CHAPTER 49

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

MAGGIE put Charlie to sleep at 8:00 and then got to work on Jack. The ten-year-old employed a series of delay tactics and dragged his feet more than usual. Maggie finally realized he was stalling so he could see his father before he fell asleep. Nash was gone picking up the two oldest ones from after-school activities. Jack seemed to take his father’s coming and going harder than the others. Maggie knew she needed to sit down and talk to her husband about it, but she wasn’t sure about putting any additional stress on him right now.

Maggie told Jack to get under the covers and that she’d be back in a few minutes. She went into her bedroom, stripped off her work clothes, and threw on a pair of pajamas. After brushing her teeth, she came back into Jack’s room and told him to scoot over. Jack and Rory shared a room. Each had a twin bed with a single nightstand in between. Maggie nestled under the blankets with him and put her arm around his bony little shoulders. She kissed him on the forehead and ran her fingers through his bristly hair.

“Is everything all right, honey?”

“Yeah… why do you ask?”

“Because that’s what mothers do. We ask, and we care, and we worry, and we get deep wrinkles on our faces, and you kids suck all the life out of us and turn us into old prunes.”

Jack looked back at his mother with worried eyes and said, “I think you’re beautiful, Mom.”

Maggie kissed him on the forehead again and gave him a big hug. She knew she had only a year or two more at the most before she lost him. It would happen one day without warning, just as it had with Rory. She still had the bond with Shannon, but these damn boys were too much like their father. Jack would stop holding her hand and telling her she was beautiful, and then they’d start butting heads.

“You’re a sweet boy, Jack.”

Jack was about to ask her a question, when the doorbell interrupted him. Maggie looked at the bedside clock. It was almost 9:00. She told Jack to stay put, and she went downstairs to see who it was. When she peeked through the sidelight next to the front door, she saw Todd De Graff, whose son went to school with Rory.

Maggie unlocked and opened the door. The word hello got stuck in her mouth as she looked at a bloodied and battered Derek De Graff. Finally she managed to say, “Oh my God… what happened?”

“Your son is what happened.”

Maggie’s eyes moved from the son to the father. “Excuse me.”

“I don’t stutter, Maggie. Your son Rory beat him up after school.”

“But…” Maggie stammered, “you and Rory are friends. Why would he do something like this?”

“That’s a good question. I’d like to ask him.” De Graff looked over each of Maggie’s shoulders in search of her son.

“He’s not home yet. Why would he do such a thing?”

“Supposedly they were screwing around, then Rory went nuts for no reason.”

Maggie thought about the way he’d been acting up lately. It was entirely possible. He had way too much of his father in him. “I am so sorry. I can assure you I will deal with this the second he gets home.” Maggie shook her head and added, “That boy is going to be in serious trouble.”

“I’m not spending twenty-eight thousand dollars a year so my kid can get bullied and beat up.”

“Todd, I promise you Rory will be punished severely, and as soon as he gets home I will bring him over and he will apologize in person for this.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” De Graff shook his head. “Kristy is really upset about this. I had to talk her out of calling the police.”

Maggie was suddenly gripped by a new set of problems. Her little Jarhead in the making was going to end up with a juvenile record, and if that happened he could kiss an Ivy League education good-bye. And then she thought of Kristy Hillcrest De Graff, quite possibly the most gossipy, stuck-up mother amongst a group of women who were not the least bit embarrassed to behave like they were still in high school. Maggie felt her Irish temper coming on. She apologized to both father and son one more time and said she’d call them after she was done chewing Rory’s ass out.

After closing the door, Maggie went to the kitchen and headed straight for the wine fridge. She retrieved a bottle of Toasted Head Chardonnay and wrestled with the cork. Jack appeared in the doorway, looking concerned.

Maggie looked up and said, “Back to bed, young man. You do not want to be down here when your brother gets home.”

She opened the cupboard, her right hand reaching for a small Chardonnay glass and then skipping over it. A situation like this called for a big burgundy glass. After pouring nearly a third of the bottle into the glass, she took a massive drink and then leaned against the marble counter. Her mind raced off in three different directions almost simultaneously. How would her husband react to the news, how many women had Kristy Hillcrest De Graff already called, and what punishment was she going to give her thirteen-year-old monster?

She was nearly finished with the glass when she heard them pull into the garage. She waited for them in the kitchen, her anger slowly building. Shannon entered the kitchen first; she was on her cell phone, so she didn’t notice the brooding look on her mother’s face. Next came Rory, with his father close behind.

Nash entered the kitchen, took one look at his wife, and thought, Holy shit, what did I do now? Instead he said, “What’s wrong?”

“Well… Derek and his father just stopped by.” Her eyes shifted to her son. “Would you like to tell me why he has a black eye?”

Rory shifted nervously and then stammered for a second before spitting out, “He said something that wasn’t right… and I told him to stop, but he…”

“Do you have any idea,” Maggie screamed, “that you can be kicked out of school!”

“But, Mom, he…”

“I don’t care what he did!”

“But he…”

“Did you hear me?” she screamed. “Nothing that he could have said would justify what you did to him. Do you know how much we pay to send you to Sidwell?”

Rory was shaking. “I don’t care!” he yelled. “I don’t even like it there!”

“Don’t you dare raise your voice at me, young man! Go to your room right now!” She pointed toward the hallway. “Your father and I will discuss your punishment, but I’ll tell you right now, I’m in favor of pulling you off the lacrosse team.”

Rory ripped himself free from his father and ran down the hallway. “I hate you!”

Maggie yelled after him, “That’s really going to help your case, young man!” She turned to her husband and said, “Can you believe this?” She snatched the bottle of wine from the counter and poured herself another third. “I have no idea how we are going to deal with this.”

Nash wondered for a brief second who in the hell this woman was, standing in his kitchen. “Woman… what in the hell is wrong with you?”

“Me?” She pointed at herself. “Maybe you haven’t been paying attention, Michael, but that school costs twenty-eight thousand dollars a year and they have a zero tolerance on fighting. He’s going to get kicked out.”

“Don’t you think we should hear his side of the story before we get all worked up?”

“I don’t need to hear his side. Zero tolerance. That’s the policy. We’re screwed. He’s going to get expelled, and then good luck trying to get him into Harvard.”

“Oh, that’s what this is about.”

“Don’t go there with me. This is your fault. I should have never let you give him boxing lessons. It’s bad enough that he has that same aggressive gene you and your brothers have.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Remember… remember the bar you and your brothers tore apart? If it wasn’t for the fact that that cop was a Marine and you were on leave you’d have a record right now.”