Page 34 of Smuggler's Cove
“Wait. Start again. Slowly, please,” Olivia requested.
“Mom called me yesterday morning and told me my father was arrested. That much you already know. They froze all our assets, which means we no longer have access to the apartment unless we get a court order. Lincoln and I threw some clothes together. I can almost say we are getting away with just the shirts on our backs. Literally. And, of course, Mr. Jinx.” She pulled her plush kitty closer. “The good news/bad news: I am transferring to RISD beginning Monday,” she continued.
“Is that the good news or the bad news?” Olivia asked.
“Kinda both,” Madison clucked. “Yes, good news is I will be closer to you. The rest? You be the judge.” She chuckled again. “No pun intended.”
Olivia was speechless. Then she took a breath. “Do you think your mom told my mom? All she said to me was, ‘Turn on channel seven.’ ”
“I have no idea. She did not have much to say except she was getting on a plane.” Madison kept the destination a secret. As Sidney had put it,the less you know, the less they can get information from you. Or something to that effect. “Lincoln and I were planning to go to Nana’s on Friday, but the security agent they assigned to me suggested I get out of town tomorrow. The sooner the better.”
“Security agent?” Olivia was mystified.
“Yes, Sidney hired someone to escort me and Lincoln until I leave town and the story dies down a bit.”
“But why?”
“Sidney mentioned retaliation. People trying to get even with my father. I should make a public service announcement: ‘Hello to all of you who have been screwed over by my father. Please know that he could not care less what happens to the family, so do not bother getting yourself into trouble by trying to get even.’ ”
“Wow, oh wow.” Olivia was trying to process the news. She hadn’t grown up with the same creature comforts and luxury, but Madison never acted spoiled. She knew this was life-changing for her friends.
“You know something, Livvy? As much as the money provided us with all the material things one could wish for, there was always this black hole of emotions. My mother had double duty in dishing out family love.”
“Is she going to be alright?” Olivia was deeply concerned about her favorite people.
“I think so. Ya know, I had a heart-to-heart with her last night. Not ideal circumstances, as you can imagine, but she told me—confessed, really—how miserable she was, and that she should have left my father years ago.”
Olivia repeated her previous, “Wow, oh wow.” She paused. “Can I be honest?”
“I wouldn’t expect any less,” Madison urged.
“Your dad? I was not a big fan of his.”
Madison burst out laughing. “Truth be told, I do not think you have exclusivity on that. And he was not much of a fan of anyone else, either. He sucked up to people with money, but he was sorely lacking in compassion and empathy.”
“I believe the word is sociopath, with a huge scoop of narcissism.” Olivia was in her junior year at the University of Massachusetts. She wanted to become a psychologist and work with underprivileged kids who came from broken homes, or with women in crisis. She felt blessed by the love her family shared and wanted to help young people who were not as lucky as she was. “Sorry. But that is how I always viewed him. I just recently learned the lingo and the labels,” she said, snickering.
“I suppose I was using the same technique as my mother. I call it ostrich syndrome. I, too, buried my head.”
Olivia explained, “Routines become routines because it gives one a sense of security knowing what to expect. People look for consistency, good or bad. For me, if things were bad, I’d like to think I would rather take a chance at change for the better, but people are afraid of change.” Olivia sighed. “Fear. It is an extraordinarily strong motivator. I have two more years to figure it out.” Olivia gave a wry chuckle. “Also, remember you didn’t know better.” Olivia was trying to be sympathetic.
“Not true. Can I be honest?” Madison asked.
“I wouldn’t expect any less.” Olivia repeated Madison’s words back to her.
“I preferred having dinner with you and your family. There was always laughing, joking. Lots of tasty food. In my house, we rarely ate dinner as a family. I cannot remember the last time we had dinner together. Holidays, but they were catered. During the week, we stayed at Hackley. Weekends were social activities for my parents.” Madison’s family interactions were playing like a sad film in her head. “It’s not as if I am going to miss him. But Mom? If she wasn’t available over the weekends, when Lincoln and I were home, she would take a car up to Hackley during the week. She was very engaged in our education and activities,” Madison mused.
“Well now you can have dinners with me and my family when we go back to New York,” Olivia said.
“Uh, I don’t know if I am ever going to be able to go back to New York. At least not any time soon. This is just the beginning of the drama-rama. There’ll be depositions, and then the trial, which could be a long way from now. I already had a group of reporters waiting for me at school this morning.”
“What happened?” Olivia was intrigued with this new chapter in her best friend’s life.
“The security agent Sidney hired snuck me in and then pushed our way out of school, and he then brought me back to the hotel.” Madison sighed. “Oh, and yesterday afternoon, when we went back to the apartment, we dealt with a U.S. Marshal. I have to say he was nice.”
“Well, it isn’t exactly your fault.”
“True. I think he almost felt sorry for us.”
