Sadie(33)

WEST McCRAY:

Did you know Darren?


CADDY SINCLAIR:

We weren’t friends, but if he saw me at the diner, we’d talk. Ruby knew him better. I didn’t know he had a daughter.


WEST McCRAY:

And that is who Sadie told you she was—Darren’s daughter.


CADDY SINCLAIR:

Yeah, she showed me his picture and it was Darren, all right.


WEST McCRAY:

Do you happen to have a picture of him?


CADDY SINCLAIR:

No, but I can tell you what he looked like: white, tall, broad. Dark hair. He was just a guy. Nothing in particular really stood out.


WEST McCRAY:

Tell me what happened next.


CADDY SINCLAIR:

She pulled a knife on me.


WEST McCRAY:

Really? Just like that?


CADDY SINCLAIR:

Yeah. She told me to tell her everything I knew about Darren or else.


WEST McCRAY:

And did you?


CADDY SINCLAIR:

Do I look alive to you?


WEST McCRAY: What did you tell her?


CADDY SINCLAIR:

I told her the truth. I told her the most I knew about Darren was that a few years back, he was with Marlee Singer and she’d probably know more about him than I did. I told her Marlee lived in Wagner. Kid took off. Didn’t seem right in the head to me. If you do find her, let me know. I want this on record because I’m gonna charge that bitch with assault. Switchblades are illegal too.


WEST McCRAY:

Thanks for your time, Caddy.


WEST McCRAY [PHONE]: Was Sadie a violent person, May Beth?


MAY BETH FOSTER [PHONE]: No. No! Never. I mean … she could’ve been, but in the way we all could be. It wasn’t something that she was. It wasn’t in her nature, if that’s what you mean.


WEST McCRAY [PHONE]: Caddy said Sadie had a switchblade. She pulled it on him. There wasn’t a switchblade in her belongings.


MAY BETH FOSTER [PHONE]: Then he’s lying. Sadie wouldn’t—she wouldn’t … if it’s not in her things, he’s lying.


WEST McCRAY [PHONE]: Or she could still have it.


WEST McCRAY [STUDIO]: Whether or not she still does, I think the real question is why she felt she needed it.





sadie

I’m outside Silas Baker’s house again.

A cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck as I pull up behind his Mercedes. That must mean he’s home. The food from Lili’s does an uneasy turn in my gut. I get out of the car, pocketing my keys and make my way to the front door when I hear the laughter—what sounds like Kendall and Noah—coming from the back of the house. I round it slowly, until I reach the backyard and find them there, lounging by a pool.

The private side of the Baker’s’ property is no less impressive than its public facing one. Their pool is inground, long, wide and deep with a diving board. There are four chaise longues, two on either side, and a fancy metal table between them.

The backyard is lush; the grass is jewel green with thriving vegetable and flower gardens taking up opposite sides. A pine deck leads to a sliding glass door to the inside of the house. Noah drifts on a float in the water. Kendall is resplendent in a tiny red bikini, sunning herself on a soft monogrammed towel. Everything around us seems blessed to be here, and I try to process the luxury of it, of everything I’m seeing against everything else I’ve seen today. The only thing my head is able to arrive at is, this isn’t real …

“Where’s Javi?” Noah asks, tilting his head at me.

“I d-don’t know.” I shrug. “He s-said he’d m-meet me h-here.”

“Huh.” Noah grabs his phone, which is resting on his abdomen, and thumbs out a text. He waits a minute and says, “Not answering. Maybe on his way.”

“Weren’t you wearing that yesterday?” Kendall asks me. Noah laughs.

“D-didn’t go home last n-night.”

Kendall leans up on her elbows, the action pushing her impressive chest out in a way I think is meant to intimidate me. “How come?”

“T-too hard to b-be there.”

“Well, hope you don’t mind doing this all morning,” Noah says. “We’re on lockdown because when we came home last night someone”—”he points an accusatory finger at his sister“—”didn’t have the decency to fake sober. Grounded for a goddamn month.”

I look around. “What a p-p-punishment.”

Noah smiles. “I don’t know you all that well yet, Lera, but I detect a hint of sarcasm.”

“Only a h-hint,” I return. “W-where’re your p-parents?”

I look up at the house, half-expecting to see Silas Baker’s face in the window, gazing down at this poolside scene. Where are you, Silas …

“Dad went over to the florist’s,” Kendall informs us.

“What?” Noah raises an eyebrow. “He in shit again?”

Kendall stretches languidly, arms over her head, toes pointing to nothing. “Mom heard him get up at the asscrack of dawn today to go into the office. And she told me he was late as hell getting home from T-ball last night. He promised he’d be here all weekend, no work, and he lied. Now she’s pissed, so she went out with Jean and she’s not picking up the phone. Sunday family dinner is going to be great.”