Dustin explained that Barbra had been feeling excluded from the family. She worried that he and Stephen still treated her as though she were temporary.
“And your father believed your shoulder could repair his marriage?” I asked.
“He said she needed proof that she mattered.”
“Why didn’t he tattoo her face on himself?”
Dustin became defensive.
“Dad said it would help everyone.”
I reached across the table and placed my hand over his restless fingers.
“I’m not angry because you got a tattoo. I’m angry because I don’t believe you truly wanted this one.”
“I’m eighteen. I can make my own decisions.”
“Being eighteen does not make you impossible to manipulate.”
His face turned red.
Finally, after a long silence, he whispered, “It wasn’t free.”
“What did he offer you?”
Dustin stood and paced toward the sink.
“It was a favor for a favor.”
His father had told him that families made sacrifices for one another. Dustin would make Barbra feel accepted, and Stephen would help him with something important.
“What did he promise?”
