one is mine . She sat down at her computer and wrote two short plays, both for two characters. Tess and Rock, Tess and Ava. The only trick would be getting them to follow scripts they didn’t know existed.
The next morning, an overcast Saturday, she grabbed Rock’s hand as they left Jimmy’s.
“Take a walk with me,” she said. They had not talked about Ava at breakfast. They had been not talking about Ava for ten days now, which meant they had practically stopped talking. It was the only subject in the world.
“Do you know something?” he asked.
“Yes, but it’s hard to tell.”
He swallowed hard, pale beneath his tan. Tess led him down the pier to a small bench overlooking the harbor.
“I’ve been watching Ava off and on for almost a week now. I think I know what’s bugging her.”
Rock’s eyes held hers, but he was incapable of sayinganything. He reminded Tess of an old dog, trusting a beloved master not to put him to sleep—unless the master absolutely had to.
“She shoplifts. Little things, things she can’t possibly need. I saw her take underwear and camisoles, stuff that wasn’t even her size.”
As she had expected Rock considered this good news. He sighed, the air escaping from his massive lungs as if he had been holding his breath for several days. It was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as he had feared. He could fix this. He could help her. He straightened up, ready to take action.
“I bet there’s someone up at Phipps who knows about kleptomania,” he said, referring to Johns Hopkins’s psychiatric wing. Tess turned her face away so he wouldn’t see her smile. He was so predictable. Of course he had immediately jumped to the conclusion that Ava’s thefts were a sickness, and therefore curable. She had planned on such a reaction.
“I’ve already done that. Dr. Hauer is the leading expert on this kind of disorder.” The lie stung a little, delivered so smoothly to a trusted friend, but the name was correct, taken from one of the media guides Johns Hopkins distributed to the newspaper every year.
“I’ve heard of him. He has a great rep.”
“Yes, he does. His advice may be difficult for you to follow, though. He says it’s important not to confront her about this. I told him what I had observed, and he said it’s his opinion she’s reaching a crisis point. If you’re patient, she’ll confide in you soon enough.”
“But what if she gets arrested? It could ruin her career. She’d never be admitted to the bar.”
Tess had anticipated this question, too. “I don’t think she will. Get caught, I mean. I saw her because I was already observing her, Rock. Clerks don’t watch her. She dresses well; she looks like a nice young professional woman. They’re too busy chasing around the kids playing hooky to watch someone like Ava. But if she is arrested Dr. Hauer said he’d be able to get the charges dropped. He does it all the time.”
A preposterous claim. No psychiatrist, no matter how highly regarded, could get charges dropped down at the police station. But Tess counted on Rock’s lack of experience with police officers or bail hearings.
Still, he was uncomfortable. She knew Rock would have trouble doing nothing. This was the riskiest part of her plan—trying to keep Rock from confronting Ava until tomorrow night.
She took his left hand in both of hers. The palm thick with calluses. A rower’s hand. It was like holding a huge Brillo pad.
“Trust me,” she said, knowing she no longer deserved his trust. “Give it a week. If she hasn’t come to you by then and told you everything, we’ll go to Plan B.”
“Plan B?”
“An intervention, like they do for addicts. But give it a week. Promise?”
“Well, if Dr. Hauer thinks this is the right thing…. I won’t say anything to her, not for a week. You have my word.”
And his word, Tess knew, was actually worth something. It was as good as the check he pressed in her hand, made out for $1,080. Her first
The next morning, an overcast Saturday, she grabbed Rock’s hand as they left Jimmy’s.
“Take a walk with me,” she said. They had not talked about Ava at breakfast. They had been not talking about Ava for ten days now, which meant they had practically stopped talking. It was the only subject in the world.
“Do you know something?” he asked.
“Yes, but it’s hard to tell.”
He swallowed hard, pale beneath his tan. Tess led him down the pier to a small bench overlooking the harbor.
“I’ve been watching Ava off and on for almost a week now. I think I know what’s bugging her.”
Rock’s eyes held hers, but he was incapable of sayinganything. He reminded Tess of an old dog, trusting a beloved master not to put him to sleep—unless the master absolutely had to.
“She shoplifts. Little things, things she can’t possibly need. I saw her take underwear and camisoles, stuff that wasn’t even her size.”
As she had expected Rock considered this good news. He sighed, the air escaping from his massive lungs as if he had been holding his breath for several days. It was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as he had feared. He could fix this. He could help her. He straightened up, ready to take action.
“I bet there’s someone up at Phipps who knows about kleptomania,” he said, referring to Johns Hopkins’s psychiatric wing. Tess turned her face away so he wouldn’t see her smile. He was so predictable. Of course he had immediately jumped to the conclusion that Ava’s thefts were a sickness, and therefore curable. She had planned on such a reaction.
“I’ve already done that. Dr. Hauer is the leading expert on this kind of disorder.” The lie stung a little, delivered so smoothly to a trusted friend, but the name was correct, taken from one of the media guides Johns Hopkins distributed to the newspaper every year.
“I’ve heard of him. He has a great rep.”
“Yes, he does. His advice may be difficult for you to follow, though. He says it’s important not to confront her about this. I told him what I had observed, and he said it’s his opinion she’s reaching a crisis point. If you’re patient, she’ll confide in you soon enough.”
“But what if she gets arrested? It could ruin her career. She’d never be admitted to the bar.”
Tess had anticipated this question, too. “I don’t think she will. Get caught, I mean. I saw her because I was already observing her, Rock. Clerks don’t watch her. She dresses well; she looks like a nice young professional woman. They’re too busy chasing around the kids playing hooky to watch someone like Ava. But if she is arrested Dr. Hauer said he’d be able to get the charges dropped. He does it all the time.”
A preposterous claim. No psychiatrist, no matter how highly regarded, could get charges dropped down at the police station. But Tess counted on Rock’s lack of experience with police officers or bail hearings.
Still, he was uncomfortable. She knew Rock would have trouble doing nothing. This was the riskiest part of her plan—trying to keep Rock from confronting Ava until tomorrow night.
She took his left hand in both of hers. The palm thick with calluses. A rower’s hand. It was like holding a huge Brillo pad.
“Trust me,” she said, knowing she no longer deserved his trust. “Give it a week. If she hasn’t come to you by then and told you everything, we’ll go to Plan B.”
“Plan B?”
“An intervention, like they do for addicts. But give it a week. Promise?”
“Well, if Dr. Hauer thinks this is the right thing…. I won’t say anything to her, not for a week. You have my word.”
And his word, Tess knew, was actually worth something. It was as good as the check he pressed in her hand, made out for $1,080. Her first
Similar Books
