‘Why?’ Maggie kept her tone even. ‘You didn’t tell me.’
‘Because it was a surprise.’
‘But not a good one.’
‘Why not? I’m being responsible. I needed a car, did the research, and bought one. And I looked into the insurance and if I didn’t have my own insurance, you’d have to put me on yours.’
‘So you called James and got the money?’ Maggie remembered that James had told her Anna wanted a car and barely used funds from the trust.
‘No, I texted him.’
Maggie hid her reaction. She lived in a world where teenagers texted for eighty-thousand-dollar cars. ‘Did you tell him what it was for?’
‘Sure.’
‘Did you tell him that I didn’t know about it?’
‘No, he didn’t ask.’ Anna pursed her lips. ‘Please don’t fire him. It’s not his fault. It’s my fault. I didn’t want to burden you guys.’
‘It’s not a burden, it’s our job as your parents.’ Maggie felt more confounded than angry. ‘We talked about this. We were supposed to make that decision as a family.’
‘Maybe that’s the problem,’ Anna said, after a moment. ‘I never had a family before. I’ve been on my own all my life. I don’t consult with anybody. If I need something, I get it.’
‘Maybe that’s true.’ Maggie felt sympathy, and guilt. Anna had learned to be on her own because she’d been abandoned, by both parents.
‘I never spend money. But I wanted the car, I told you. I’m not a brat.’
‘I’m not saying you are.’
‘I thought you would think it was adult of me,’ Anna said, hurt. ‘Remember when we went to dinner in Congreve, and you told the waiter to give you the check? You beat me to it, and I thought, that’s so smooth. So I said to myself, “I’m just going to beat her to the check.” That’s why I took care of it.’
‘I see.’ Maggie felt touched that Anna wanted to be like her.
‘I think the kids at school are really going to like it.’
‘I don’t want you to get a car because you think it will help you make friends.’
‘That’s not the reason I did it, but that’s okay, don’t you think?’
‘No, I don’t, honey,’ Maggie answered, gently. ‘You don’t want the kind of friends who like you because you have a cool car.’
‘But I saw Land Rovers in the student lot at school and on Facebook. It’ll fit in.’
‘You’ll make friends. You could have given it a chance. You could have given yourself a chance.’
Anna sighed. ‘I can sell it, if you really don’t want me to have it.’
‘It’s not that I don’t want you to have it, and if we tried to sell it now, we’d get a fraction of its value.’
‘So can we keep it, please? I promise I won’t do anything like this, ever again. Really.’
‘Only if you understand my point.’ Maggie looked over when they stopped at a red light, and Anna looked back at her, her mouth turning down at the corners.
‘I do. I totally understand, and I’m really sorry.’
‘Okay.’
‘So you’re not mad anymore?’
‘No.’
‘Cool.’ Anna smiled.
Maggie felt better to see her happy. ‘Did you ever drive such a big car before?’
‘No, we used compact cars at Congreve to make it easier to pass the test.’
‘So Noah can take you out in it, then?’
‘Yes.’
‘Great,’ Maggie said, though Noah had texted her while they were at the dealership, bad news, be home late. She’d called him back but no response.
All told, she wasn’t looking forward to the evening.
Chapter Thirty-three
Noah, After
TRIAL, DAY 5
Linda signaled her paralegal, and another transcript portion appeared on the screen. ‘Dr Alderman, please direct your attention to Commonwealth Exhibit 52.’
Noah read:
Mr Carter: Anna, how would you characterize your relationship to your stepfather?
Ms Desroches: When I first moved in, I felt nervous around him and I told my mom that, and then I realized that he has two sides to him, like, a light side and a dark side. He showed my mother and his son his good side, and I’m sure his patients think he’s a nice doctor. But his dark side comes out when he’s angry or when he’s out of control. Then, he snaps. He’s very controlling. I think his anger at me started when he couldn’t control me or when I wouldn’t give in to, you know, what he wanted. My friend at school, Samantha, calls him Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Mr Carter: And Samantha is?
Ms Desroches: Samantha Silas.
Thomas rose. ‘Objection, Your Honor. This is not only hearsay, it’s double hearsay and completely unreliable. We have no opportunity to cross-examine Samantha Silas or determine the factual basis for her opinion. I objected to its admissibility at the PFA hearing and I’m renewing my objection.’
Linda faced Judge Gardner. ‘Your Honor, you have correctly ruled that the transcript from the PFA hearing is admissible.’
Thomas shook his head. ‘Your Honor, this is not a PFA hearing, but a murder trial. Rules of evidence are strictly observed here to guarantee the constitutional protections due my client. I let it go earlier, because it wasn’t as important as this. This portion regarding Samantha Silas should not be admissible.’
Judge Gardner frowned at Linda. ‘Ms Swain-Pettit, do you know if Samantha Silas is available?’
‘I do not, Your Honor. If defense counsel insists, we can strike Samantha Silas’s statement from the record.’
Thomas pursed his lips. ‘Your Honor, that won’t unring the bell.’
Judge Gardner sighed. ‘The objection is sustained in part and overruled in part. Stenographer, please strike from the record the statement regarding Samantha Silas’s opinion. The transcript is otherwise admissible, and the jury can determine the weight they will give this testimony.’ He turned to the jury. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please disregard that last statement regarding the opinion of Samantha Silas.’
‘Thank you, Your Honor.’ Thomas sat down heavily.
‘Thank you, Your Honor,’ Linda said, signaling again to her paralegal, and a new transcript appeared on the screen.
Mr Carter: Is there an example you can recall in which the Defendant became angry or out of control, which would help the Court understand the basis for your testimony?
Ms Desroches: Yes, I needed a car to get to school and I bought one with my own money, as a cool surprise. My mother didn’t love it at first, but we talked it over and she said from now on I should talk to her about it, and that was that. But my stepfather saw the car in the driveway when he came home and he freaked out.
Mr Carter: What do you mean by ‘freaked out?’
Ms Desroches: He became angry and abusive. He yelled at me, telling me that I was in his house now and I had to follow his rules and I had to ask his permission before I did anything and everything. That’s exactly what he said, too. And he yelled at my mother and my stepbrother, then he sent me upstairs and I hadn’t even eaten yet, and later I heard him and my mother fighting.
Mr Carter: Did the fighting turn physical?
Ms Desroches: No. He’s much smarter than that. He’s manipulative. And when he doesn’t get what he wants, he becomes angry and out of control. That night, he banged the table so hard that a glass broke. That’s what I mean, like Samantha said, he’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
‘Objection!’ Thomas said, then he and Linda started fighting again, but Noah tuned them out, stricken. He remembered every detail of that night. He knew he’d been out of control, and if he could explain himself to the jury, he could convince them that he wasn’t Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Noah had been at work when he got the call that one of his favorite patients, a fifteen-year-old named Mike Wilson, had died. Mike was allergic to bee stings and always carried an EpiPen with him. Mike even had great parents, Dina and Steve, who always reminded him, No pen left behind. Noah had made up the slogan himself to help his young patients.