“I wasn’t assuming that.”
“Homework tables. Coaches. Classes. Maybe scholarships. Somewhere teenagers can be when their parents work late.”
His voice changed as he spoke.
More certain.
“I had places like that growing up. Sports. Coaches. People who noticed when I didn’t show up.”
I nodded.
“That sounds less like a hobby.”
“Tell my father.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it isn’t my dream.”
Ethan looked down.
“So what do I do about the money?”
There it was.
“You tell me.”
“That was almost everything I had set aside for the lease deposit.”
“How much do you have left?”
“Enough to be annoyed.”
I took a sip of coffee.
He waited.
“You want me to tell you to cancel the check?”
“A little.”
“I won’t.”
He laughed.
“Of course you won’t.”
“But I also won’t tell you leaving it in place is automatically noble.”
He turned toward me.
“You promised the money.”
“I know.”
“And now you have to decide what the promise means.”
He considered that.
“I sound like an idiot.”
“You sounded like an idiot before the match.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He smiled.
Then he asked, “Why did you agree?”
The question was more difficult than I expected.
