Your mama finds you like that, she's going to pitch a fit. The only way she'd find out is if you told her I'd come out here with you, and then she'd be too angry at you to yell at me. Guess we're partners in crime, then.
In this quote from Jodi Picoult's "Keeping Faith," the speaker addresses another person about the potential consequences of their actions. They imply that if the person's mother discovers them together in their current situation, she would be very upset. The speaker suggests that the only way the mother could find out is if the person revealed their outing, which would shift her anger from the speaker to her child.
This exchange...