“Evan.” Mindy felt unmoved, turning to him, shaken to her very foundations. She felt as if she were seeing him with new eyes, as if she had been sleepwalking through her own life. “Evan, I don’t know what to say to you. I don’t know what to do about this.”
“Mom, you don’t have to do anything, it’s over now.”
Paul nodded. “Honey, it is over. I swear to you. It’s over. We dodged a bullet, and we came out fine.”
“You don’t even know how bad it got,” Evan added.
“No, I don’t, why don’t you tell me?” Mindy realized that she had never disliked her son before, and now she hated him. Hated her own child. Hated the man he was growing into, or had already grown into. Hated her son and her husband. Hey Facebook, how do you like the Kostis Klan now?
“Mom, she started to ask for more money because she wanted to get the abortion in New York so nobody would know, and we said yes, because we were worried that everybody at school would find out—”
Paul interrupted, “And at the club and the hospital, too. We didn’t want it to get around.”
“Oh God.” Mindy moaned. Her phone rang in her hand, and she glanced down to see who was calling, but it was a number she didn’t recognize, so she pressed the screen to send it to voicemail.
Evan was saying, “Dad took care of it. We gave her as much money as we could, and she took, like, two weeks off from school. She stayed at a hotel in New York, it cost a lot.”
Paul nodded. “I cut her off at ten grand in cash, and she accepted it, and so did her parents, and it’s over. They don’t want it to get around, either. It’s a terrible chapter in our lives, but it’s over.”
“It’s not over for me. It’s just begun for me.”
“What do you mean, Mom?” Evan asked, his voice cracking. He wiped the tear from his cheek.
“What’s this girl’s name, Evan? Is it Amanda, the girl sending you the naked pictures? Excuse me, one of the girls sending you—”
“Mom, no, it’s not Amanda.”
“So it’s a different girl? You got one girl pregnant, and another one’s sending you naked pictures? You told Amanda you love her, and she said she loves you!” Mindy couldn’t even follow. “What’s the name of the girl you got pregnant?”
“Mom, what’s the difference? She’s not from here. She goes to a different school.”
“How dare you! You answer this question! What is her name? Which one is she?” Mindy reached for her phone. “Is she one of the girls in this phone?”
“No, I said, I don’t see her anymore.”
“Evan, what’s the matter with you?” Mindy exploded. “What are you, a sex addict?”
Paul interjected, “Mindy, you don’t need to know her name.”
“Why, Paul? Because you don’t want me to look her up, to call her? You better tell me her name or I’m going to divorce you on the spot. You can go up and pack right now.” Mindy pointed upstairs again. “Right now.”
Evan answered, “Okay, her name is Cynthia Caselli. She goes to Rocky Springs. But, please don’t call her. You’re just gonna make everything worse.”
Paul chimed in, “Honey, he’s right. I dealt with these people. The Caselli’s are lowlifes. Let it go.”
“The hell I will!”
“Mom!” Evan jumped up, as tears spilled from his eyes. “You shouldn’t’ve been in my phone in the first place! You invaded my privacy! How do you even know the passcode? Why do you have to stick your nose into everything? Why can’t you just let it go?”
“How dare you!” Mindy rose, squaring off against Evan. “I can’t let it go because you’re my son. Don’t throw a tantrum about me not trusting you—if you’re not worthy of trust!”
“Mom, you didn’t know that when you went in the phone. You were just snooping around in things that aren’t your business.” Evan started to move toward the door, and Mindy went after him.
“You’re my business, and everything you do is my business!”
“I’ve had it with you! I’ve had it with you both.” Evan stormed out the door, letting it slam behind him.
“Don’t walk out when I’m talking to you!” Mindy started to go after him, but Paul appeared at her side, holding her arm.
“Let him go, honey. He needs to cool down. Let him think it over.”
“Oh, what do you know?” Mindy wrested her arm out of his hand as if he were a complete stranger, which was exactly how she felt. “He can’t walk out on me when I’m talking to him. That’s rude and disrespectful, and he needs limits. When are you going to figure that out? When he gets another girl pregnant? How many BMWs can you buy him, Dr. Kostis?”
“Min—”
“He’s sick of the two of us? I’m sick of the two of you!” Mindy turned and ran upstairs to her bedroom to figure out whether the Kostis Klan could be saved.
Or should be.
Chapter Thirty-nine
Susan went downstairs as soon as she heard Ryan come home from therapy and head into the kitchen. She’d called and postponed her and Raz’s session until later this afternoon because the situation needed to be dealt with immediately, not by a therapist, but by her. She had the gun wrapped in a pink towel from her bathroom, without really knowing why. She didn’t feel angry anymore, only sad, and underneath that, she had a renewed sense of purpose. To put the Sematovs back together, however reconstituted, after Neil’s death.
Susan entered the kitchen, and Ryan was standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open, staring at it like it was a television. He’d been doing that since he was little, and she used to yell at him for wasting electricity. Not today. He looked predictably drained, his skin pale and his blue eyes washed-out. He looked so much like her, with her dark brown hair, which he wore short, and he had a longish nose with thin lips, which right now were pursed.
“Ryan, hi.”
“Hi,” Ryan answered, without looking over. He was very tall, six-foot-four, but he hunched rather than stood, his head slightly forward. He’d lost weight since Neil’s death, which emphasized his bad posture, or maybe he’d just been downcast since then.