I confirmed my identity.

Confirmed the address.

Then asked for the services under my account to be temporarily suspended.

The woman on the phone asked,

“When would you like that to begin?”

I looked through the window.

Emily was already spreading her things across the master bedroom.

“Now.”

I ended the call.

Then I walked back inside.

I sat on the couch—the couch they had so generously assigned to me—put in my earbuds, and pretended to scroll through my phone.

Nobody noticed anything at first.

Emily was in the bathroom taking mirror photos.

Todd was trying to connect his phone to the television.

Mom had poured herself wine.

Then Todd’s speaker stopped in the middle of a song.

He tapped it.

“Babe, Wi-Fi’s down.”

Emily leaned out of the bathroom.

“Did you enter the password correctly?”

“I didn’t even get a password screen.”

A moment later, the lights flickered.

Once.

Then everything went dark.

The refrigerator stopped humming.

The ceiling fan slowed.

Outside, the air-conditioning unit clicked off.

For several seconds, nobody said anything.

Then Mom looked at me.

“James, did you trip the breaker?”

“No.”

Todd walked to the thermostat and pressed several buttons.

“Nothing’s working.”

Emily emerged from the bathroom.