“I told you to come home.”
“I’m home, aren’t I? You didn’t say I had to come home the second school was out.”
“Any reason you didn’t tell me what your plans were? So I didn’t have to waste my time driving over to Lyman and waiting in line and then spending half an hour asking everyone at school where you’d gone? And thinking something had happened?”
She stared straight ahead. She still wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I screwed up. I should have told you but I forgot, okay? What do you want me to do now? Am I going to get grounded for a year or something?”
“Look at me.”
“Can I please just use the bathroom? I’m, like, about to pee my pants.”
“Look at me.”
She turned to her left ever so slightly. “Okay? Can I go now?”
“Turn around all the way. What are you hiding?”
She compressed her lips, furrowed her brows. Then she turned so she was looking straight at him.
“What the hell is that on your nose?”
“What does it look like?”
“Is that…?” He came closer. “Is that a ring in your nose? Did you pierce your nose?”
Quietly now, she said, “Obviously.”
A small metal ring ran through her right nostril and through the side of her nose. He stood a few feet away. “You pierced your nose?”
“So?”
“Did we ever talk about this? Did you ask my permission?”
“It’s my body. I have the right to do whatever I want.”
“No, you don’t, actually. You do not have the right to get piercings or tattoos or anything of the kind, anything permanent, without clearing it first with me. Are you out of your mind?”
“You would have said no anyway.”
“You’re damn right I would have said no. What the hell gives you the right to pierce your nose, like a, a…”
“Hey, it’s done, okay? Keep up.”
“I don’t believe this. I don’t believe you defaced your body, put a ring through that beautiful nose. I mean, for God’s sake, that’s going to leave a permanent scar.”
“No, it’s not. I asked her, and she said if I ever decide to take it out, it’s going to leave a little freckle, that’s all.”
“Where did you have this done? Do you realize what kind of infection you might have?”
“Oh, come on, is that what you’re worried about? She was almost like a doctor. I mean everything was sterile and she uses a disposable needle and changes it every time, and she was, like, totally anal about, oh, you have to clean it with salt water and you have to put in the right kind of earring, not sterling silver, only fourteen-karat gold or surgical steel or titanium. I mean, she was totally totally crazy sterile about everything.”
“Oh, Jesus,” he said, and he thought, She’s right here, she’s alive, nothing happened, no one took her. Tears came to his eyes. “Don’t ever do that again.”
She noticed his tears and looked at him with alarm.
“This isn’t just about piercing. Don’t you ever ignore my phone calls and text messages. Ever. Do you hear me?”
“What is the big deal? What are you afraid of?”
“Two pretty sixteen-year-old girls going around the city by themselves, going into body piercing places or whatever, you’re a target.”
“Oh, please. That’s ridiculous. It was daylight and we were on a busy street with a lot of people around me. Nothing’s going to happen.”
“Jesus, Boogie.” He came close and put his arms around her, flooded with relief. She kept her arms stiff at her side, didn’t hug back, her mouth downturned in anger. “I was scared out of my mind, sweetie. Don’t ever do that to me again.”
Finally, she put her arms around him, her face pressed against his chest. “I’m sorry,” she said, her words muffled.
“It’s okay.”
She sniffed. “Actually, I really do need to use the bathroom.”
He released her.
When she came out, he was sitting on the couch, waiting for her. “Boogie, come over here for a minute.”
“I have homework.”
“It can wait. Come over here and sit down.” He patted the sofa next to him. She sat down in a chair on the side of the sofa.
“What?”
“Listen. We need to talk about the Galvins.”
“What about them? You didn’t say I couldn’t hang out with Jenna. You just said I couldn’t go over to their house tonight.”
“I don’t want you going over there anymore. I don’t want you getting a ride in Mr. Galvin’s limousine.”
He’d made a decision, finally. Earlier it might have raised eyebrows, his keeping her away from the Galvin family. But Danny could handle it, let Galvin know the loan had nothing to do with it. He’d just say it was about strengthening the father-daughter relationship.
“What is this? All of a sudden you don’t like them? I thought you liked Jenna.”
“I do, absolutely. She’s a great friend. I don’t mind if she comes over here, or-”
“I am not inviting her over here to see this place. You saw what their house is like.”
“If she’s really a friend, she’s not going to judge you based on the fact that your daddy isn’t rich, all right?”
“What’s the difference if I go to her house or she comes here?”
“You’ve been going over there way too much, and you know it.”
She paused, frowned. “So I won’t go over so much, okay? Is there, like, something you don’t like about them? Like they’re a bad influence?”
“I’d like to spend a little time with you once in a while, you know?”
She shrugged. “I mean, it’s not like we have a lot to talk about.”
“Ouch,” he said. “I don’t agree, but if you feel that way, let’s work on it.”
“It’s too intense. It’s like being under interrogation every time we have dinner, like you want to know every last thing about what I’m doing and how I’m feeling…”
“So I won’t interrogate you so much. We’ll just keep it lighter.”
“Is this because you think Jenna made me get my nose pierced? Because that totally wasn’t what happened at all. We both did it. She didn’t make me do anything.”
“That’s not it. I just don’t want you going over to their house anymore or riding in their limousine. Okay? Are we clear?”
“I know what this is about. I know about the loan.”
“Loan?”
“He lent you, like, a hundred thousand dollars or something, right? Because you’re going broke.” She turned to face him, accusingly. “You’re just embarrassed about it. You don’t like me seeing how they live, and we live like this. Isn’t that what it’s really about?”
He felt a flush of shame and a quick pulse of anger. He hadn’t told her anything about the money Galvin had lent him. What if Galvin had told Jenna he’d taken care of the Goodmans’ money problem, don’t worry about it…? If he had… well, he just shouldn’t have. That really wasn’t her business.
“Abby, that’s not it at all. I just don’t want you going over there anymore.”
She stood up, staring at him furiously, smacked her hands against her thighs. “Why don’t you just admit it’s punishment? You’re pissed off I didn’t ask your permission to get my nose pierced and now you’re punishing me by trying to keep…” Her words came all in a rush now, high and run together and indecipherable. Her face was red, and tears glinted in her eyes.
“Boogie. This is not punishment.”
“-the one thing that makes me happy, my best friend, and you want to take her away from me!”
“Abby!”
She turned and ran to her bedroom. He sat back in the couch and folded his arms and stared into space.
He almost wished he could tell her what was really going on.
Almost.