Chương 4
Only a little.
Enough.
She continued before she could retreat into defensiveness.
"I thought your problem was money."
He looked down.
"I thought Vanessa was irresponsible."
"She is."
"I thought you were enabling her."
"I was."
Margaret waited.
Daniel rubbed his thumb against the seam of his jeans.
"Still am, probably."
The officer received a radio transmission too quiet for Margaret to understand.
He pressed the microphone at his shoulder and replied with a few clipped words, then stepped farther toward the curb.
Daniel watched him.
"He's not staying all day."
Margaret straightened.
"How much is left?"
"Garage stuff, some boxes in the basement, clothes."
"Vanessa's things too?"
"Some."
Margaret's body tensed before she could hide it.
Daniel noticed.
"She's not coming."
"You said she wasn't coming while the officer was here."
"She isn't coming at all."
"Today?"
"Mom."
"I need a clear answer."
Daniel looked exhausted suddenly.
"She doesn't know I'm moving everything."
Margaret felt the cold sensation return.
"What?"
"I told her I was getting my stuff."
"Where does she think you're taking it?"
"Storage."
"Where are you taking it?"
Daniel stared at the open truck.
"Storage."
Margaret waited.
He sighed.
"And then I'm staying with Kyle."
Margaret knew Kyle only vaguely.
A friend from Daniel's flooring crew with two children and an ex-wife who called frequently during football games.
"You aren't moving with Vanessa."
"No."
The word was quiet.
Margaret pushed herself away from the garage frame.
"Does she know?"
Daniel shook his head.
Margaret looked automatically toward the street.
A silver SUV turned the corner.
Her heart lurched before she saw an elderly woman behind the wheel.
"Daniel."
"I know."
"Does she have access to your phone location?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"I turned it off."
"When?"
"Last night."
Margaret's fingers went to the keys in her cardigan pocket.
She had carried them there since the locksmith left.
"Has she threatened you?"
"Not exactly."
Margaret gave him a look.
Daniel looked annoyed.
"She said if I left, she'd make sure everybody knew what kind of man I was."
"What kind?"
He gave a tired shrug.
"Take your pick."
Margaret did not understand.
Daniel seemed reluctant to explain.
The officer looked back toward them.
Daniel dropped his voice.
"She took pictures."
Margaret went still.
"Of what?"
"Bruises."
"Yours?"
"Some hers."
Margaret felt her mouth go dry.
"What do you mean, hers?"
Daniel pressed his lips together.
"One night I grabbed her wrists."
The sentence changed the air between them.
Margaret did not speak.
"She was trying to smash my laptop," Daniel said.
"Why?"
"Does that matter?"
"Yes."
He looked at her sharply.
"She found messages from a woman I used to work with."
Margaret closed her eyes for half a second.
"Daniel."
"Nothing happened."
"That phrase is getting a lot of work today."
He glared at her.
"I talked to somebody."
"About Vanessa?"
"About everything."
"A woman."
"Yes, Mom, a woman."
"Was it romantic?"
"I don't know."
Margaret almost asked how a thirty-five-year-old man could fail to know whether something was romantic.
Then she saw how miserable he looked.
"Did Vanessa think it was?"
"Yeah."
"And she tried to break the computer."
"Yeah."
"And you grabbed her."
"Yeah."
"Hard enough to bruise her."
Daniel looked toward the ground.
"Apparently."
Margaret's anger did not disappear.
It became more complicated.
She disliked that immediately.
Life had been easier five minutes ago when Vanessa occupied one clear category and Daniel another.
"Did you hurt her anywhere else?"
"No."
"Did you hit her?"
"No."
"Push her?"
He hesitated.
"Once."
Margaret stared at him.
"During that argument?"
"A different one."
He looked up quickly.
"She was blocking the doorway."
Margaret said nothing.
Daniel's voice rose slightly.
"I was trying to leave."
The officer glanced over.
Daniel lowered it again.
"She stood in front of the door and wouldn't move, so I moved her."
"By pushing her."
"Yes."
Margaret looked toward the truck.
The blue nylon strap fluttered against the mattress in the breeze.
She wanted a version of events that let her protect her son without questioning him.
She wanted Vanessa to be entirely monstrous and Daniel entirely trapped.
Instead she had Daniel's own admissions sitting between them.
"You need to tell somebody all of this," Margaret said.
He gave a dry laugh.
"I just did."
"Somebody who knows what to do."
"No."
"Daniel."
"I'm not filing anything."
"I didn't say police."
"You were about to."
"I was about to say a counselor."
He stared at her.
Margaret lifted one shoulder.
"I can surprise you."
The corner of his mouth moved.
It disappeared almost immediately.
"I'm not doing therapy."
"You don't have to decide that standing in my driveway."
"Your driveway."
Margaret caught the emphasis.
"Yes."
Daniel looked at the new lock visible through the kitchen entrance.
He nodded slowly.
"Right."
There was resentment in it, but less than before.
Margaret looked at him for several seconds.
"You still have to move out."
His eyes lifted.
"I know."
"I mean even after what you told me."
"I know what you mean."
"I'm not punishing you for being hurt."
"No?"
"I'm refusing to live with what the two of you became in this house."
Daniel flinched.
Margaret almost softened the sentence.
She did not.
"You lied to me," she said.
"I lied because I knew you'd make me leave her."
"I couldn't make you do anything."
"You would've tried."
"Probably."
Daniel gave a small nod.
"Exactly."
The officer approached again.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have about twenty minutes before I need to clear."
Daniel looked at the remaining boxes in the garage.
"That's enough."
Margaret turned toward the house.
Daniel called after her.
"Mom."
She stopped.
He stood beside the box marked KITCHEN with both hands hanging at his sides.
There was no apology in his face.
Not yet.
But there was something unguarded there.
"Don't tell her where I'm staying."
Margaret looked at him.
The request should have been easy.
May you like
Instead it frightened her more than his anger had.
"I won't," she said.
