Chương 7
“That’s creepy.”
“It was extremely creepy.”
She smiled.
“He was afraid of thunderstorms. He hated peas. He cheated at Monopoly and cried when he lost anyway. Once he stole twenty dollars from my wallet and spent eighteen of it buying a toy for his sister.”
“You had a daughter?”
Charles blinked.
“My sister,” Mara corrected herself. “I mean his sister.”
“Yes. Your aunt Laura.”
“I met her.”
“I should hope so.”
“She lives in Seattle.”
“Portland now.”
“See? You don’t know everything.”
He gave her a look.
She leaned against the chair.
“So you don’t hate him because he hated peas?”
Charles almost answered too quickly.
Then he stopped.
“No. I don’t hate him because loving someone doesn’t disappear on command.”
Mara looked away.
“Even when they’re bad?”
Charles was quiet for long enough that she checked his face.
“I don’t think people divide as neatly as that.”
“You think Dad is good?”
“No.”
“You think he’s bad?”
“I think he has done things that may be very bad.”
“May be?”
Charles closed his eyes briefly.
Mara stood.
“I hate that word.”
“Mara.”
“You all use words that make it smaller.”
“I’m trying not to tell you something I cannot know yet.”
“I know.”
She started toward the door.
Charles let her take three steps.
Then he said, “You know what happened to you.”
Mara turned.
“Yes.”
“You know what you saw.”
“Yes.”
“And I believe you.”
She stared at him.
Charles stood.
“Evidence matters because other people weren’t there. Procedure matters because power gets dangerous when one angry person can decide what happened and punish someone for it.”
“You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“You’re powerful.”
He looked toward the house where Emma was laughing faintly at the television.
“Yes.”
Mara understood enough to know he was warning himself.
It was the first time she began to trust him for a reason unrelated to his ability to make things happen.
The next weeks were worse than the first night in quieter ways.
There were interviews.
Appointments.
Attorneys.
A child advocacy specialist who explained things carefully and never promised outcomes.
There were questions Mara had already answered.
Questions phrased differently.
Questions about rooms.
Dates.
Milk.
The bottle.
Whether anyone suggested answers to her.
Whether Charles told her what to say.
Whether Vanessa did.
Whether Mara had ever been angry at Daniel before.
She wanted to shout that being angry at someone did not make the truth stop being true.
Instead she answered.
Sometimes badly.
Once she said Tuesday when she meant Thursday and cried in the bathroom because she was certain the mistake would destroy everything.
Walter found her sitting on the closed toilet lid.
He stood outside the doorway.
“You want advice or company?”
Mara wiped her face.
“What?”
“Adults often give advice when company would be more useful. I’m trying something new.”
“Company.”
“All right.”
He sat on the floor outside the bathroom.
For a while neither spoke.
Then Mara said, “I got the day wrong.”
“So?”
“They’ll think I lied.”
“Did you lie?”
“No.”
“Then you got the day wrong.”
“That’s what liars say.”
“Liars also say correct days.”
She frowned.
“That doesn’t help.”
“No.”
Walter looked at his shoes.
“My wife says I’m poor at comfort.”
“She’s right.”
“Frequently.”
Mara breathed out.
“What if I forget something important?”
“You probably will.”
She stared.
He shrugged.
“You’re eight.”
“People keep saying that.”
“You are.”
“I remembered the bottle.”
“Yes.”
“I remembered Dad.”
“Yes.”
“What if I remember wrong?”
Walter’s expression grew more serious.
“That’s why nobody should build everything on one child remembering every detail perfectly.”
Mara looked toward the sink.
“Then why do they keep asking me?”
“Because your memory matters. It’s just not the only thing that should matter.”
That stayed with her.
The investigators found pharmacy records connected to medication prescribed to Daniel months earlier following a short-term medical issue. The active prescription had ended. Refills and quantities raised questions. The bottle Mara had pushed across the floor contained tablets matching the prescription label fragment and laboratory testing.
Still, questions remained.
When had the pills been acquired?
How many had been used?
For whom?
Why had Daniel kept them in the kitchen?
Why was there a pill crusher?
Daniel’s attorney produced an answer for each.
The medicine was his.
He kept it away from the bathroom because guests used that bathroom.
The pill crusher had belonged to Charles’s late wife and had somehow ended up at Daniel’s house.
Charles called that ridiculous.
Then Rosa reminded him that boxes of Helen’s belongings had been distributed among family members after her death and nobody had inventoried household items.
Charles hated being corrected.
He thanked Rosa anyway.
The school records became more important.
Emma had been absent or late multiple mornings following evenings when Vanessa remembered Daniel taking over bedtime.
Her teacher, Ms. Alvarez, had sent two emails expressing concern about unusual fatigue.
Vanessa had replied that Emma was having trouble sleeping.
Daniel had been copied on one message.
His reply was brief.
“We’re addressing it.”
Mara read those words accidentally when Vanessa left her laptop open.
She stared at them.
Addressing it.
She hated the sentence so much she closed the computer.
Vanessa found her in the kitchen.
“Were you on my laptop?”
“No.”
Vanessa looked at the closed lid.
Mara crossed her arms.
“You left it open.”
“Mara.”
“What?”
“You cannot go through legal documents.”
“I didn’t.”
“What did you see?”
“His email.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Mara said, “You knew she was tired.”
“I knew she was tired.”
“Why didn’t you do anything?”
“I took her to the pediatrician.”
“You let him talk.”
Vanessa recoiled.
“What?”
“At the doctor. He told them she didn’t sleep.”
“That was what we thought.”
“You thought what he told you.”
Vanessa pulled out a chair.
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“Mara.”
“You always say please after.”
“After what?”
“After you already decided.”
Vanessa sat by herself.
May you like
Mara stood near the refrigerator.
For weeks, anger had moved through her in strange directions. At Daniel, obviously. At Charles for not knowing sooner. At Walter for caring about rules. At doctors for using uncertain words. At Emma for being younger and needing more help. At herself for not finding the bottle sooner.
