him,’ she said.
Steven ignored her.
Reese raised her voice.
‘He hurts you.’
Everything stopped.
Steven looked at me with an indulgent smile.
‘She’s jealous because Kayla spends more time with me now.’
‘No,’ Reese said.
‘I saw what you did to her arm.’
Kayla went rigid.
Steven tightened his hand around her shoulder.
‘Tell your sister to stop lying.’
Kayla opened her mouth, then closed it.
That small silence changed everything.
I moved closer.
‘Kayla, show me your arm.’
‘It’s nothing, Mom.’
‘Show me.’
She slowly pulled up her sleeve.
Four dark finger-shaped marks crossed her upper arm.
I felt my stomach turn.
‘What happened?’
‘I bumped into something.’
Reese shook her head.
‘He grabbed her outside the movie theater because she said she wanted to go home.’
Steven’s face darkened.
‘Enough.’
Then Reese reached into her pajama pocket and pulled out her favorite possession: a small pink tape recorder.
She had received it for Christmas.
She used it to record imaginary radio programs, interview the family dog, and play music for her stuffed animals.
I had never imagined that little plastic machine could become the most important object in our lives.
‘Reese,’ I whispered, ‘what is that?’
She pressed PLAY.
At first there was only static and the distant sound of a television.
Then I heard Steven’s voice.
‘I’ve got the pills.
Once she’s out of it, she won’t even know what happened.’
Another boy laughed.
Steven continued.
‘If she gets pregnant, her parents will never let her leave for college.
She can forget that scholarship.’
The second boy asked whether Kayla would be angry afterward.
Steven answered with a laugh.
‘She won’t remember enough to prove anything.’
Nobody breathed.
Kayla stepped away from him.
‘Steven?’
He stared at the recorder.
‘Where did you get that?’
Reese backed toward me.
‘I heard you talking when you thought everybody was asleep.’
Steven reached for her.
‘Give me that thing.’
I moved in front of my daughter.
‘Don’t touch her.’
He looked toward Daniel.
‘Tell your wife to calm down.’
Daniel’s face had turned pale.
I expected my husband to throw Steven out immediately.
Instead, he whispered, ‘Steven, please don’t make this worse.’
Something about his tone frightened me.
Steven heard it too.
His mouth curved into a smile.
‘You really don’t want your wife calling the police, do you, Mr.
Adams?’
I turned to Daniel.
‘What is he talking about?’
Daniel said nothing.
Steven slipped his hands into his pockets.
‘Ask your husband what happened to Brianna Walsh.’
The name struck a distant memory.
Brianna had attended Kayla’s high school the previous year.
She was bright, outspoken, and an editor of the student newspaper.
Then, abruptly, she transferred schools.
Rumors spread that she had embarrassed herself at a party.
Her family moved several counties away soon afterward.
I remembered asking Daniel about it.
He had shrugged and said teenagers sometimes made accusations they couldn’t support.
Now Steven watched my husband’s face with obvious satisfaction.
‘Daniel,’ I said, ‘what did you do?’
My husband sat heavily on the edge of Kayla’s bed.
For nearly twenty years, Daniel had worked in building inspections.
He was dependable, quiet, and so careful with money that he kept receipts for groceries.
Or so I believed.
‘Last year,’ he began, ‘Gregory Miller offered me consulting
