“No, don’t worry about that,” Oliver says. “Tilbert was a huge help. You should’ve seen how he handled my case. He told Officer Gray that they didn’t have enough evidence to charge me with anything and if they were to keep harassing me he’d file a complaint. It seems to have worked. I could definitely tell that he’s Vera’s kid.”
Julia laughs. She was hard on Tilbert when they first met because of how neglectful he’d been toward Vera, but she can see that he’s making a real effort, offering to represent Oliver pro bono after listening in complete shock and horror to the whole mess. “I’m glad to hear that,” she says, and she truly means it.
“Thanks. Um, so I’ve been really wanting to apologize for . . . you know.”
Julia’s instinctive reaction is to wave his apology away and scuttle out of there, but then it hits her: She’s always done that because she never thought herself worthy of an apology, and the thought of someone saying sorry to her makes her squirm. But she would like to hear what Oliver has to say, so she squashes her discomfort and makes herself stay.
“I—” Oliver takes a breath. “I had a huge crush on you back when we were kids, yeah. It lasted all throughout high school, but when high school ended, I moved on. I promise you, Lia. I went out with other girls and I had healthy relationships. But I sometimes thought of you, not in like an I must have her way, more like a concerned way because I’ve always known what Marshall was like, and I was worried. And I felt so guilty for not being friends with you anymore after you guys started dating. That was such a shitty move on my part.”
“It was,” Julia says. “I thought you were mad at me. Marshall told me it was because you were obsessed with me.”
Oliver grimaces. “Honestly? I think I was more obsessed with Marshall than anything. The way he would mistreat everyone and get away with it. I couldn’t let that go. Over time, I became more and more bitter. And the few times we saw each other over the next few years only made me realize how badly he was treating you. It killed me inside. I couldn’t do anything about it. So I wrote that manuscript. It was—” He gives a long, pained sigh. “Yeah, most of it was based on my relationship with Marshall. The part with Aurelia . . .” He snorts. “I guess you could say it was bad fan fiction? I don’t know, I did model Aurelia after you, but please trust me, Julia, these past couple of months, I wasn’t spending time with you to—you know—I just wanted my best friend back. I’ve missed having you as a friend more than anything.”
Julia looks into his eyes and knows, deep inside her, that Oliver is telling the truth. Just like the night he said he hadn’t killed Marshall. She’s always known when Oliver was being honest. The smile feels like it comes from the core of her, spreading slowly across her face like honey. She pulls her fist back and punches him in the shoulder.
“Ow!”
“I’ve missed you, nerd.”
He grins at her. “I’ve missed you too, loser.”
And together, they step back inside Vera’s teahouse, each of them quietly grateful that they have the other one back in their life, exactly where they belong, as lifelong friends.
FORTY
VERA
It takes Vera an unreasonably long time to recover. “This is unacceptable!” she’d say to anyone who would listen—her doctor, the nurses, and . . . her family. The truth is, though Vera would never admit it, there is a thrilling feeling of happiness that comes from having your loved ones visit you at the hospital. It’s so out of the way, and so completely not what anyone wants to be doing, that when they do it, you know that the only plausible reason is because they care about you. And so, despite the unacceptably long time that it takes those in charge to nurse her back to health, a not-so-small part of Vera enjoys lying in her hospital bed being fussed over.
And oh, what an eclectic crowd it is that rotates around her hospital bed! Everyone says so. Gladys from the bed across from her has remarked upon it—quite snidely, to Vera’s delight—at least three times now. “Such a varied stream of visitors you have, Vera,” Gladys said. “One might wonder what you got up to, to know so many different people.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Vera said smugly, and that was that.
In the mornings, it is Julia and sweet Emma who come to her. Emma climbs into the bed and snuggles up against Vera and tells her that she smells bad and should think about brushing her teeth, to which Vera responds that Emma’s breath doesn’t smell that great either. Then Emma says, “You smell bad but I love you,” and kisses her, and Vera says, “You smell of farmer’s armpit but I love you,” and kisses her forehead, and Emma smiles, and Julia groans and says, “Great, now she’s going to spend the day telling everyone she smells like a farmer’s armpit, thanks a lot, Vera.”
After they go, Vera naps and only wakes up when Sana comes over for teatime. Sana usually brings with her something unhealthy but exciting, like samosas, at which Gladys squawks, “Do you know what those things do to your cholesterol?” Vera urges Sana to bring cocaine, not to snort, of course, just to see what Gladys will say, but thus far has been refused. Young people nowadays are so dreadfully boring.
Then, about an hour later, Riki joins them and he and Sana say, “Hey, you,” to each other in such a tender way as to be utterly repulsive, and Vera throws them out soon after because there’s only so much googly eyes a woman her age can take. “He seems a bit wet behind the ears, that one,” Gladys says, and there, Vera has to agree with her. But he has Sana to keep him out of trouble, so Vera’s not too worried about him.
In the evening, Oliver and Tilly come. Apparently they have become friends, bonding over sports and their complicated relationships with their parents, and Tilly is now representing Oliver. Tilly tells Vera that he’s asked his colleague to represent her in case the cops come after her for tampering with evidence, but Vera brushes him away, saying she would love to see them try. She shoots Gladys a glare as she says this, but the other woman has wisely decided to pretend to be asleep.
Finally comes the day that Vera’s bronchitis clears and she is allowed to leave this godforsaken place. Everybody shows up to help her with the discharge process, which Vera says is ridiculous, but secretly she is rather smug about all the fuss. She hops off her bed and throws on her clothes, shooting Gladys meaningful side-eyes. “This is goodbye, Gladys.”
“I will miss you, Vera.”
The two old women narrow their eyes at each other, then Vera says, “Gladys, you are pain in my ass, but you should come visit my teahouse. These young people say they do something to make it nice. I think they destroy it, who knows?” She glares at the group of said young people, who grin uneasily at her.
Gladys gives a dramatic sigh. “Oh, would that I could. But I’m afraid that I can’t take the risk of trying exotic herbs, who knows what they might do to my liv—”