Chapter 11 - Eric Finally Tried to Explain Himself
Eric asked to meet before charges were finalized.
Nina advised against it.
I agreed to one brief, attorney-supervised meeting.
He looked awful.
No suit.
No swagger.
Just a wrinkled quarter-zip and the brittle energy of someone who had run out of versions of the story.
He started with anger.
“You didn’t have to go to the police.”
“You didn’t have to steal from me.”
“It wasn’t stealing.”
“Then why forge my signature?”
He flinched.
“It was temporary.”
“Why give Noah a hotdog?”
His jaw tightened.
“That has nothing to do with the account.”
That answer told me everything.
He still believed the worst part was the money.
Not the child.
“You’re right,” I said. “It has to do with character.”
He leaned forward.
“You have no idea what pressure I was under.”
“Try me.”
“The deal was going to fix everything.”
“For whom?”
“For all of us!”
That line made Nina look down because even she saw the absurdity.
Eric kept going.
“Dad could’ve invested safely. The restaurant group had upside. Melissa and I were upside down on expenses. I needed one win.”
“So you used me.”
“I used the account.”
“The account was me.”
He opened his hands helplessly.
“You always had more.”
There it was.
Not misunderstanding.
Entitlement.
The belief that excess in one sibling’s life cancels boundaries in another’s.
“More,” I said, “does not mean yours.”
He looked away.
Then, softly, “I was going to pay Noah back.”
I almost laughed.
“Pay him back for what? A steak?”
He didn’t answer.
Because there was no payment for what he had actually taken.
Not hunger.
Dignity.
Safety inside a family room.
Before leaving, Eric tried one last move.
“If this goes forward, Mom will never forgive you.”
I stood.
May you like
“Then she should ask herself why that feels like a punishment.”
It was the most peaceful thing I said that whole month.
