“But if it happens again?” I asked. “Why risk it?”
“It’s complicated,” Carl admitted.
“Everyone keeps saying that,” I told him. “It seems not that complicated to me.”
“Let’s go inside,” he told me.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“Lillian?” he said. “Just try to think about it rationally. Try to consider the situation.”
“I want to talk to Madison,” I said. I ran ahead of him into the house. In the kitchen, Bessie and Roland were sitting at the counter, while Mary heated up some chicken nuggets. “Stay here,” I told them. I went back into the living room, where I’d first had iced tea with Madison. Jasper was standing there, pacing around the coffee table, running one hand through his silver hair.
“Where’s Madison?” I asked.
“She’s putting Timothy to bed,” he told me. Carl walked into the room and stood beside me.
“Lillian,” Jasper continued, “as you can imagine, this has been a very stressful few days. The confirmation hearing alone, good lord, but now . . . now this.”
“It’s crazy,” I said, but Carl kind of leaned against me, a signal to keep quiet. I shut up.
“I want to thank you for your service,” he said. “You have helped us immensely, and we are so grateful for that. I know that you have done everything in your power to make sure that Roland and Bessie have been cared for.”
“It’s okay,” I said. Thanking me for my service seemed weird, but it also felt like something political people said to mean any number of weird things that you had to do for them.
“I’m afraid that the circumstances have changed, that we were perhaps naive to think that we could do this on our own, that you, without any training, could handle this.”
I looked at Carl. “What’s going on?” I asked.
Jasper kept talking. “We no longer require your services. We have found other accommodations for the twins.”
“Boarding school? I know about that. Do you think that’s such a hot idea, to send them away? To Europe?”
Jasper looked confused and stared at Carl, who then spoke. “They’ll actually stay in Tennessee,” he said. “There is an alternative school, a kind of ranch, where trained professionals work with troubled children. It’s in the Smoky Mountains. It’s very private. Very discreet.”
“When did you decide this?” I asked.
“Carl found this place a long time ago,” Jasper said, “but I was too stubborn to listen.”
“You did this?” I asked Carl, who blushed.
“Early in the proceedings,” he said, “I was tasked with finding as many options as possible for the care and treatment of these kids.”
“‘Troubled children’?” I said, and just hearing it made me angry.
“You don’t think Bessie and Roland are troubled?” Jasper asked, dumbfounded. “This facility will work with them physically and mentally.”
“This is bullshit,” I said. “What is it? You said ‘school’ and then you said ‘ranch’ and now you said ‘facility.’”
“It’s multipurpose,” Carl said. “It’s kind of a rehab center.”
“They call it an academy,” Jasper said.
“Shut the fuck up, Jasper,” I said. “Carl, you know this is bullshit. You’re going to hide these kids and forget about them.”
“We don’t have many options, Lillian,” Carl said.
“I’m the secretary of state now,” Jasper said, his voice rising. “You cannot even imagine the sacrifices that I’ve made. My responsibilities—”
“I could honestly punch you in the face right now, Jasper,” I said.
“Lillian,” Carl said. “I don’t like this any more than—”
“Then don’t fucking do it, you moron. You fucking idiot,” I said. “This is so unfair. And what about Timothy? How are you going to take care of him? Why do Roland and Bessie get punished?”
Carl looked at Jasper, who was shaking his head. Then he said, “For the next six months, Timothy will be checked in to a facility, to be observed.”
“You’re the weirdest person I’ve ever met, Jasper,” I told him.
“There’s nothing sinister,” he said. “You think the worst of us. It’s like the Mayo Clinic, cutting-edge medicine. But . . . private.”
“That sounds really fucking sinister. It sounds . . .” I searched so hard for the right words, but I couldn’t think straight. “Not good,” I finally said.
“It does sound fucking sinister,” said Madison, who was now standing at the foot of the stairs.
“We talked about this,” Jasper said.
“Not Timothy,” Madison said. “That’s not what you said.”
“It’s temporary,” Jasper said.
“Six months?” Madison said. “No fucking way, Jasper.” She turned to Carl. “Where is this place?”
Carl actually gulped, way out of his depth. “M-Montana.”
“No fucking way,” Madison repeated, and she looked amazing. She shined with a kind of ferocity that you couldn’t teach, that you had to be born with. “I’ll go get Timothy right now.” She turned to go up the stairs. “We’ll stay with my parents. Did you hear that? I’ll go live with my terrible parents. My brothers will drive up here and beat the shit out of you.”
“What else can we do?” Jasper asked, almost crying.
“Why are you guys shouting?” Roland asked, walking into the room. Bessie was beside him, staring daggers at Jasper.
“Carl?” Jasper said, gesturing to the kids, as if Carl was going to bonk them on the head and stuff them into a sack. “Carl?”
Carl hesitated, staring at the kids. “Perhaps we need to rethink our plan of action, sir,” he finally said.
“You have ruined my life!” Jasper shouted, his hair flopping over his face, which was red now. It wasn’t clear who he was talking to, exactly. All of us, probably.
“You ruined our lives,” Bessie shouted, and I ran to her, knelt beside her.
“Your mother ruined your life,” Jasper said, softly, like he was pleading with her.
“You fucking idio—” I started to say, and I jumped up and grabbed his shirt, tried to claw his eyes, but Bessie was already on fire before I could do any damage. And then Roland was on fire. I shouted at Madison to go get Timothy, and she ran up the stairs.
When I turned back, Jasper pushed me so hard that I fell through the coffee table, glass shattering. Carl went to restrain Jasper, holding him in a full nelson, forcefully walking him toward the front door.
Madison came running down the steps, holding Timothy, and she looked at me for a second before she finally ran out of the house. Timothy looked at the fire through heavy lids, like he couldn’t be bothered.
Bessie and Roland were simply touching objects, the sofa cushions, a painting on the wall, setting it all ablaze, calmly moving through the house.
Still lying there, I turned to see Mary, holding some expensive pots and pans, walk out the front door without looking back. I wished her all the best in the world, every good thing.