"Mom, you have to tell him!" Selena said while folding the napkin in front of her.
Her mother, Bethany, was just silent, occasionally turning her eyes to look at Selena.
"Mom, I'm serious!" Selena continued, "I'm not lying, Mom! I heard them!"
"Just stay out of it, Sel. It's none of your business!"
Selena stood up, clearly frustrated, and walked around the marble countertop that sat between her and her mother in the Peterson family kitchen. She leaned in closer and lowered her voice.
"Mom, Mr. Peterson has always been good to us. What his children are planning is not only wrong, but cruel. You have to say something to him!"
"You don't have any proof, Sel!" her mother replied.
Selena threw up her hands. "Seriously? You don't believe me, do you?"
"That's not it, Sel," her mother said with a sigh. "But if you go to Mr. Peterson with what you just heard, do you really think he'll listen? You're just the maid's daughter. And the person you're accusing is his sons. Not one but two of his sons!"
Selena opened her mouth to retort, but froze as Conrad entered. He grabbed a glass, filled it with water, and leaned casually against the countertop, staring at the two of them.
"Am I interrupting something?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Bethany immediately interjected, "Oh, not at all! I thought maybe you needed something from us, right, Sel?"
Selena smiled a little and nodded.
Conrad took a sip of water and looked at her. "Aren't you going to the game today?"
Selena shook her head. "You know basketball has never been my thing."
Conrad laughed. "Besides, it's so boring. I don't understand why Theodore likes it so much."
"Exactly," Selena said, glancing at her mother, who was now chopping carrots as if nothing had happened.
Selena walked around the kitchen table, grabbed a stack of neatly folded napkins, and said, "Okay, I'll change the sheets and start the laundry, Mom." Bethany said nothing, just continued chopping carrots. Selena disappeared through the kitchen door and went back to her work, leaving her mom and Conrad alone in the kitchen.