Page 64 of Golden Girl
“It was self-defense,” Leo says, then regrets this and tries to backpedal. “Honestly, I’m not real clear on what happened the night before my mom was killed. I don’t remember getting home.”
“Let me change the topic for a second,” the Chief says. “Have you seen your mother’s running shoes? Did you collect the shoes and clothes from the hospital?”
Leo gags. His mother’s shoes. His mother’s clothes.
“I’m sorry, son, I know this is difficult. But can you please just answer the question? Have you seen the clothes or shoes since your mother died?”
“No,” Leo whispers. “We got the phone back. That was it.”
“Okay.” The Chief places a light hand on Leo’s shoulder.
“I know Cruz ran a stop sign and was speeding before he got to my road.” Leo meets the Chief’s eye for the first time. “If he didn’t hit her, then who did?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” the Chief says. “Thank you for your help. I’ll be in touch.”
The Chief drives away. He left his card and said if Leo had any thoughts about the shoes or the clothes to call his personal cell phone, not the station.
Leo goes up to his bedroom and closes the door. He imagines Cruz being arrested, arraigned, indicted, sentenced, jailed. He imagines the strong brick foundation that Cruz built to support his future crumbling.
He thinks of Cruz poking him hard in the chest, an imitation of Joe DeSantis when Joe wanted to get a point across.You need to face your truth.
Face my truth?Leo thinks. He’s suddenly so angry that he punches the wall; his fist goes straight through the plaster. His mother would be furious about this—but his mother is dead. There’s no one left to care if he punches holes in the walls.
“Mom!” he cries out. “Mama, where are you?”
He strides over to Carson’s room. The door is wide open—of course, because she’s not sleeping there. She’s sleeping in Vivi’s room. Vivi’s room is at the other end of the hall, door closed tight, because Vivi alone has an air-conditioning unit.
Leo opens the door and goes over to Vivi’s nightstand. He pulls out the drawer and finds what he’s looking for—a sandwich baggie full of pills. He wants Ativan or something stronger; he doesn’t care what. He needs to escape his head.
He shakes four of the pills into his palm. Then a fifth.
Vivi
“I’m using one of my nudges,” Vivi says. “And you can’t stop me.”
Martha purses her lips. She’s wearing a scarf knotted around her neck, the same one she had on the first time they met. Maybe she wears them in rotation. Vivi will ask, but not right now.
“This is where a mother should step in,” Vivi says. “He takes the pills, he associates the pills with feeling better, he seeks out more pills. He becomes addicted. He ends up a functioning addict, or he goes to rehab, or he dies. Is that what’s going to happen? Can you check your clipboard?”
“I didn’t bring my clipboard,” Martha says. She closes her eyes. “I’ll do it this way.” Her eyes fly open. “I’m afraid you’re right.”
“You can see the future?” Vivi asks.
“I have some special skills,” Martha says. “The mind reading, as you know. I can see potential futures, and with extra concentration, I can go back in time and follow the road not taken.”
Whaaaaa?Vivi thinks.
“But let’s not waste time,” Martha says. “Use your nudge. Right now, go ahead.”
“How?” Vivi asks. Leo has stepped into her bathroom and is filling her cup with water.
“Swoop down there and…nudge.”
Vivi gazes down at Leo, her dear, sweet baby boy. The glass of water is full; the pills are in his palm.Focus,Vivi thinks. But she’s distracted by the mess in the bathroom. Carson’s makeup is everywhere and she has left the lid off Vivi’s La Mer soft cream, which costs over three hundred dollars.
“Vivi!” Martha says.
Vivi snaps her attention back to Leo. He’s bringing the pills to his mouth.
