“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
The detective thinks about why he asked this question. Was it sarcasm? Or did he really feel like he hadn’t done enough? Because Nathan let his hand drop, and without looking at the detective he said, “No, that’ll be all.”
Was it a joke that Nathan Palm made? The detective tells himself yes, yes, it was a joke, even though Nathan stepped back into the house and shut the front door on him, even though he was still waiting on the stoop.
He returns home to find Walter pissing in his hallway. The detective opens every window, lifts every screen. The cat follows, and as he fumbles with the rusty hardware of the screens, the cat rubs its lips up and down the detective’s socked toes and ankles.
Anna Gets Her Way
The girls are waiting in the anteroom outside the principal’s office. Inside, Anna, the principal, and the deans of the middle and lower schools sit around a mahogany conference table with Nathan. Nathan is sweating, but not nearly as much as he thought he would be. It seems he is capable of leaving his house. This is not mental illness but preference. Nathan would prefer to be in the safety and security of his house, but he doesn’t need to be there. He worries about his house while he’s gone.
It’s George, the middle-school dean, who’s speaking, and he’s speaking about adjustments, and how it can be hard for girls Ginny’s age. He’s trying and failing to make the room laugh or smile. The only one who does is Anna, and it is a tightly controlled response. Only Anna knows that she’s having a very good time. Her interaction with the matriarch has left her euphoric, because the universe finally makes some sense. The Wing Initiative will succeed, despite Marion, despite the Palms. Anna has won. The only thing left is the punishment of the Palm family. It’s unfortunate that Marion is not here, but it can’t be helped. Besides, the Russians will take care of Marion. Anna stifles a giggle.
The middle-school dean explains more about the specific chemistry, the alchemy of a class, and how Ginny is such a great girl. He keeps saying that, and Nathan isn’t clear why there are so many people in the room. He’s looking confused when Anna interrupts the babbling dean.
“Based on Ginny’s behavior two days ago, it’s been decided that she will be expelled. Well, not just two days ago, correct? Ginny has been on a kind of probation.”
Nathan opens his mouth to defend his daughter, but all that comes out is “For just one joint?”
“And trespass,” the principal includes.
“And a few other things,” Anna says. “Ginny’s behavior has been…well, let’s simply say erratic.” Anna was about to say promiscuous, but she’s a feminist. She tries not to comment on the sexual behavior of girls.
“Is this because of Marion?” Nathan asks.
The teachers and administrators look at their laps; Anna does not. She smiles and says, “Can you tell us specifically what you are referring to?”
“Well, the emails said…And you said that you thought Marion had been, well…” Nathan trails off.
“Please. Continue. What has Marion been doing?” Anna says. “I’m sure everyone would like to know. She is, after all, your wife.”
Nathan submits. “Nothing. Nothing. I’ll take Ginny home.”
“There’s more, Nathan,” Anna says. “A minute more of your time.”
The lower-school dean clears her throat. “We’ve been having some concerns about Jane.”
“Jane? Why?”
The lower-school dean begins to explain that Jane is a wonderful little girl, but developmentally she hasn’t been matching her peers. The administration feels that this school is not the appropriate environment for her, because it is not the type of environment in which an imaginative girl like Jane can flourish.
Anna takes particular pride in this speech. Jane’s expulsion was more difficult for her to manage, as Jane’s teacher seems invested in the youngest Palm staying at the school. Anna had to elucidate to the teacher that the decision was not hers to make.
The lower-school dean concludes with a wave of her hands and leans in; she also wants Nathan to smile. All these teachers and administrators, all they want in their hearts is for Nathan to say, Yes, you are right. Thank you.
Nathan slumps in his chair. “You’re expelling them both?”
“It’s for the best,” Anna says, and the teachers and deans bob their heads and repeat, “The very best.”
Marion Negotiates a Deal
Marion spends two days in the apartment with the short man. He mostly sleeps. He finishes his magazine and asks Marion if she has any books he can read. She says no. He spends some time looking at Sveyta’s bookshelf, which is filled with classic Russian literature and romance novels. He chooses a romance. When Marion asks why he made that choice, he tells her that his Russian isn’t good anymore, and it would depress him to notice the decline of his mother tongue. Marion says, “You don’t have an accent.” The short man begins to read.
The third day, Marion is woken in her room by a sharp knock on the door, and then, “It’s time.” Marion wonders if she is going to be killed. She decides that if this is the last day of her life, she’s going to try on the Grace Kelly skirt. She steps into the center of the tulle and shimmies it over her hips. She sucks in her stomach and buttons the skirt over the T-shirt she’s been wearing as a nightgown. There isn’t a full-length mirror in the room, only a small handheld thing, and Marion tries to gather intelligence on how the skirt fits from different angles. She steps into the hallway to ask both the short man and Sveyta, but he’s waiting outside for her.
“Let’s go.”
“I still need to brush my teeth,” Marion says.
The short man doesn’t care, and holds her arm with a firm grip. He gives her time to step into her shoes, and they are out the door. He’s pulling her down the stairs, and Marion clip-clops after him. In the midst of this, she recognizes that she loves the feeling of the skirt around her legs, and believes in herself once more.
Sveyta waits in her car for them, and the short man puts Marion in the backseat. After the door shuts, he sits in the front seat and Sveyta locks all the doors. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a stick of gum and offers it to Marion, who gratefully accepts.
“Good morning, Sveyta,” Marion says. “You must have had an early start.”