Her friend looked uncomfortable. “I’m telling her what happened.”
The hallway went still.
The friend said my grandson had contradicted his mother during the gathering. One of the women had praised her for raising him mostly alone during his father’s assignments. My grandson had said that wasn’t true because she had left him by himself before.
My daughter-in-law demanded that he apologize for embarrassing her.
He refused.
Her friend had assumed the argument ended when he went upstairs.
Instead, my daughter-in-law followed him, came back carrying his winter coat, and put it in the hall closet.
A few minutes later, the boy was outside.
“Did you see her put him out?” the social worker asked.
The friend shook her head. “No. I saw him through the window afterward. I asked if she was going to let him back in.”
“And what did she say?”
The woman looked toward my daughter-in-law.
