TESSA

“Under the desk. Card stays in your mouth until I take it.”

He did not tell me to stand. I crawled the last three feet across the study rug with the thank-you card between my teeth and the tuition check still crumpled in my fist. My dress rode up. He watched it happen and did not look away.

I ducked under the desk.

The space smelled like his cologne and old paper. His knees opened. He took the card from my mouth, unfolded it, and read the back out loud in a voice low enough that Mom would not hear it from the kitchen.

“Thank you for paying what...