Chapter 2 - The Quiet After
Jordan came downstairs the next morning expecting anger.
Instead, he found pancakes.
That somehow made everything worse.
Rachel stood at the stove in her burgundy sweater, moving with quiet efficiency. Andre sat at the island drinking coffee.
Jordan stopped near the doorway.
“Morning.”
Rachel looked over.
“Morning.”
No smile.
No hostility either.
Andre pointed toward a stool.
“Sit.”
Jordan obeyed.
Rachel placed a plate in front of him.
He stared at it.
“I really am sorry.”
Rachel finally met his eyes.
“I believe you.”
The tightness in Jordan’s shoulders loosened.
Then she added, “But apologies don’t erase consequences.”
He nodded.
“Two weeks without gaming,” Andre said.
Jordan looked up.
“Two weeks?”
“You screamed at your mother because she interrupted a video game.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“And I accepted that apology,” Rachel said. “The consequence stays.”
Jordan looked from one parent to the other.
A month earlier he might have argued.
Instead he pushed syrup around his plate.
Andre watched him.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“You haven’t been yourself.”
Jordan’s hand stopped.
Rachel sat opposite him.
“You’re sleeping less. Your grades dropped in chemistry and algebra. You barely come downstairs unless you’re hungry.”
Jordan shrugged.
“School.”
Andre leaned back.
“I was sixteen once.”
Rachel raised an eyebrow.
Andre corrected himself.
“A very long time ago.”
Jordan almost smiled.
Almost.
Andre continued. “If something’s wrong, tell us before it becomes bigger.”
Jordan looked directly at him.
The default notice seemed to burn inside his backpack near the front door.
He wanted to say, Is something wrong with your company?
Instead he asked, “Are we okay?”
Rachel frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Like... money.”
Andre’s coffee mug stopped halfway to his mouth.
Rachel noticed.
Jordan noticed Rachel noticing.
Andre set the mug down.
“We’re fine.”
The answer came smoothly.
Too smoothly.
Jordan’s stomach tightened.
Rachel stared at Andre for a second longer than normal.
Then she turned to Jordan.
“You don’t need to worry about adult finances.”
That was not an answer either.
Jordan looked down.
“Okay.”
Twenty minutes later, he left for school.
Rachel waited until the front door shut.
Then she faced Andre.
“Why did he ask that?”
“No idea.”
“You hesitated.”
Andre stood.
“I was surprised.”
“Andre.”
He reached for his work bag.
Rachel stepped in front of him.
“What folder were you looking for last night?”
He sighed.
“Company paperwork.”
“What company paperwork?”
“Rachel, I have a meeting.”
“You also have a wife.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
The question stopped him.
She hated the sharpness in her own voice, but she did not take it back.
Andre placed the bag on the counter.
“The company has had a rough quarter.”
“How rough?”
“I’m handling it.”
“That isn’t a number.”
Andre looked toward the door.
Rachel crossed her arms.
“How rough?”
He rubbed his beard.
“We’ve had some cash-flow problems.”
“Because?”
“A few projects paid late.”
“That’s not all.”
Andre’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Rachel took a breath.
“Nothing.”
Now he heard the lie.
“What do you know?”
“Apparently less than I should.”
Andre stared at her.
Something had changed between them overnight.
Not because of Jordan.
Jordan had merely cracked the surface.
Andre picked up his bag.
“We’ll talk tonight.”
Rachel laughed once, without humor.
“You’ve been saying that for months.”
He paused.
Rachel regretted the sentence as soon as she said it.
Andre’s expression hardened.
“I have not lied to you.”
Rachel’s eyes moved toward the work bag.
“You sure?”
Andre left without answering.
At school, Jordan sat through chemistry trying to calculate percentages while thinking about $286,400.
During lunch he went to the library.
He typed the lender’s name into a search engine.
Then searched:
what happens personal guarantee business loan default
The results made his heartbeat accelerate.
A personal guarantee could allow a lender to pursue personal assets after business collateral was exhausted.
He read about lawsuits.
Bank accounts.
Property liens.
Judgments.
Jordan shut the browser.
“Dude.”
His friend Miles dropped into the chair beside him.
“You studying voluntarily?”
Jordan minimized the screen.
“Homework.”
Miles laughed.
“Who are you and what happened to Jordan?”
“Shut up.”
Miles noticed his expression.
“You good?”
Jordan nodded.
His phone buzzed.
A school notification.
Missing Assignment: Chemistry Lab Analysis.
He stared at it.
Then another message arrived.
This one from Rachel.
Internet stays available for schoolwork only tonight. I love you. We’ll reset after this.
Jordan swallowed.
His mother had cried because of him.
His father might be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
And neither of them seemed willing to tell him the truth.
When Jordan returned home that afternoon, Andre was not there.
Rachel sat at the dining table with a laptop and a stack of papers.
She closed the laptop the moment Jordan entered.
Too fast.
Jordan noticed.
Rachel noticed him noticing.
“How was school?”
“Fine.”
“Chemistry?”
“I’m doing it tonight.”
“Good.”
Jordan walked toward the stairs.
Then stopped.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
He almost showed her the letter.
But fear won.
“Nothing.”
He continued upstairs.
Rachel watched him disappear.
Then she reopened her laptop.
On the screen was a bank statement.
Three months earlier, $74,000 had disappeared from the account she shared with Andre.
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The transfer destination was Andre’s company.
And Andre had never told her.
