I look around the kitchen and the living room and see that Dylan isn’t here. “Listen, I was thinking that after church we could swing by your place and you can go up and grab clothes for you two,” I say, and her face goes white as though she’s seen a ghost. “What’s wrong?” Then I walk to her. “If it’s too much for you, I can go up.”

“No,” she says almost like she’s shouting, and she walks to the sink, grabs a glass, and drinks some water. She turns to look at me. “There is something I didn’t tell you.” Just the way she says it makes my heart sink. “I was going to, but it was just too much.” She looks at me. “There are no clothes.”

“Go on.” I don’t trust myself to say much more.

“All the clothes were slashed and destroyed. I think I have one shirt left that I had in the laundry basket,” she says, playing with her hands again, and I want to shake something. “Tomorrow, I’m going to hit up the thrift shop and even the church shop and get us some things to hold us over.” Her voice goes soft. “I’m going to take care of it.” Her eyes fill with tears, and I don’t want her to cry. I don’t want her to shed another fucking tear for the rest of her life.

“Mom, I’m ready,” Dylan says, but her eyes never leave mine. “Mom?” he calls her again. “Are we leaving?”

“Yeah,” she says, grabbing her purse. “It’s okay if you don’t feel up to it.”

“Justin, you aren’t coming?” he asks.

“Of course, I’m coming,” I say and then look down to see him wearing the same stuff he wore for two days. “We have to stop and get you some clothes.” I grab my phone and my keys. “Let’s go.”

“Justin,” she says my name softly.

“I hate this for you,” I say softly. “Hate it.”

She shrugs. “It’s just another speed bump in the road.” I look at her and wonder what road she is on because there are craters in her road, and I suddenly want to pave them all. I grab her hand in mine and bring it to my lips when we walk out of the apartment. The elevator comes right away, and the three of us ride it to the garage. “We can take the BMW today,” I say, and she looks at me, smirking.

“You know it’s Sunday,” she jokes, and I put my arm around her. “Sunday is for BMW and church.”

“That mouth is going to get you into a lot of trouble,” I whisper into her ear. When we get to the car, I unlock the doors, and Dylan climbs in. I kiss her lips. “Big trouble.”