Chương 10
He wanted to tell her not to turn one frightened call into evidence against herself.
All of those answers felt too easy.
Anna looked back through the window.
“I’m her mother.”
“Yes.”
“She should call me.”
“She was scared.”
“That’s exactly why.”
Frank leaned one hip against the table.
“When you were twelve, did you call me when you were scared?”
Anna looked at him.
The question hurt both of them.
“No.”
Frank nodded.
“That wasn’t because you didn’t need a father.”
Anna looked away.
“It was because I taught you I might make things worse.”
The words came out quietly.
Anna swallowed.
“You did.”
Frank felt the answer enter without resistance.
No defense arrived.
He was grateful for that.
From the dining room, Ruiz asked Daniel whether he wanted to add anything to his statement after seeing the footage.
Daniel said, “Only that I sound like an idiot.”
Ruiz answered, “That’s not usually relevant.”
Mr. Bell laughed once.
Daniel did too.
The ordinary sound made Anna’s mouth twitch.
Frank said, “Lily calling me doesn’t mean you failed her.”
Anna shook her head.
“You don’t get to tell me that.”
“You’re right.”
She turned toward him.
“Then stop trying to make me feel better.”
Frank considered that.
“I’m bad at it anyway.”
“That is true.”
He smiled faintly.
Anna did not, but some of the tension left her hands.
Ruiz appeared in the kitchen doorway.
“Mr. Stallone, I need a few more minutes with you.”
Frank nodded.
Anna stepped aside.
Ruiz asked whether Frank would be willing to come to the station later if requested.
“Yes.”
“Voluntarily?”
“Yes.”
“You understand you can have counsel.”
“I understand.”
Anna watched him.
Ruiz said, “At this point I’m not placing anyone under arrest.”
Frank nodded.
“But this is not finished.”
“I know.”
“There may be a referral.”
“Understood.”
Ruiz looked at Anna.
“Your daughter appears uninjured, but because she witnessed violence between adults, I recommend you document what happened and contact her pediatrician if she has trouble sleeping, eating, or becomes unusually fearful.”
Anna’s face tightened again.
“Okay.”
“That doesn’t mean something is wrong.”
“I know.”
“It just gives you a baseline.”
Anna nodded.
Frank looked toward the living room.
Lily was lying on the rug now with Rosie beside her, both apparently absorbed in animated animals singing about vegetables.
Ruiz followed his gaze.
“She’ll remember pieces.”
Frank looked at her.
“Which pieces?”
Ruiz shook her head.
“No way to know.”
That bothered him more than legal consequences.
Adults could choose their versions of a day.
Children kept fragments.
A voice.
A slap.
A doll in mud.
A grandfather promising no more hitting.
Ruiz returned to the dining room.
Anna picked up the paper towel Frank had left beside the stain on the table.
She wet it beneath the faucet.
Frank watched her wipe the mud away.
“You left this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Anna scrubbed once at a darker streak.
“You always clean things immediately.”
“I know.”
“It’s annoying.”
“I know.”
She rinsed the cloth.
“I used to move things around in your office just to see if you’d notice.”
“I noticed.”
Anna looked at him.
“You never said anything.”
“I assumed the cleaning crew was careless.”
She laughed despite herself.
“That makes it better.”
“I was not an imaginative parent.”
“No.”
“You were difficult.”
“I was twelve.”
“Those things can coexist.”
Anna pointed the wet towel at him.
“Careful.”
Frank raised both hands.
The front door opened and closed.
Mr. Bell called goodbye.
A moment later Ruiz returned.
“I’ll be in touch.”
Frank nodded.
Daniel stepped into the hall behind her.
His face had begun to swell along the jaw.
Ruiz looked at him.
“Seriously, if you get dizzy or nauseated, go get checked.”
Daniel said, “I will.”
“Not tomorrow.”
“I heard you.”
Ruiz gave him a look.
Daniel corrected himself.
“Yes, officer.”
She left.
The house became suddenly quiet.
No sirens.
No strangers.
No questions.
Just the cartoon from the living room and the refrigerator humming.
Daniel walked to the freezer.
Anna said, “What are you doing?”
“Ice.”
“There’s a gel pack in the top drawer.”
He found it and pressed it to his jaw.
“Fancy.”
“You bought it.”
“I did?”
“For Christmas.”
Daniel frowned.
“I bought you an ice pack for Christmas?”
“You bought me a first-aid kit.”
“That’s worse.”
Anna smiled.
Frank watched them and felt something unexpected.
Envy.
Not of their closeness.
Of their ability to be ordinary with each other after ugliness.
His own relationships rarely had ordinary left in them once conflict arrived.
He tended to turn every wound into a negotiation.
Daniel caught him watching.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I was thinking.”
“That usually leads somewhere unpleasant.”
Anna said, “He’s not wrong.”
Frank accepted the verdict.
Daniel sat at the table.
“So what now?”
Anna looked toward the patio door.
“Mom left.”
“I noticed.”
“She’ll call.”
“Definitely.”
“She’ll tell everyone.”
“Also definitely.”
Frank asked, “Everyone meaning?”
Anna and Daniel exchanged a look.
Daniel said, “The family.”
Frank waited.
Anna clarified.
“Cousins, aunts, people who live three states away but somehow know things before I do.”
Daniel lifted the ice pack.
“Mom has infrastructure.”
Frank almost smiled.
“That sounds familiar.”
Anna gave him a pointed look.
“Don’t be proud.”
“I’m not.”
Daniel shifted in the chair.
“She’ll tell it like Dad walked in and started swinging.”
Anna looked at Frank.
“He didn’t.”
“No.”
“He also hit her.”
Daniel nodded.
“Also true.”
The three of them sat with the uncomfortable shape of multiple truths.
Frank said, “Let her tell it.”
Anna frowned.
“You say that now.”
“I mean it.”
“You’ve never let anyone tell a story about you without answering.”
“That has not always improved the story.”
Daniel lowered the ice pack.
“Are you dying?”
Frank looked at him.
“What?”
“You’re admitting things.”
Anna covered a laugh with one hand.
Frank stared at Daniel until Daniel grinned.
Then Frank smiled too.
May you like
It surprised him enough that he stopped.
Lily appeared in the doorway carrying Rosie upside down.
