack is the one who . . . and you’re offering to help me?”

“Look, I’m not saying that I want to see him right now. Or that he and I will ever be buddies. But it’s not like . . . even if he were a complete stranger, I’d want to make sure that he got the help he needed. Breaking into someone’s home with a weapon, it’s a pretty desperate move. Someone who has all their needs met, they’re not likely going to do that.”

“You’re not going to call the cops on him?”

“Jessie . . . God. No. I want him to get better. To get the help he needs. And he’s not going to find that in the criminal justice system. We both know that. The only reason I wanted to get the cops involved in the first place was because I didn’t want him to do that to other people. And what other option did I really have? But if you’re telling me there are other options . . . if there are other ways to make sure he doesn’t do something like this again, then, yeah, I’d rather not get the cops involved.”

“Eliot.”