Chương 7
Ethan said, “Is he inside?”
“No.”
“Lock the door.”
“It’s locked.”
“Call the police.”
“He’s not threatening me.”
“Mom.”
“He wants me to change my statement.”
The room went cold.
“What?”
“He says I misunderstood what happened with the poker.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then call the police.”
“I told him to leave.”
“Did he?”
“He’s sitting in his car.”
Ethan reached for his keys.
Lauren grabbed his wrist.
He looked at her.
She shook her head.
“Do not go there.”
Ethan pulled his hand free.
“That’s my mother.”
“And what exactly are you planning to do?”
He did not answer.
Lauren pointed at his phone.
“Tell her to call the police.”
Margaret said, “I can hear her.”
“Good,” Lauren said loudly.
Margaret surprised them by laughing.
It was a small, exhausted laugh.
“Ryan is leaving.”
Ethan went to the window, though Margaret lived miles away.
“You see him?”
“Yes.”
“Car moving?”
“Yes.”
“Stay inside.”
“I’m sixty-four, Ethan. I know how doors work.”
“Mom.”
“He’s gone.”
Ethan stopped.
“What did he say?”
Margaret was quiet.
“He said I’m choosing you over him.”
“This isn’t choosing.”
“I told him that.”
“What else?”
“He said the police are going to ruin his life because everyone already thinks he’s crazy.”
“Did you say that?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Apparently Kendra has.”
Ethan leaned against the wall.
“So this has happened before.”
“I don’t know.”
“Ask.”
“I’m not calling his wife behind his back.”
“They’re separated.”
“That doesn’t make her public property.”
“Mom, he threatened Noah.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying you know and then protecting him.”
Silence.
Lauren touched Ethan’s arm.
He closed his eyes.
Margaret said, “I am not protecting him.”
“You won’t even call the one person who might know whether he’s done something like this before.”
“Because that would be using his marriage as evidence against him.”
“No, it would be figuring out whether my son is safe.”
“Your son is safe because Ryan will not be around him again.”
“How do you know?”
Margaret went quiet.
Ethan heard his own words.
How do you know?
The same question Lauren had asked him.
He hated it.
Margaret said, “I’ll call Kendra.”
Ethan exhaled.
“Okay.”
“But you are not going anywhere near Ryan.”
“I’m not.”
“Promise me.”
He looked at Lauren.
“I promise.”
After the call, Lauren released a breath.
“You were getting your keys.”
“I know.”
“You promised your mother you wouldn’t go near him.”
“I know.”
“You need to stop saying you know after you almost do something stupid.”
He looked at her.
“You enjoying this?”
“No.”
“Feels like it.”
“You think I like watching the father of my child become exactly as impulsive as the man he’s furious at?”
That hurt.
He let it.
Lauren’s eyes immediately changed.
She wanted to take it back.
He could see it.
She didn’t.
After a moment, Ethan said, “I’m going home.”
“Okay.”
“Noah stays here.”
“I know.”
He drove home without music.
At the first stoplight, his hands began to shake.
He put them flat on his thighs.
The shaking embarrassed him even though no one could see.
He sat through a green light until someone honked.
At home, he opened the garage.
The burned soccer ball sat where Noah had left it.
Ethan picked it up.
One panel had blistered. The black pentagon beside it was warped. The ball had lost enough air that his fingers could press a shallow dent into the surface.
He remembered buying it in March.
Noah had wanted the expensive match ball with the glossy panels.
Ethan had said no because seventy dollars was ridiculous for something destined to land in mud.
Noah had stood in the sporting-goods aisle doing calculations out loud about birthdays and chores until Ethan finally laughed and chose a midpriced one.
Twenty-eight dollars.
That was what Ryan had burned.
Twenty-eight dollars and something Ethan could not price without sounding ridiculous.
He put the ball back down.
His phone buzzed.
A message from Ryan.
We need to talk like adults before this gets out of control.
Ethan stared at it.
Another message came.
I’m willing to let what you did go if you stop trying to make me look like a child abuser.
Then:
You know that’s not what happened.
Ethan typed three different replies.
Deleted all three.
Finally he took screenshots and sent them to a new folder in his cloud storage.
It felt melodramatic.
Then he remembered Officer Daniels saying not to delete anything.
He put the phone down.
Three minutes later, it buzzed again.
Ryan:
You came at me first.
Then:
Your mother knows it.
Then:
Ask her what she told me before you arrived.
Ethan read that last message twice.
He called Margaret.
She answered on the second ring.
“What did you tell Ryan before I arrived?”
A pause.
“Hello to you too.”
“Mom.”
“I told him to calm down.”
“What else?”
“Why?”
“He just texted me.”
“What did he say?”
Ethan read it.
Margaret went quiet.
“What did you tell him?”
“I said if he was going to keep snapping at people, he needed to leave.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“Did you mention me?”
Another pause.
Ethan closed his eyes.
“What did you say?”
“I told him you were on your way and you wouldn’t tolerate him bullying Noah.”
Ethan opened his eyes.
“Jesus.”
“I was angry.”
“You told an angry man who was already targeting my son that I was coming to deal with him?”
“That is not what I said.”
“That’s what he heard.”
“I cannot control what Ryan hears.”
“No, but you can control what you say.”
Margaret’s voice sharpened.
“I am aware.”
He stopped.
Neither of them spoke.
Then Margaret said, “I made mistakes yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“So did you.”
“I know.”
“Then stop treating this like there was one reckless adult in the yard.”
He looked toward the garage.
The soccer ball sat just inside the open door.
“There was one who threatened a child.”
“Yes.”
“One who grabbed a poker.”
May you like
“Yes.”
“One who tried to pressure you into changing your statement.”
