“She’ll be back. She’ll be back.” I handed Ethan my water and looked at Mindy. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks puffed out. “Did you know anything about this? Police? Emergency room?”
She shook her head, her bottom lip protruding. I thought she too might start to cry. Instead she pushed her chair back and stood.
“Where you are going?”
“Check things out,” she mumbled.
“What?”
“See what’s going on.” She took a quick drink of water and then left, surprisingly, to join her sister.
*
Later, at the Hampton Inn just outside of Dundalk, Maryland, after I had given gave Ethan his bath, his meds, and the bears, and after I took him down the hall to Mindy’s room for the night, I called Mary.
“There’s no bar here,” she said.
“Hampton Inns don’t have bars.”
“Then let’s not stay at any more Hampton Inns.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have any of your private stash?”
“Yes. A little.”
“Meet me in the lobby.”
I found her sitting by the large-screen TV, staring vacantly at a baseball game, her hands clasped in front of her like an obedient schoolgirl. She had two paper cups, already filled with ice, sitting on the small table. I pulled out a chair.
“Hit me,” she said.
“Probably not the best choice of words around me.” I poured the bourbon. “So, how is she?”
“She’ll be all right. She cried for a while.”
“Did she say anything else? Any more details about what happened?”
“No. She just cried. Let it out. It was good for her.”
I sat back. “Pretty disturbing.”
“Yep.”
“Did Mindy follow you? Was she there with Karen?”
“Yes, she was there.”
“Kind of a surprise.”
Mary shrugged. “She loves Karen.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“She loves her sister.”
“Not so sure about that.”
“She does, trust me. She does.”
“You’re not seeing or hearing what I am then.”
“It started with Karen, the whole thing. The fighting. It started with her.”
“Really? I thought it was more Mindy’s issue.”
Mary rubbed her eyes. “You have to remember, Karen used to be like a mom to her. Took care of Mindy. And Mindy worshipped her. Let’s face it, Karen was pretty perfect. Is pretty perfect. But Mindy got into Princeton after Karen didn’t. Mindy gets on TV. Suddenly Karen isn’t needed anymore. So she starts ignoring Mindy, not returning her calls, all that. Little things at first. But one thing led to another. Karen attacks. Mindy retaliates. That magazine thing didn’t help, that interview.”
“Captain McBrag.”
“That too. The whole thing has gotten out of hand. It’s ridiculous.”
“They’ll work it out,” I said, though I wasn’t completely convinced they would.
“They will,” Mary said.
I stretched my legs, tried to get comfortable in the small hard chair. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“What?”
“Roger. Punching him.”
“I can’t believe you did that either. Never seen you like that.”
“I lost it.”
“You and Karen.”
“What can I say, we’re a violent family.” I took a drink, the bourbon stinging the back of my throat. “God, Karen’s story. That could have been tragic.”
Mary shrugged again. “The things I used to see in the DA’s office, that wouldn’t even register. I know a good therapist, though. Maybe she can refer someone in New York for her.”
“A therapist? How do you know him?”
“It’s a she. I went to her after the divorce.”
“Oh.” I glanced away.
Mary looked out the window. It had been overcast all day, and the rain had finally come, a soft, steady drizzle. I finished my drink and watched Mary watch the rain in the summer twilight and all at once I felt myself sagging. This trip had led us all to this strange and sad and complicated point, and I wondered where it would take us next.
“You know,” Mary said. “After he was diagnosed, it was hard. But I remember thinking things would get better. I remember thinking that there would be a time when everything would be fine, or at least close to fine. Ethan would be happy and better, the girls be happy. You and me—” She stopped. “I kept thinking that if we stuck together, we would eventually get to where everything was going to be fine. That we were going to make it, all of us. We were going to arrive someplace together and be fine. You used to tell me that all the time. A happy ending. You used to say that. We’re going to have a happy ending.” Her voice caught, and she briefly put her hand to her mouth.
“We’re going to have a happy ending.”
“No, we’re not. Not this time.”
“Everything will be fine, especially for the girls. They have good lives. They’re smart, successful. Come on, they’re pretty amazing when you think about it. What they’ve already accomplished.”
“They’re not happy. They’re both angry all the time, and they drink too much, especially Mindy. Maybe it was me, or you, or maybe it was the stress of Ethan, I don’t know. Maybe we didn’t spend enough time with them.”