“Uh-huh,” Mason replies.
“So, there are official matches?”
“Every two weeks.”
“And, uhm, does your uncle come to them?”
“Mason has forbidden him,” Emily joins us in the kitchen.
I look at Mason and wait for an explanation.
“It’s embarrassing,” he says, his eyes looking down.
“Embarrassing? And why is that?”
“Well, first, he gets too enthusiastic.” I can easily imagine. “And then he shouts my name in the stands, even though I’m not the one with the ball. And he starts telling everyone that I’m his nephew and that I’m a champion and that he changed my nappies and that…”
“What?”
“That he’s proud of me.”
I smile. I understand that the first part can be embarrassing for a teenager.
“I told him that if he couldn’t be composed, sit down, and most of all be quiet, he’d better stay home.”
“And how did he take that?”
“He said he understood,” Mason replies, but Emily’s expression changes.
“Is something wrong?” I ask her immediately.
“He cried.”
“Who?”
“Uncle Seth,” she says, then pulls her lips together in a grimace.
“What are you talking about?” Mason asks his sister.
“When you told him those things, he locked himself in the bathroom and cried,” Logan chimes in. Mason’s eyes glare at him. “Then Mr Yang comforted him. We didn’t tell you because Uncle Seth didn’t want you to feel bad. He told Mr Yang that it wasn’t your fault, that he was the one who…”
“What?” Mason asks worriedly.
Logan gives me a look, then lowers his eyes again. “Wrong.”
The word echoes through the walls of the kitchen.
I watch Mason stand there in silence, absorbing the revelation, his siblings not looking up from the table, and my own guilt for bringing it up and contributing to his.
“Mason,” I try, but he jerks up and leaves the kitchen.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” Emily quickly shoots back at Logan for speaking out.
“I didn't want to lie to Mason. Besides, Uncle Seth was upset about it for days. You could tell he was hurting. I don’t know how Mason didn’t notice.”
I don’t know if I have the right to say anything, but it’s certainly my duty to make sure that Mason is okay.
“I’ll be right back.”
