“Oh, I’m sorry,” I say, shoving off my car. “I’m sorry for not acknowledging that sixty, seventy dollars that you spent on a baseball glove. Do you know how much it costs to feed Ethan? To clothe him? To keep him warm? Or to buy the batting helmet that I’m going to have to buy this week so he doesn’t get head lice? Because you know what’s expensive? Head lice treatment.”

Jared doesn’t say a word, so I keep going.

“I don’t ask you for a dime because all child support will do is get you in a bind, and I’d rather you not give me a penny and stay out of jail than the reverse. And I don’t bring that up. Wanna know why? Because he’s my kid. I’m his mother. That’s what mothers do. We take care of our children, whether the fathers step up or not.”

“Well, aren’t you just a peach?” He spits the sentence at me. “You know, I was hoping we could work something out, and I could, I don’t know, meet you one weekend a month and take him to Cleveland with me—”

“No. There is no way in hell that you are taking our son to Cleveland to live . . . where? Where would he stay? With Robbie?” I laugh out loud—louder than I anticipated. “No. You are welcome to come and see Ethan anytime. I’ll even let you stay in my guest room to facilitate it because I do want him to have a relationship with you. But I will not let him go to a place with people I don’t trust in a situation that I don’t think is safe for him—or you, for that matter. But that’s neither here nor there at this point.”

“You’re going to keep him from me?”

I half laugh and half sigh. “That’s what you took from that?”

“That’s what you said. You just make damn sure you tell him that this is your doing. I offered to see him.”

My heart sinks in my chest as reality collapses around me. I slump against the trunk of my car again.

“I’ll do what I always do, Jared. I’ll make sure this is as easy for Ethan as I can. I don’t know what I’ll tell him this time. Maybe I’ll paint it like you actually have a job and are getting your shit straight. But just know that I don’t do this for you. I do it for him.”

“You do it for you because you get that little ripple of being the hero, don’t you?”

I ignore him. There’s no sense in arguing with someone who will never even acknowledge that you have a point or opinion that should be considered. But then I think about Ethan’s take on Jared’s absence.