The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady - Elizabeth Stuckey-French [103]
Ava, on the other hand, was sitting up straight and bug-eyed, watching her mother.
Caroline heard how calm her voice sounded and marveled at it. “I heard you say you gave some man …” should she say blow job? “You’re way way too young for that kind of thing. I want to know who it was.”
Now Suzi looked scared. She dug her chin into the pillow she was clutching.
“Honey, tell me who it was,” Caroline said, and then couldn’t help adding. “I can’t believe that you told Mrs. Archer and she didn’t tell me.”
“She wanted to tell you,” Suzi said. “I begged her not to. He’ll get into so much trouble.”
“It’s Buff,” Ava said. “That minister dude.”
“That jerk,” Caroline said, the shock like ice water filling her body.
“Yeah,” Ava said. “Jerk.”
Suzi reached over and gave Ava a shove. “Thanks a lot. That’s the last time I tell you anything.”
“He’s wolfish,” Ava said. “He tried to get me to do it, but I wouldn’t. I told him no. Did I do the right thing, Mom?” Ava wanted to be praised for her good decision, highlighting the contrast between herself and her sister. Every occasion was one for sibling rivalry. How could Caroline even be noticing these things right now?
She walked over and sat down on the foot of Ava’s bed. “You did the right thing,” she told Ava. “But I wished you’d told me. Both of you.”
“It’s too embarrassing,” Ava said.
Suzi’s face looked scary blank. Caroline scooted over and tried to hug Suzi, but she shied away. “I only did it,” Suzi said in a robotic voice, “so he’d leave Ava alone. I did it so she wouldn’t have to.”
“I was never going to,” Ava said. “I’d never do that.”
Shut up, Ava. “I’m so sorry you felt you had to do it,” Caroline said. Understatement of the year. Of the century.
“That’s what I do,” Suzi said. “Do things to make other people feel better.” She sighed and stared up at the poster on Ava’s wall—a black-and-white photo of Elvis on his Harley, taken by Alfred Wertheimer. The quintessential good boy trying to act bad. Was that what Suzi had been doing?
“He probably does that kind of stuff all the time,” Ava said.
“That doesn’t help!” Suzi shrieked and slapped the side of Ava’s head.
“Owwww,” Ava howled.
Caroline, moving quickly, caught Suzi up and held her and kept murmuring that it would be okay, that Suzi wasn’t in trouble, that it wasn’t her fault. But her mind was spinning into the future, toward what she had to do next.
She left the girls in Ava’s room; and on the way out she tripped over the laundry basket, stumbled, and nearly fell, and then wished she’d fallen so she’d have a legitimate excuse to cry. She already had a reason, which wasn’t the same as an excuse. She wanted to cry, to scream, to rant and rave, but she couldn’t make Suzi feel worse than she already did. This was about Suzi, Caroline told herself. Keep the focus on helping Suzi get through this.
In her bedroom she dialed Vic’s cell phone number, but he didn’t pick up. He’d been staying late at work every night. Or at least he always said he was at work, and when he did come home he’d sneak straight down to his computer to check that damn hurricane Web site. Lately all he could talk about was Hurricane Grayson, a category 1 that had come ashore in the Keys that afternoon. She felt a burst of anger toward Vic for not being available. She could follow that train of thought a long way. He was never really available. When it came to her and the kids. Except for Suzi’s soccer. But since he didn’t have soccer anymore, he’d simply disappeared into hurricanes and work.
Gigi! She was probably working with Vic. Ava must have Gigi’s cell phone number, because of the riding lessons. Oh shit. Gigi was Buff’s sister. She dialed Nance’s number.
When Nance answered, Caroline just started talking. “Suzi told me about Buff.”
“I’m sick about it.”
“I bet you are,” Caroline said, allowing a bit of her anger to spill over, even though she knew that