I’m Juliet

　　Ben’s mum is nice. Really nice and sweet. I want to be on Ben’s side but my little interaction with her makes it hard to believe she and Josef are the bad guys in Ben’s story. I steal another peek at Ben, he pushes his meal around and finally takes a bite. His mum stares at him for a full second, then smiles.

　　“How’s football?” Maddie, his mum, asks Ben. Josef beams at her question, maybe he also likes football.

　　Football was Ben’s first love. I think she’s trying to lighten the mood but it is the wrong question. Ben stopped playing last session after his knee injury. He found fighting and has not turned back to football.

　　Ben’s fork stops moving on his plate and a wave of anger rolls off him. “It’s fine,” I reply on his behalf. He clenches his fist on the table and I wrap my hand around his to calm him. “He’s taking a break from it.”