The Better Liar(40)

“There’s a code? Is there a code for dads?” Dave asked.

A dimple appeared in her cheek. “How would I know? But the mommy code is real. I didn’t need it so much with Tanner—he was my real quiet boy…” Tanner looked up from his book and Elaine patted the seat next to her. “But with Brody, I relied on other moms so much. The network I found online was incredibly important to me, just to know that it was hard for everybody sometimes, and not to freak out if there was ever a day where I couldn’t get everybody to brush their teeth.”

“I always brush my teeth,” Tanner broke in, climbing onto the chair.

Elaine laughed. “We had to get him cinnamon-flavored toothpaste so he’d stop eating it straight. He likes mint too much. Brody hates all the flavors.”

“Does Brody like noodles?” I hesitated. “I was going to feed Eli some of the noodles with carrots…”

“Oh, Brody eats what we eat,” Elaine said. “We’re not picky in our house. We try everything, right?”

Tanner nodded. “I tried squids.”

    “You did not,” Dave said.

“I did,” Tanner rejoined. “Alive ones.”

“Pics or it didn’t happen,” Dave told him. Tanner was chastised.

“You’re one year in now,” Elaine said to me. “How are you doing, Leslie?”

“I’m fine,” I said, bringing Eli to the table and watching his face wrinkle up when I gave him his bowl of noodles and carrots and brought his plastic spoon to his lips. I felt Dave’s eyes on me. “I think next year will be even better,” I said, as Eli took a bite.



* * *



—

I stood in the kitchen washing dishes. Dave and Elaine were black shapes in the glass patio door, outlined against the purplish shrubs. Eli, Brody, and Tanner darted through the grass at their feet. I set a pot in the drying rack and shut off the water.

“His back is getting so bad.” Dave’s voice spilled through the crack in the door. “He sleeps in that old La-Z-Boy. He says it’s the only thing that doesn’t hurt him.”

“He should get a million dollars for what they did to him,” Elaine murmured back. They were talking about Dave’s father, I realized.

Eli began to cry in the grass. I watched as Dave made to stand and Elaine waved him back into his seat. She picked Eli up, their shapes merging, and stroked his hair. “Almost bedtime,” she said, or I thought she said, over his screams.

“No, he’s teething.” Dave pushed the patio door farther open with a finger. “Leslie?” he called. “Do you know where Eli’s gummy key ring is?”

“He didn’t want it today,” I said, startled at being included. “In the car. He threw it away.”

“It’s still in the car?” Dave asked. “Can you go get it?”

“He won’t want it,” I said.

“You’re a very important man with a lot of responsibility,” Dave was already saying to Eli in Elaine’s arms. “You have to keep better track of your keys. You can’t keep locking them in the car.” Eli whimpered.

    “We should go, anyway,” Elaine said, noticing I hadn’t moved. “You can walk me out and grab the gummy while you’re there. Tanner, time to pack it up,” she called, as Tanner abandoned his attempt to climb the stone fencing.

Elaine induced Tanner to hug me before he left, Brody too shy to join, and Dave showed them to the front door, leaving it open as he went into the driveway still holding Eli. “Thank you, Leslie!” Tanner called into the echoing foyer, and then they were gone. I was still standing in front of the glass patio door when a shape walked up and knocked on it.

Mary grinned at me when I let her in. She was sweaty and her makeup was smeared a little underneath her bottom lashes, but it only made her look intentionally disheveled, her tangled hair backlit by the porch light in the dim hallway. There was something shocking about each new time I saw her. I kept forgetting what she looked like.

“Where the fuck have you been?” I whispered as Eli’s wails filled the house and Dave shut the front door behind him.

She gave me a puzzled look. “Sounds like someone’s a little cranky.”

I couldn’t tell whether she meant me or the baby. “I came home and you weren’t here.”

“I got caught up.”

“In what?”

“I just met some people and hung out. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to leave the house.”

“What people?” I could feel my ears getting hot.

Mary’s eyebrows drew together. “Where were you all day?” she countered. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

“Stop fucking around.” I took a deep breath. “I need you to stay here tomorrow. It’s just one day. Then you can go wherever you want.” I turned and headed for the kitchen. Mary followed me, and I stopped. “Go upstairs,” I said.

“It smells good in here,” she said. “Did you guys eat already? Can I have some?”

“You were right, he hates the gummy key ring,” Dave said, reentering the kitchen with Eli on his hip. “I don’t know what’s up with that. He loved it yesterday. Robin, hi, I hope you didn’t plan on sleeping tonight.”