"No, sweetheart. Not at you."
His eyes filled before he looked away.
That was when I knew the bargain had not been about a car or spending money.
Whatever Stephen had offered, Dustin had needed it badly enough to let someone mark him permanently.
I stood and moved closer.
"You can tell me."
He shook his head.
"I should have figured something else out."
"Figured what out?"
He pressed his lips together.
I waited.
Finally, he whispered, "College."
I stopped breathing for a second.
Dustin had been accepted into a strong engineering program three hours away.
The financial aid package covered part of the cost, but there was still a gap neither Stephen nor I could easily fill.
We had spent months discussing loans, scholarships, and part-time work.
"What did your father promise?"
Dustin stared at the floor.
"He said if I did this for Barbra, he'd pay the rest of my tuition."
"All four years?"
"He said I wouldn't have to worry about school."
My hands curled into fists.
"And you believed him?"
"He's my dad."
The answer was so simple that it hurt.
"Did he put it in writing?"
Dustin's face changed again.
"No."
"Did he transfer any money?"
"No."
"Did he contact the school?"
"I don't know."
I picked up my keys from the counter.
Dustin stepped in front of me.
"Mom, don't."
"Move."
"You'll make everything worse."
I looked at the fresh portrait beneath his sleeve.
"Your father bought a piece of your skin with a promise."
My voice shook as I opened the door. "Now I'm going to find out whether he ever intended to keep it."
Every red light gave my anger another minute to grow.
I kept seeing Dustin at eight years old, running across a soccer field with grass stains on his knees. Then I saw him sitting at my kitchen table, trying to convince himself that tattooing Barbra's face onto his arm had been a reasonable price for an education.
No 18-year-old should have to make that calculation.
When I got to their house, I didn't bother knocking softly. Stephen opened the door with an annoyed expression that disappeared the second he saw me.
"Cara?"
"We need to talk."
He glanced over my shoulder.
"Where's Dustin?"
"At home."
He frowned.
"Then what's so urgent?"
I walked past him before he could stop me.
Barbra looked up from the living room sofa, where she had been folding laundry.
"Cara?"
I held up my hand.
"Please don't interrupt until I understand exactly what happened."
Stephen folded his arms.
"You're making this dramatic."
"No. You already did that when you talked our son into tattooing your wife's face on his body."
Barbra's eyes widened.
"What?"
I turned to her.
"You didn't know?"
She looked from me to Stephen.
"I knew Dustin was getting a tattoo. Stephen said he wanted something to celebrate us becoming a family."
I watched Stephen carefully.
He didn't deny it.
"He told Dustin you'd been feeling like you weren't part of the family," I said.
Barbra nodded slowly.
"I told him sometimes I felt like an outsider."
"And his solution was this?"
She stared at Stephen.
"You told him to get my portrait?"
Stephen let out an impatient sigh.
"It wasn't like that."
"Then explain it," I said.
He rubbed his forehead.
"Barbra has been trying for years. Dustin cares about her. I suggested a meaningful gesture."
"A meaningful gesture?"
"He agreed."
"For college tuition."
The room went silent.
Barbra looked sharply at Stephen.
"What is she talking about?"
Stephen's jaw tightened.
"I said I'd help him with school."
I took one step closer.
