Page 17 of The Chain House

Sam thought of his father at home, right now, and how’d uncomfortably they’d parted a few hours ago. He said, “My mom … she died when I was ten.”

“I’m sorry.” Jennifer ran her index finger through some light dust on the table. The painted dot on that black nail was purple. She blew the dust from her fingertip. “Do you remember her? Your mom?”

“A little bit,” he said. “Sometimes I get out her picture and look at it so I don’t forget what she looked like. She was kind. She smiled a lot.”

“Yeah … I think my mom was too,” Jennifer said. “I mostly remember her red hair. Green eyes. But she must have been pretty stupid to have brought us into that cult.”

“I don’t think stupid is the right word,” Sam said. “Vulnerable, maybe. Lost. Confused.”

“Okay, I get it.”

She was ready to get to work, but Sam didn’t feel finished with the conversation. “And you haven’t …” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the question. “Never mind.”

“He’s going to eat you alive and pick his teeth with your bones tomorrow, Sam.” Jennifer folded her arms and stared at him, waiting as if daring him to finish the question, her black nails tapping the smooth flesh of her arm. “You can’t be afraid to ask questions, Sam.”

“Fine,” he said. “So you haven’t ever heard from your mother after that night she fled?”

“No.”

“What do you really think happened to her?”

“Oooh, a quick follow-up, nicely done.” She chewed her bottom lip, kept her eyes on him. “I think she couldn’t take her life choices and ran. And she’s a coward.”

“And you haven’t tried to find her?”

“No, next question,” she said, snapping her fingers.

“And the other children.”

“That’s not a question, Sam.”

“Have they heard from their parents?”

“I don’t know,” she said, with an expressive sigh. “I haven’t spoken to them at all since then. But I’ve kept tabs, so when it comes time to hunt them down for the documentary, Peter is in a rehab center in Ransom. Drugs and alcohol. He’s had a rough time of it. Markie Mark got married to his longtime boyfriend last year and they live in Lexington. And Iris is in her second year of law school in Virginia and engaged to a future doctor.”

“You sound jealous.”

“Wouldn’t you be? And good observation. Maybe you won’t totally suck tomorrow.”

Sam laughed; he was starting to read her better. She was quirky and smart, and it didn’t hurt that she was pretty, but her just-don’t-give-a-fuck no-filter attitude made him want to hug her. He pulled his phone from his pocket. He’d felt it vibrate several times while they were talking. He’d secretly hoped he’d gotten a text from his father with a change of opinion, but the text was from Carl in the other room, close enough to them that Sam could see his legs stretched out from the sofa as he worked.

Carl had texted: Howz it going

Sam typed: good

You ask her out yet

No

If u dont I will

FU

“What’s so funny?” Jennifer asked.

Sam looked up from his phone. “Just that Carl’s an idiot.”

“I picked up on that,” she said. “But he seems like a teddy bear. I like him.” She looked around the cluttered table. “I need a pen and paper.”