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kitchen to clean up after the dog. No big deal, he told himself. I do it all the time at home.
    When Yvette saw her husband come into the room with the paper towels, she wasn’t surprised. She knew he wouldn’t be able to stand up to Helga.

Chapter Ten

    Stephen tried to open the door to his brother’s room, but it was locked.
    He tapped lightly. “Rachel, it’s me. Let me in.”
    He waited several seconds before knocking again, louder. Finally, the door opened a crack. “Rach, let me in.”
    Stephen pushed open the door and stepped into his brother’s room. He glanced around and took in all the shelves of model airplanes and helicopters, the tall pile of comic books wrapped in plastic, the framed baseball cards and autographed baseballs, signed Leroy Neiman prints on the walls, and all the other treasures of Lance’s youth—many of them quite valuable.
    “Rachel what are you doing?” he asked his wife. She had changed into her nightgown, an oversized pink T-shirt with the rock star Pink on the front. “We need to move into my old room,” he said matter-of-factly. “Lance is here, and you know how he is about his stuff. He doesn’t want us in his room.”
    Rachel sulked across the floor and flopped on the queen-size bed.
    “I’m not moving,” she insisted. “I need the balcony so I can smoke when I want to. Your mother won’t let me smoke inside the house, so the least she can do is a give me a room with a balcony so I can smoke outside.”
    Stephen sat down next to her on the bed and put his arm around her.
    “I know it’s not ideal, Rach, but we really do need to move into my room.”
    Rachel pulled away from him and gave him a hard stare.
    “Not ideal? Not ideal? You know I hate it here, Stephen. It’s so Goddamned cold, your mother can’t stand me, and I have to deal with your whacked out brother and sister. All I ask is to be able to smoke and do whatever else I need to do to cope, and you won’t even do that for me.”
    Stephen began to plead with her.
    “Please, Rachel. They’re my family. It’s the only time of the year that I get to see everybody. Mom would be so disappointed if we didn’t come.”
    “And God forbid that mama’s boy Stephen would do anything to cross his mommy,” she replied sharply.
    Stephen stiffened, offended again by the comment he’d heard too often from his wife.
    “That’s not fair, Rachel. I am not a mama’s boy,” he said. “It’s not a sin to care about your mother. Just because you and your mother don’t get along—”
    “Don’t you bring my mother into this!” she said, pointing her finger at him. “All your mother has to do is snap her fingers and you come running.”
    Stephen rolled his eyes and stood up.
    “That’s not true, Rachel, and you know it. My parents have done a lot for us, and you know I want to ask Mom to help us out again. I don’t ask that much of you, Rachel. All I ask is that you come here for a few days a year. When we’re in her house, it’s only right that we should follow her rules.”
    She jumped off the bed and got in his face.
    “So, you’re not going to smoke weed for these three days?” she spat. “I find that very difficult to believe. In fact, I find that absolutely impossible to believe.”
    Stephen looked away from her uncomfortably.
    “I didn’t say that,” he retorted. “I’ll be discreet about it and go outside. Why can’t you just go outside when you need a cigarette?”
    “Maybe you can just pitch me a tent in the front yard,” Rachel hissed.  “Outside of that, I get sick of having to deal with the whole judgmental Braddock clan every time I want a cigarette.”
    Part of the problem, Stephen realized, was that Rachel had become a chain smoker. The more she had given up her other addictions, the more she smoked. He felt like he was squeezed between two giant blocks of granite. It was impossible to satisfy both his brother and Rachel at the same time.
    He decided to stand firm.
    “I’m