Page 44 of Mean Moms
Belle Redness
Morgan Chary
When Frost was hit by the scooter, I got a quick glimpse of the guy who did it, but I didn’t recognize him. The other day, I was at Atherton when Sofia dropped her kids off. When her driver came out to open the door to the car, I could have sworn it was the same man. I’m like 99% sure.
Frost Trevor
Wait, you’re saying that the guy who mowed me down with an e-scooter is… Sofia’s driver? No way. No way!That’sthe guy with the baseball hat? The one I thought I saw at ZZ’s?
Morgan Chary
Look him up on Facebook. Rodrick Beneto.
Belle Redness
THAT’S THE GUY THAT DELIVERED FLOWERS TO ME I’M LOOKING AT HIS FACEBOOK PAGE NOW. I’m calling you guys on a group FaceTime.
The three women’s faces appeared as tiny tiles on their phones. Frost was in her apartment on Twenty-Second Street, surrounded by her collages. Belle was in her kitchen, a mug of coffee set down in front of her. And Morgan was walking through Central Park, wearing sunglasses to block out the glare, a tennis racket sticking up into the frame.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” said Frost. “It’s him. Should we call the police? I need to speak to Sofia. What if he’s violent? He’s driving around her children! Morgan, why didn’t you tell us this sooner?”
“I wasn’t sure!” said Morgan. “But then I saw him at drop-off, and it all came together. I’m nearly positive he’s also the one who robbed us at Thyme & Time.”
“But wait,” interrupted Frost. “I still don’t get it. Sofia was going to blackmail us or something? So she had her driver harass us? That makes no sense.”
“It was her idea to have everyone wear The Dresses…” said Belle, her doe eyes wide. “And why didn’t she appear in the picture in thePostwith you, Frost? Maybe she’s a criminal mastermind! Frost, she’s your best friend.” Belle said this with some bitterness, which the other women picked up on.
“You guys are my best friends,” said Frost, a bit too quickly.
“I don’t think we should get the police involved yet,” saidMorgan. “Let’s keep talking about it. But right now, I have to get to my tennis lesson.”
They nodded at her sage counsel and then hung up.
An email to Belle and Jeff Redness
Report from Greg Summerly, Private Detective
Hi folks,
Here’s my final wrap-up for your records. I’m sorry I couldn’t find out more. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions.
On March 5, at 1:45 p.m., an unidentified man of indeterminate race rang up to Belle and Jeff Redness’s penthouse apartment. Belle buzzed him up, thinking it was an Amazon delivery. During the elevator ride, the man switched his baseball hat out for a ski mask, handing Belle a package as the doors opened, and then traveling back down. Belle never saw the man’s face. We have no evidence, as of this moment, that the man was Rodrick Beneto.
The package contained a bouquet of dead flowers, concealing nearly twenty live lanternflies, plus a note congratulating Belle on the launch of her new business, signed “a friend.” No one involved in the incident recognized the handwriting. An analysis from a handwriting expert concluded that it was the work of an adult female.
According to the building’s security video, the man accessed the lobby via the correct security code, which only residents of the building are supposed to know (admittedly, many residents, including the Rednesses, share the access code with friends for convenience’s sake). Unfortunately, the man’s face was never visible on camera. There was no surrounding security video available.
At the time of the incident, Belle was with her friend Frost Trevor, her daughter, Hildy Redness, and the family housekeeper, Ivanna Boyko. After the perpetrator exited the building, Sofia Perez, a family friend, entered the lobby—she said the door was propped open, and video footage confirms this. She wasn’t buzzed up, but rather input the correct elevator code to reach Belle’s apartment, surprising the women when she arrived.
To summarize: In my professional opinion, this was a prank orchestrated by someone with a vendetta against Belle Redness. Earlier this year, an email that Belle privately sent to Atherton’s nurse was leaked school-wide, and in it Belle named a few women in a negative context, including Dre Finlay, Julie Klein, Gemma Corder, and Becky Oranga. It’s possible that one or a group of these mothers were behind the incident as revenge. None of them consented to an interview.
It is my professional opinion that neither Frost Trevor nor Ivanna Boyko had anything to do with the incident.
Belle and Jeff Redness also have expressed concern that there is a connection here to Frost Trevor’s scooter accident and/or to an incident in which samples of Belle Redness’s dress line caused skin rashes, among other, recent, inexplicable occurrences.
After review, the only commonality between any of these events is Sofia Perez.
Thank you for your business.
