What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty [105]
“She’s got amnesia, stupid,” said Tom thickly, his mouth amazingly full.
“Manners,” said Alice automatically, and then caught herself. Did she just say, “Manners”? What did that even mean?
“Oh, yeah,” said Madison. She turned her dark eyes on Alice. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Alice said, and dropped her eyes first. The kid could be sort of scary.
“What’s for dessert, Mummy?” said Olivia. She was kicking the table leg rhythmically as she ate. “Maybe ice cream? Or I know, Chocolate Mush?”
“What’s Chocolate Mush?” asked Alice.
“Oh, silly, you know that!” said Olivia.
Tom slapped his hand against his forehead. “You girls! She’s got amnesia!”
“Mummy, darling,” said Olivia. “Is it gone now? Your am—thing? Because maybe you could take an aspirin? I could get it for you? I could get it for you now!”
She pushed her chair back from the table.
“Eat your dinner, Olivia,” said Nick.
“Daddy,” groaned Olivia. “I’m trying to help.”
“As if an aspirin is going to help,” said Tom. “She probably needs an operation. Like brain surgery. By a brain surgeon. I saw a brain surgeon on television the other night.” He brightened. “Hey! I would like to dissect a mouse and see its brain, as well as its intestines! With a scalpel. That would be excellent.”
“Oh my God.” Madison put down her knife and fork and put her head on the table. “That is making me sick. I am so going to be sick.”
“Stop it,” said Nick.
“This is a mouse’s brain, Madison.” Tom squished his fork into his hamburger meat. “Chop, chop, chop, mousie’s brain!”
“Make him stop!” wailed Madison.
“Tom,” sighed Nick.
“So!” said Alice. “How was the Aquatic Center today?”
Madison lifted her head from the table and said to Alice, “Did you remember that you and Dad were getting a divorce? After you hit your head? Did you remember that?”
Nick made a strangled, helpless sound.
Alice considered the question. “No,” she said. “I didn’t.”
No one spoke. Olivia banged her knife against her plate. Tom twisted his arm over and frowned ferociously at something on his elbow. There were spots of crimson on Madison’s cheekbones.
“So do you still love Dad?” said Madison. There was a slight tremor in her voice. She sounded much younger.
“Alice,” said Nick warningly, at the same time as Alice said, “Yes, of course I do.”
“Can Daddy come home, then?” Olivia looked up, elated. “And sleep in his own bed again!”
“Okay, time for a change of subject,” said Nick. He avoided Alice’s eyes.
“They’d fight too much,” said Tom.
“What do we fight about?” asked Alice, greedy for facts.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Tom irritably. “You said that’s why you couldn’t live together anymore. Because you fight too much. Even though I still have to live with my stupid sisters and we fight all the time. So it wasn’t even logical.”
“You fight about Gina,” said Madison.
“Don’t talk about Gina!” said Olivia. “It makes me sad. It’s an absolute tragedy.”
“R.I.P. ,” said Tom. “That’s what you say when you talk about someone who has died. It means rest in peace. You have to say it whenever you hear their name.”
“Why did we fight about Gina?” asked Alice.
“R.I.P.!” cried Tom, as if he were saying “snap!”
“So, the Aquatic Center was a lot of fun,” said Nick. “Wasn’t it, kids?”
“Well,” said Madison. “I think Dad thought you liked Gina better than him.”
“R.I.P.!” shouted Tom and Olivia.
“Oh shut up!” said Madison. “Someone dying is not funny!”
Alice looked at Nick. His face looked red and raw, like windburn. She couldn’t tell whether it meant he was angry or embarrassed. Goodness. Had she had some sort of torrid lesbian affair with Gina?
“You fight about the American Expense a lot,” said Tom.
“American Express,” said Madison.
“American Expense works for me.” Nick lifted his wineglass in a mocking sort of salute but he still didn’t look at Alice.
“Once you had a really extremely big fight about me,” said Olivia with satisfaction.
“Why?” asked Alice.
“Oh, you remember.” Olivia looked wary. “That day. At the beach.”
“For