A Good Marriage(106)

I flashed back to Sam as I’d found him that Friday morning in our living room: he’d been covered in blood; his hands, his shirt. So frightening—my husband hurt. My husband covered in blood.

I jumped up. I only made it a single step before I threw up all over our hardwood floor.





Grand Jury Testimony




JESSICA KIM,


called as a witness the 8th of July and was examined and testified as follows: EXAMINATION

BY MS. WALLACE:

Q: Ms. Kim, thank you for testifying.

A: Yeah, um, sure.

Q: You seem nervous.

A: I am. This whole thing is making me nervous.

Q: You don’t need to worry. You’re not the subject of any criminal investigation.

A: I’m not nervous about that. I didn’t do anything illegal. But I’ve heard what you’re doing in here. I have friends who have testified. We all know each other. You’re trying to embarrass us.

Q: Perhaps we should move on.

A: Yes. Let’s do that.

Q: Were you at the party at 724 First Street on July 2nd of this year?

A: Yes. I was.

Q: And how did you come to be invited?

A: Like everyone else, I received an invitation. That is generally how it works.

Q: How do you know Maude and Sebe Lagueux?

A: My children go to Country Day. But we got to know Maude when we bought some pieces of art from her.

Q: Who is we?

A: My husband David and I.

Q: Was David at the party that night as well?

A: He was. Should I save you the trouble of drawing out what you’re definitely after? Yes, I fucked somebody that night who was not my husband. And, yes, my husband knew about it. And, no, I don’t think he fucked somebody. Though he may have if he found that dad he has a crush on. Honestly, we’ve gone to this party six years running, and we don’t ask each other afterward for details. And we like it that way. However, we don’t pee in front of each other. So there you go. I guess every couple sets their own limits.

Q: Did you see Amanda Grayson as you were headed upstairs the night of the party?

A: (Inaudible.)

Q: I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear what you said.

A: I saw a woman going up the stairs.

Q: Is this the woman you saw on the stairs?

(Counsel approaches witness with photograph, which was previously marked as People’s Exhibit 6.) A: Yes.

Q: Let the record reflect that the witness has identified Amanda Grayson as the woman she saw on the stairs. What time was that?

A: I don’t know exactly.

Q: Could you estimate?

A: Um, let’s see. I guess around 9:30 p.m. probably.

Q: Did anyone go upstairs at this Sleepaway Soiree for any purpose other than sex?

A: I doubt it.

Q: Why not?

A: Because it would have been confusing. People who weren’t interested tended to stay far away from the stairs. That way it was clear.

Q: So Amanda Grayson headed to the upstairs of the party?

A: Yes. But I don’t know if she went all the way up. I don’t have the faintest idea what happened to her after I saw her on the stairs.

Q: Yes, you do, Ms. Kim. You know exactly what happened to her. She ended up dead.





Amanda





THE PARTY


Amanda was actually feeling pretty good as she dressed for Maude and Sebe’s party, better than she had in days. There had been two hang-ups only hours earlier, and the following in the park, not to mention everything with Carolyn, but right now she was preparing to tell Zach about all of it. Or at least some of it. Also, she might not start with her dad. But that was okay. Speaking up with Zach, changing things, was going to be a process.

Besides, she’d said something already. Hadn’t she? She’d demanded that Zach go to the party with her. And he was going. Amanda was pleased about that as she pulled on her white capri jeans and off-the-shoulder ruffled top, slipped her feet into black wedge sandals, and pulled her hair into a high ponytail. The long silver earrings, too, nice but not overdone. It was the right outfit for that party, finally.

Of course, when they were still not speaking as they descended their brownstone steps, the satisfaction of asking Zach to come had been replaced by the reality of getting what she’d wanted. She and her husband were awkward strangers. That was their reality. This was not news, but it chafed now more than it ever had.

As Amanda and Zach walked up tree-lined Montgomery Place, past all the meticulous brownstones, Amanda kept thinking they should at least be chitchatting. But everything she thought to say felt wrong. When you’ve been married for eleven years, resorting to a conversation about the rising humidity was humiliating. And so they were left with silence.

And right now, all that quiet was making Amanda want to scream.

She glanced over at Zach, who was smiling slightly as they turned right onto the busier, two-lane Prospect Park West. He almost looked handsome in his white linen shirt and perfectly worn designer jeans. Strangely pleased, too, for someone who hated parties, and people. Amanda looked away, across the street to where a man was jogging alone in the bike lane and a small older woman was walking an enormous white dog. Up ahead on their side of the street, it was empty and dark except for the squares of light cast by the entrances of the larger buildings that overlooked the park.