The woman grabbed one of the boys by the back of his neck and thrust him toward Jeffrey. "Say hello to your father, you little bastard."
Sara caught the boy before he fell. Under his dirty gray shirt she could feel his ribs poking through.
The woman said, "This is the asshole who raped your mama."
Sara felt as if her throat had closed. She looked at Jeffrey but he would not meet her gaze.
"Rape?" Sara managed, the word echoing in her head like a bell.
"You pig," the woman told Jeffrey. "Be a fucking man and take some responsibility for once in your pathetic life."
"Please," Sara said to the woman, trying to concentrate on the things she could control. "Don't do this in front of the children."
"Don't do what?" the woman demanded. "Boy needs to know his father. Ain't that right, Eric? Don't you wanna meet the man who raped and killed your mama?"
Eric looked up at Jeffrey, curious, but Jeffrey's face was stone, and he did not even glance at the child.
"Are you okay?" Sara asked the boy, using her fingers to push his dirty hair out of his eyes. He was tall enough to be Jared's age, but there was something sickly about him. She could see odd-looking bruises on his arms and legs. She asked, "Are you sick?"
The woman answered for him. "He's got bad blood," she said. "Just like his piece-of-shit father."
"Get out of here," Jeffrey growled, his voice a warning. "You don't belong here."
"You're gonna let Robert pay for this," she said. "You fucking coward."
"You don't know anything about it."
"I know I got medical bills out the ass," she yelled back. "Nobody on my side of the family's ever had this kind of shit." She gave the boy a look of pure hatred, like she could not stand being near him. "You think I'm made of money? You think I can afford to rush this'un up to the hospital for a transfusion every time he falls down?"
Jeffrey warned, "Get the fuck out of here before I call Hoss."
She stood her ground. "Bring him on! Bring him on right now and we'll settle this once and for all."
"There's nothing to settle," Jeffrey shot back. "Nothing's changed, Lane. You can't do anything now."
"The hell you say," she told him. "Everybody knows you raped her."
"The statute of limitations on that ran out three years ago," he told her, and the fact that he knew this sent a cold shiver through Sara's spine. "Even if you had something, they couldn't touch me."
The woman shoved her fat finger into Jeffrey's face. "I'll fucking kill you myself, you goddamn bastard."
"Ma'am," Sara tried, keeping her hands on Eric, not wanting to let him go. He seemed a million miles away, as if he was used to adults behaving this way. The boy who remained in the yard was playing with a plastic toy truck, his lips making engine noises. Still, Sara said, "Let's not do this in front of the children."
"Who the fuck are you?" she laughed. "Just who the fuck do you think you are?"
Sara stood up, anger compelling her to speak. "I know that this child is sick. He's filthy. How can you let him get like this?" She indicated the other boy. "Him, too. I should call child services on you."
"Go ahead and call them," she said. "You think I give a shit? Two less mouths to feed." Still, even as she said this she reached out her hand, indicating Eric should come to her. The boy followed the command, and Sara reached to stop him, her fingers brushing his arm. She could feel raised welts where the black and blue marks riddled his skin.
The woman told Sara, "Your boyfriend here raped my daughter."
Sara felt light-headed. She put her hand out to the wall to keep herself steady.
"He raped her and got her pregnant, and when she asked him for help, he killed her, and left me to raise his little bastard of a son." The woman shoved her finger back in Jeffrey's face. "This isn't over."
"Yes," he said. "It is."
"You tell that fucking buddy of yours if I see him in the street, he's a dead man."
"Why don't I tell Hoss and he can run you in for making threats?"
"You fucking coward," she said, her lips twisting into a sneer as she coughed in the back of her throat. Before Jeffrey could move away, she spit on his face.
"This isn't over," she repeated, grabbing Eric by the wrist. He already had bruises up and down his arm, but the child did not protest. The other boy in the yard trotted back to the car, looking for all the world as if his mother had told him they were going for ice cream.
Jeffrey took out his handkerchief and carefully unfolded it. He patted his face, wiping off the spit.
Sara took several minutes to find her voice. She kept hearing the woman's accusation over and over in her head. Finally, she managed, "Do you want to tell me what that was about?"
"No."
She threw her hands into the air, feeling angry and vulnerable. "Jeffrey, she said you raped her daughter."
"Do you believe her?" he asked, looking her right in the eye. "Do you believe I raped somebody? That I killed somebody?"
She had been too shocked to let her mind fully consider the possibility. The accusation had hit her like a hammer, knocking her senseless.
"Sara?"
"I don't…" She shook her head. "I don't know what I believe anymore."
"Then we don't have much to say to each other," he told her, walking away.
"Wait," she told him, following him down the driveway. "Jeffrey." He did not turn around, and she had to run to catch up with him. "Talk to me."
"Looks like you've already made up your mind."
"Why won't you tell me what happened?"
He stopped, turning to face her. "Why won't you let it be, Sara? Why can't you just trust me?"
"It's not a matter of trust," Sara told him. "My God, that woman says you raped her daughter. She says you have a son."
"That's bullshit," he snapped. "You think I could have a kid and not know it? There's no way."
Sara remembered Jared, and bit back the urge to throw Nell's secret in his face.
"What?" he demanded, mistaking her reticence for something more sinister. "You know what? Fuck this." He continued to walk down the street, obviously exasperated. "I thought you were different. I thought you were somebody I could trust."
"It's not an issue of trust."
" 'Issue,' " he repeated. "Fuck that."
"Oh, that's really mature," she said, mocking him. " 'Fuck that.' "
She tried to grab his shoulder to stop him but he jerked away, advising, "You wanna leave me alone right now."
"Why?" she asked. "Are you going to rape me, too? Strangle me?"
He had been angry before, livid, but she read his hurt like an open book, immediately regretting her words.
Sara tried to take it back, but he shook his head like he did not trust himself to talk. He held up his finger to her, as if to make a point, but still he said nothing. Finally, he shook his head again and continued down the street, walking toward his mother's house.
"Shit," Sara whispered, tucking her hands into her hips. Why did everything have to be so difficult between them? The minute things were going well, something – usually someone – came along and ruined it. Rape. She could handle anything they said about him but this. Why had he not told her before? Why hadn't he trusted her? Probably for the same reasons she did not completely trust him.
Nell was sitting on the front steps when Sara walked up to the house, and she stood, holding her hand out to Sara, saying, "I saw Lane Kendall's car up at Robert's. What did that old cow say to you?"
Sara opened her mouth and to her surprise burst into tears.