Chương 3
"Is everything all right?"
"No."
The answer came out before he could soften it.
Wren tightened her grip on his hand.
Mrs. Alvarez crouched until they were eye level.
"I have strawberries," she said.
Wren looked at Julian.
"And the terrible crackers you like."
Wren's mouth moved almost imperceptibly.
"They're not terrible."
Mrs. Alvarez nodded solemnly.
"Then my taste remains the problem."
Wren finally released Julian's hand.
He bent and kissed the top of her head, careful not to touch her cheek.
"Before dinner?"
The question was so ordinary that it hurt him.
"Before dinner."
Mrs. Alvarez straightened and waited until Wren had gone inside before speaking.
"Do I need to call anyone?"
Julian looked across the narrow strip of lawn separating their homes.
Through his dining-room windows he could see Corinne standing exactly where he had left her.
Desmond was no longer visible.
"I don't know yet."
Mrs. Alvarez pulled off one glove.
"Then figure that out quickly."
Julian glanced at her.
She was not accusing him.
That somehow made it worse.
"Has Wren ever come over hungry?"
Mrs. Alvarez's eyes shifted.
There it was.
Not surprise.
Calculation.
Julian felt something sink in his chest.
"How many times?"
She rubbed her thumb against a smear of soil on her palm.
"Three that I noticed."
"When?"
"Twice this month."
"And the third?"
"Maybe six weeks ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Mrs. Alvarez's jaw tightened.
"Because she said she'd missed lunch."
"She's six."
"I know how old she is."
He regretted the tone immediately.
She did not give him time to apologize.
"Your wife came over after the second time."
Julian stared at her.
"What did Corinne say?"
"That Wren had begun using food to get attention."
For several seconds Julian heard only the distant mower and the ticking of Mrs. Alvarez's irrigation system.
"And you believed her?"
"I believed enough of it not to accuse a mother of starving her child based on crackers and a six-year-old's explanation."
Her voice hardened.
"I also gave Wren food every time."
Julian rubbed the back of his neck.
"Did Corinne know?"
"The second time, yes."
"What happened afterward?"
Mrs. Alvarez looked toward her front door.
"She told me not to feed Wren without asking."
His stomach tightened.
"And did you?"
"Ask?"
"Feed her."
Mrs. Alvarez's eyes came back to him.
"Yes."
Julian almost smiled.
Not because anything was funny.
Because something inside him was so close to breaking that defiance from a sixty-three-year-old retired dental hygienist nearly undid him.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me."
She lowered her voice.
"Do something."
Julian walked back across the lawn without remembering the distance.
Corinne was waiting in the dining room.
She had collected the spilled food into the overturned bowl.
The movement disturbed him more than if she had left it.
Desmond sat at the far end of the table with the recorder held between both hands.
Corinne had poured herself water.
She had not touched it.
"Where's Wren?"
"Next door."
"You had no right."
Julian stopped beside the table.
"Desmond, are there copies?"
The boy glanced at Corinne.
"No."
Corinne's shoulders relaxed.
Julian noticed.
"So that's the only recording?"
Desmond shook his head.
"There are files on it."
"I mean the only device."
"Yeah."
Corinne looked at Julian.
"If we're going to have a conversation, he shouldn't be sitting here."
Desmond's mouth tightened.
Julian pulled out a chair.
"He stays."
"He's eleven."
"He recorded you because he was afraid of what happened when I wasn't here."
"You don't know why he recorded me."
Julian turned to Desmond.
"Why did you?"
Desmond looked down at the recorder.
The boy's fingers were still shaking.
"Because nobody believed Wren."
Julian sat.
"Who didn't believe her?"
"Me."
That answer stopped him.
Desmond swallowed.
"At first."
Corinne turned toward him.
"Desmond, don't."
"You said she was lying."
"Because she was lying about stealing."
"She wasn't."
"She had food in her room."
"Because you locked the kitchen."
Corinne slapped her palm against the table.
"Enough."
Desmond flinched.
Julian did too.
Corinne seemed to see both reactions.
Her hand slowly withdrew.
"I am not doing this while you both rewrite everything that's happened in this house."
Julian leaned forward.
"Then tell me what happened."
"I already have."
"No."
His voice stayed even.
"You've given me reasons."
Corinne's eyes narrowed.
"There's a difference?"
"Yes."
She looked toward the kitchen.
For the first time, Julian noticed that one of the pantry keys was missing from the hook.
"Where's the other key?"
Corinne followed his gaze.
Her expression changed.
Desmond slipped one hand into his blazer pocket.
Julian looked at him.
Corinne did too.
"Give it to me."
Desmond backed his chair away.
Julian raised one hand.
"Nobody moves."
Corinne laughed once.
"You cannot be serious."
"Des, do you have it?"
The boy nodded.
"Why?"
"I needed to open the pantry."
Corinne closed her eyes.
"When?"
"Yesterday."
Julian felt his pulse in his throat.
"Did you feed Wren?"
Desmond nodded again.
"A granola bar and peanut butter."
"That's why it's missing," Corinne said.
There was vindication in her voice now.
She seized it too quickly.
"Do you see what I've been dealing with?"
Julian stared at her.
"What?"
"Children undermining every boundary."
"He stole a key to feed his sister."
"He stole a key."
"Because she was hungry."
"She had eaten."
Desmond shook his head.
"No."
Corinne turned on him.
"You weren't even home at breakfast."
"I was."
"You left at seven thirty."
"I missed the bus."
Corinne stopped.
Desmond's breathing became audible.
"I was upstairs."
His voice was quieter now.
"You thought I left."
Something moved behind Corinne's face.
Not guilt.
Recognition.
Julian leaned forward.
"What happened?"
Desmond hesitated.
Corinne folded her arms.
"He's making this bigger because he's angry with me."
"Why would he be angry?"
"Because I took his phone."
Desmond looked at Julian.
"She took it because I filmed the locks."
Julian felt another piece settle into place.
"When?"
"Last week."
"Where's the video?"
May you like
"She deleted it."
Corinne immediately said, "I deleted a video of our kitchen because I don't want children posting our private home online."
