He yells my name, bangs the door, yells. I run to hide behind the couch. Told you not to play with that ball in the yard didn’t I, he shouts, and I don’t answer cause I’m sure he remembers he did. He pulls me out, shakes me by the hand, shouts, was it you, and I cry and cry. Finally he lets go of my hand and goes.

She comes in and sits with me on the floor, hugs me long until I stop crying. She cleans my nose and says, come on now spill the beans, and I say I never spilled any beans and I start crying again. She says it means to tell a secret. Like about the window? She says yes and I say it was an accident. She says she knows and we go to clean up the glass, real careful not to cut ourselves.

*