Page 46 of The Better Sister

It was just a mix-up. When we go between the houses, we have a laundry list of things that get carried back and forth, and sometimes I jam things wherever they fit.That’s what I had told her. It was true, for the most part—an anomalous shortcoming in our usually methodical planning skills. Adam had once found a week-old banana inside a tennis shoe.

But Margaret didn’t give the jury our side of the gun story. That was going to be one of the things I’d have to explain when I eventually took the stand.

“To the extent you spoke to Ethan’s parents about any discipline that would be applied in response to the gun incident, with whom did you speak?”

“Initially, his stepmother, Chloe Taylor.”

“Did you also speak to his father, Adam Macintosh?”

“Yes, I called her, and then both of them came to the school to meet in person.”

“And how would you describe their responses?”

Olivia objected to the question as vague, and Rivera sustained the objection.

Nunzio quickly rephrased. “Did one of his parents appear more concerned about Ethan’s current status with the school than the other?”

This time, Olivia’s objection was overruled.

“It was my impression that his stepmother simply wanted to put the episode behind them, while Adam was genuinely worried that Ethan might be having problems.”

“What types of problems?”

Olivia had barely risen from her chair before Rivera warned Nunzio to restate the question. Among the many pretrial motions was one to limit evidence relating to Ethan’s academic performance and general social position at the school. The prosecution had wanted to show that Ethan’s grades had been slipping and that he was known as a loner, but Olivia had convinced the judge that the evidence was irrelevant.

I assumed that Nunzio would excuse Margaret from the stand now that his attempt to bypass the judge’s pretrial ruling had failed. Instead, Nunzio asked, “What makes you think that Adam Macintosh was more worried about his son than his wife was?”

“Because several months later he asked me about the process for admitting Ethan into a military school.”

I stared at the back of Ethan’s head, waiting for him to turn around so I could try to assure him—somehow, with my facial expression—that there was no way that would have ever happened.Turn, Ethan. Look at me. Why aren’t you turning?

“And what specifically did he say to you about his desire to place his son in a different school.”

Olivia objected that the question called for hearsay, but the judge declared that the question reflected Adam’s then-existing state of mind.

“He told me that there had been other problems since the gun incident. That he didn’t even recognize his son anymore. That Ethan had lost his way. I don’t recall his exact words, but I distinctly remember him saying that he had always hoped that nurture would end up mattering more than nature. He was concerned that Ethan might have inherited some of the destructive traits of his mother—his biological mother, I mean, not his stepmother, Ms. Taylor.”

I felt Nicky’s hand grab mine for the first time that day.

“And he thought military school might be an answer?”

Ethan still hadn’t turned. Olivia had probably given him the same admonishment she had delivered to us: “No matter what happens, donotlook surprised. By anything. The jury has to believe during the entire prosecution’s case that there’s another side of the story that they just haven’t heard yet.” I was waiting to hear the other side of the story to this military school angle.

“He was quite adamant about it. Here, I do recall his exact phrasing. He said that Ethan, quote, needed to get his ass kicked. He thought one possibility was to pull him from Casden and throw him into one of the, let’s say, tougher city public schools. But he was leaning toward a military school and specifically asked me which of them was the most ‘unforgiving,’ as he worded it.”

“And did you provide him with a list?”

She shook her head, and Nunzio reminded her that she needed to state her answer in words for the court reporter.

“No, I did not. It’s not my job to place our students elsewhere. And, besides, I thought—at the time at least—that Ethan was simply trying to get attention.”

“Do you know whether Adam discussed his plans to switch schools with his wife, Chloe Taylor?”

“Not with certainty. But he told me that he knew Chloe would try to fight him, but that he was the father and had final say-so, since she was only his stepmother.”

The wordonlyhurt, no matter how many times I heard it.

“And when did this conversation take place?” Nunzio asked.

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