“You did what?” he screamed into my ear over the phone. “Jesse, I leave you alone for one minute and your brain takes a hike. What’s the matter with you? Don’t you realize he has no choice but to report us? He’s a cop, for Christ’s sake!” “You don’t have to get huffy with me,” I whined. “Besides, he said he’d take care of everything.” “You can bet he will.” The line went silent for so long, I thought he’d hung up. Finally, he said, “Does your mother know any of this?” “Yes, she knows all of it.” “All right, here’s what we’re going to do. Pack a few things and I’ll take you to my folks for a couple of days. That’ll buy us a little time.” “I can’t do that, Billy. Claire’s coming and Mom needs me to be here. I can’t leave now.” He ranted and raved about being led away in handcuffs in front of my family, including the kids, but I finally won over. I convinced him that I wasn’t going anywhere. If the police were going to arrest me, then so be it.
