Authors: Amy Gutman
sweater and pants. Mimi was her usual sleek self in a navy twin-30
set and slacks. Gold earrings. Gucci loafers. A small leather bag.
31
Callie couldn’t imagine wearing this ensemble to an amusement 32
park. But then, she couldn’t exactly imagine wearing it anywhere.
33
Sitting at the kitchen table, Mimi examined a fingernail. “Do 34
you have something herbal?” she asked Callie.
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“Chamomile?”
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“That’ll do.”
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Waiting for the water to boil, Callie leaned against the 4
counter. “So, how’d you survive the day?” she asked.
5
“They were fine,” said Mimi. Still studying her manicure, she 6
seemed preoccupied.
7
“Thanks again for taking them.”
8
“Mmmm. Not a problem.”
9
This time when the conversation lagged, Callie let it go.
10
From the den down the hall she heard the sounds of a heated 11
Nintendo battle. Into one cup, Callie dropped a chamomile bag, 12
into another, China Black. The kettle began to whistle. Callie 13
turned off the gas. She poured out water and carried the mugs to 14
the kitchen table.
15
The silence was leaden now. Stirring her tea, Callie racked her 16
mind for something to fill the void. Then it struck her that this 17
was an opening, a chance to ask Mimi what she might have seen.
18
Mimi was in and out all day and right across the street.
19
She worked to keep her tone light, just mentioning a minor in-20
convenience.
21
“Have you had any trouble with deliveries lately?” That was 22
neutral enough.
23
“Deliveries?” Mimi looked at her as if she didn’t know the word.
24
“Some books I ordered never arrived. I mean they arrived —
25
that’s what the company said — but I never got them. And then, 26
a couple of days ago, I got some flowers I hadn’t ordered.”
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Mimi gave a brittle smile. “Secret admirer?”
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Callie tried to smile back. “No, I think it was just a mistake.”
29
“Well, who cares?” said Mimi. “I hope you enjoyed them. God, 30
I can’t remember the last time that Bernie sent me flowers.”
31
“You haven’t had any problems? Or noticed anything odd?
32
Anyone hanging around the neighborhood who doesn’t seem to 33
belong?”
34
Mimi shrugged and took a sip of tea. When she put down her 35 S
cup it splashed, and she dabbed at the table with a napkin.
36 R
“Bernie’s having an affair.” Mimi’s eyes were bright.
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Callie almost choked on her tea. “Are . . . are you sure?” she 1
said. “You two seem so happy.”
2
Mimi gave a tight smile. “Seem,” she said. “
Seem.
The fact is 3
my husband doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Well, if he 4
thinks I’m going to ignore this, he’s in for a surprise.”
5
Callie wished Mimi would just stop talking. This was embar-6
rassing. She was sure that after some time had passed, regret 7
would settle in. All the same, she felt the faint stirrings of some-8
thing like sympathy. The disclosure was so out of character. How 9
unhappy Mimi must be. She tried to think of something to say, 10
something comforting. But before she could even attempt a re-11
sponse, Mimi was standing up.
12
“We should get home,” she said briskly. “Thanks for the cup of 13
tea.”
14
Suddenly, it was like the previous exchange had never taken 15
place. Mimi was smoothing down her hair, picking up her purse.
16
Callie’s head was spinning as she too stood up.
17
“I’m glad you could stop by,” she said to Mimi. “And thanks 18
again for today.”
19
20
Over a late supper, Anna chattered breathlessly about a new 21
roller coaster. “It’s called Batman — The Dark Knight, and it 22
doesn’t have a
floor.
It’s sort of like you’re flying, and you go up-23
side down, like,
five times.
”
24
The thought of Anna suspended in space gave Callie a sick 25
feeling. Didn’t the world hold enough real danger without look-26
ing for more?
27
“You have to go sometime, Mommy.” Anna’s eyes were shining.
28
Callie managed a weak smile. “The roller coaster? I don’t 29
think so.”
30
Anna pushed carrots around her plate without taking a bite.
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She gave Callie an inquisitive look. “Where’s Rick?” she said.
32
“It’s Saturday. Don’t you guys have a date?”
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“Rick’s tied up tonight,” said Callie, and was grateful when 34
Anna let the subject drop. There’d be time enough to explain S 35
that Rick was gone for good.
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After supper, loading the dishwasher, Callie remembered the 2
message on her cell phone. In her anger at Rick, she’d forgotten 3
it. She should check to see who’d called. She couldn’t stop think-4
ing of Rick, of the things they’d said today. He’d had no business 5
talking to Lambert. She still felt justified. And yet, a part of her 6
knew deep down that he hadn’t meant to hurt her.
7
She finished cleaning the kitchen and went upstairs to work.
8
But instead of sitting down at her desk, she collapsed again on 9
her bed. She told herself she’d just take five minutes and then 10
she’d get back up. But ten, then twenty, minutes passed, and still 11
she didn’t move. She thought about seeing if Anna wanted to 12
play Monopoly. Then she thought again of the cell phone call 13
and got up to find her purse.
14
“You have one new message,” the artificial voice said.
15
Then she heard another voice. Her ex-husband calling back.
16
“I’ve talked to my wife and she — we — think that introduc-17
ing Anna to our family would create too many . . . complications.
18
You’re the one who set things up this way, and it’s just not fair at 19
this point to change the rules of the game.”
20
There was a bit more after that, cold and vaguely accusatory.
21
She listened until it was over, then erased the message.
22
The thought that Kevin didn’t want to see Anna was painful 23
to contemplate. For the first time, Callie was grateful that Anna 24
had never taken to Rick. The last thing her daughter needed now 25
was to lose another father figure.
26
But there was another more immediate reason that the mes-27
sage unsettled her. She realized that, at some level, she’d thought 28
of Kevin as a last resort. She’d imagined she had a place to send 29
Anna if things got really bad. At this point, she could no longer 30
pretend that her life wasn’t in danger. What she’d learned in the 31
two weeks since Melanie’s attack left no doubt about that. Under 32
the circumstances, should Anna be at home? Wouldn’t she be 33
safer away from Merritt, out of the line of fire? School would be 34
out in a few weeks. At least the timing was good.
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Callie got up and walked to Anna’s room, knocked softly on 36 R
the door.
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Anna was already in bed with a Harry Potter book.
1
Callie sat down on the edge of the mattress.
2
“What?” Anna said. She looked at her mother warily, as if she 3
suspected something.
4
Callie made her voice bright. “You know, school’s out pretty 5
soon, and I was thinking you might go visit Grams and Pappy. It’s 6
been almost a year since you’ve seen them.”
7
Anna stared at her.
8
“You mean go to Indianapolis?” By her tone, Callie might as 9
well have suggested that she travel to the desert. “For how long?”
10
“A week. Maybe two.”
11
“But what would I
do
?” Anna sounded stricken. “I don’t know 12
anyone there.”
13
“Well, maybe you’ll make some new friends. I’ll bet Grams 14
knows some people with kids right around your age.”
15
Anna shook her head. “No,” she said with finality. “No. I don’t 16
want to go.”
17
Callie sighed. “They’re your grandparents. You need to see 18
them. Besides, I know you’ll have a good time once you actually 19
get there.”
20
“No,” Anna said. “I’m not going. You can’t make me go.” Now 21
she was really angry, chin jutting out. Callie was about to argue 22
back, but managed to stop herself.
23
She stood up from Anna’s bed.
24
“There’s no point in talking when you’re acting like this.
25
When you calm down, we can discuss it.”
26
“I’m not going,” Anna said again.
27
“Yes,” said Callie. “You are.”
28
29
h
30
“I’m not going.” Once more, Anna whispered the words.
31
She listened as her bedroom door clicked shut and her 32
mother’s footsteps faded. Anna got up from her bed and crossed 33
the room to her computer. Her mother didn’t think she had a 34
choice. Well, she was about to find out.
S 35
Anna turned on her computer. When the screen flashed up, R 36
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she signed on to AOL and checked her buddy list. TheMagi-2
cian93 was already there. Just as she’d known he would be. She 3
clicked on the instant message icon, then stopped to think what 4
to write. Did she really want to do this? She’d been going back 5
and forth. Rick hadn’t been around so much, and she’d thought 6
things were getting better. But it wasn’t like it had been before, 7
when it was just her and her mom. It was like her mom was a dif-8
ferent person from the one she used to be.
9
Yes, she decided, she was ready now.
10
Besides, she could always come back.
11
Bttrfly146
I am ready to go.
12
13
Just moments after she sent the message, he was writing back.
14
15
TheMagician93
You want to go tonight?
16
Bttrfly146
Right. I will meet you at midnight. Just the way we 17
planned.
18
h
19
20
Laura Seton had just turned twenty when she met Steven Gage. The past
21
few years had not been easy, and she was ready for something to go
22
right.
23
Unlike her older sister, Sarah, who had glided through college and med-24
ical school, Laura was having a hard time finding her way in life. She’d
25
started out at Indiana University, the same large public school from which
26
Sarah had graduated. But while Sarah had thrived, Laura languished,
27
feeling lost in the crowd. She’d started out as an English major, then
28
switched to psychology. She was contemplating yet another change when
29
she decided to take a year off. A high school friend, Sally Snyder, had a sis-30
ter living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the culturally vibrant and color-31
ful home of Harvard University. Sally, who hadn’t gone on to college,
32
proposed that they move there for a year. It was the way out that Laura
33
had been looking for. She quickly agreed to go.
34
Sally and Laura rented an apartment in the neighboring town of
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Somerville, just a subway stop on the Red Line from the jobs they found in
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Harvard Square. Sally took a job at a clothing store, while Laura began to
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waitress. She worked the three-to-ten shift at a restaurant called The
1
Alps, serving large portions of heavy food drenched in melted cheese. Most
2
of the people she waited on barely registered. There was one, however,
3
who from the first made a distinct impression. It wasn’t just that he was
4
good-looking, though he happened to be. What struck her most was how
5
polite he was. He seemed to notice things.
6
The first night he came in, she’d had a difficult table of three. The food
7