Chapter 17 #2
Silence filled the room as Sarah’s eyes flicked back and forth across the page, assessing and measuring each word. But when Beth glanced at the officer, that’s when she saw it, the subtle slip of the polite mask at Sarah’s challenge.
“I think you have the wrong form,” Sarah said, her tone sharp and pointed. “This is for a domestic incident, and from my understanding, this is a simple slip and fall on city property, which is the only thing Lily is able—or willing— to provide a statement on.”
Sarah slid the clipboard back across the table, eyes focused on the officer as Lily leaned against Beth’s shoulder.
How had she even caught that? Beth had, of course, glanced at the form, but had been too preoccupied with counting each of Lily’s heartbeats as she tried to give her daughter some sense of calm in this mess.
The officer smiled politely. “Of course, an oversight on our end.” She flipped through a stack of papers on the table, pulling out a fresh form that Sarah glanced over before nodding and sliding it to Lily.
“We’ll need you”—the officer looked to Lily—“to fill this out with your version of what happened tonight. Once that is signed, you’re free to go. ”
Lily sat up straight in her chair, holding the pen clumsily in her gauze-wrapped hand as she began to write down the evening’s events, and when she was done, she handed the form back to Sarah to look over.
“You’ll find here my daughter’s statement confirming exactly what happened.
A glass was dropped. She bent down to pick up the broken pieces, not wanting anyone to get hurt.
She tripped on an uneven piece of city property and cut her hand.
Clean and simple.” Sarah slid the form back to the officer and stood. “Is she free to go now?”
The officer nodded, and the three of them stood. Sarah ushered them out the door and back down the hall, Beth with her arm still tightly around Lily.
“Mom, I—what’s going to happen to Wren?”
“She’ll likely get a citation and a court date. Nell and Nate are figuring that out now,” Sarah answered matter-of-factly as an officer buzzed them back through the door into the lobby, where Nell and Nate were seated on a pair of chairs off in a corner.
“Where’s Wren?” Sarah asked.
“Still being processed, we haven’t been back to see her yet,” Nell answered simply. She and Sarah shared another look, one that said so much without a single word.
“Can I go?” Lily asked quietly. “I’m going to spend the night at Dylan’s.”
They all turned, looking at Lily, but Beth spoke first. “Lils, love, I think we should get you to the ER to get your hand looked at.”
“It’s fine, really. The cut wasn’t that deep,” Lily said, holding up her gauze-wrapped hand. “I’m tired, and I want to go to sleep, and I definitely don’t want to see Wren tonight.”
Beth studied her, looking for whatever else may be hiding beneath Lily’s words, but all she saw was her daughter’s exhaustion resting heavily on her shoulders.
“Really, I’m fine.” She smiled weakly.
Beth looked to Sarah, who tilted her head, indicating that she was free to make the call if she wanted to.
“Okay, love.” She checked the time; it was a little past 11:30.
“Yeah, I’ll take you over there.” She brought her hand up, tucking a long blond wave behind Lily’s ear as she continued to search the mirror of her own eyes looking back at her.
Lily’s face softened as she wrapped her arms around Beth in a hug, hanging on for a little longer than usual before pulling away.
Lily chewed her bottom lip in thought, then said, “Whatever ends up happening to Wren, can you just make sure she’s okay?
Please? She’s not a bad person—she just—” Lily’s voice dropped off, leaving her attempt to explain hanging in the air between the five of them.
Sarah’s voice was calm as she spoke, because she was Sarah, and if there was one thing Beth could always count on, it was her ability to approach nearly everything with a calm, rational mind. “We’ll take care of her, sweetie,” Sarah said, pulling Lily into a hug and placing a kiss on her temple.
Their eyes connected over the top of their daughter’s head, and Beth couldn’t help but appreciate Sarah for everything she was and had always been—the rock of their family.
“Thanks for coming when I called,” Lily said, pulling back, wiping her eyes.
“Always. You call, I’m there,” Sarah reassured Lily, who nodded, turning to face Beth.
“Okay, I’m—can we go? I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“Of course, love.” Beth placed a hand at the small of Lily’s back, looking at Sarah, Nell, and Nate. “I’ll drop her off and come back here. Text me if anything changes?”
Sarah nodded as Nate leaned forward, whispering something into Nell’s ear, showing her something on his phone screen. Nell gave a curt nod, her dark hair moving in one fluid sheet, and Beth wondered what it was that the two of them were coordinating.
She and Lily stepped out onto the street, a light rain sprinkling down as they each drew up the hoods of their coats, making their way towards the light rail station that would take them to the university where Dylan lived.
The train was nearly empty this time of night, bright fluorescent lights humming overhead with a faint buzz that made Lily’s already fair skin look even paler. She looked exhausted, and given everything she had been through that evening, she probably was.
A faint four-note tone rang through the train’s speakers as the doors closed behind them.
Beth and Lily slid into seats covered in a wavy blue pattern that was somehow both modern and looking straight out of the eighties.
Lily closed her eyes, leaning her head against the cool glass window, her bandaged hand cradled in her lap as the train began to move.
They had only one stop until the university.
Beth watched Lily from the corner of her eye, picking up on the invisible ‘Do not Disturb’ sign Lily had put on the moment they left the precinct, but choosing to speak anyway.
“Lils,” she started, her voice barely louder than the rattling of the jostling train car. “Is everything okay with you and Wren?”
Lily didn’t even open her eyes. “I don’t wanna talk about it. Not tonight.”
“I know you’re tired, love, but… I hate that you feel like you couldn’t talk to your mom and me about whatever’s going on, especially with everything you’ve been through in the last few years.
” She reached out with a tentative hand, taking Lily’s in hers.
“I have to ask, though.” Beth swallowed hard past the lump in her throat.
“Was what you said happened tonight—what you put down as your statement—the truth? Or did something else happen?”
Her question was quiet, but no less serious. She chewed on her bottom lip, waiting for Lily’s response.
Lily finally opened her eyes. “It was the truth.” Her voice was small and defeated, so far from the fiery confidence she usually carried.
“The only thing Wren did wrong tonight was drink too much when I just wanted her to show up and have fun. She loves karaoke, but she makes these decisions and I have no idea where they come from, you know? Like shaving her head, and the last-minute trip to Mexico for Christmas. I don’t feel like I can follow her decision-making sometimes. ”
Beth listened as Lily emptied her worries onto her, quietly running her thumb over the back of her hand in small, soothing circles as she continued.
“She’s had such an unfair start to life, you know, with her family being absolutely terrible. She tries to pretend like it doesn’t bother her, but I know it does. I just don’t want to see her do anything dumb.”
The mechanical voice sounded through the train car as they slowed to a stop, arriving at the U-District station.
The two of them rose to their feet, exited the train, and made their way in the direction of Dylan’s apartment in silence.
The rain had turned the pavement into a mirrored surface reflecting the array of neon lights glowing from the shop fronts lining the street.
They stopped outside the towering brick building, Lily pulling out her phone. “I’m good from here.” She went quiet, chewing on her bottom lip, as Beth pulled out her phone to call a car to take her back to the police precinct. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything.” Beth tilted her head, studying her daughter.
“What am I supposed to do about Wren? How do we move forward from here? I love her so, so, so much, but I—” Lily’s voice cracked as tears filled her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”
Beth shoved her phone back into her pocket, the car she called on its way, and stepped closer to Lily, her heart aching at the sight of her child so clearly torn.
She took a shaky breath before answering.
“Oh, Lils. I know that kind of love. It’s that big kind of love that feels like it’s woven into your DNA.
It makes you feel alive, like you can do anything.
It’s the best, most addictive feeling in the world.
But it also lies to you. It tells you that if you try hard enough, if you reach out and catch them, that eventually they’ll find their footing even if it’s hurting you.
” She looked up at the brick building, then back at her daughter, reaching out and taking Lily’s injured hand in hers.
“Only you can decide how you move forward. Right now, Wren, whether she knows it yet or not, is in the middle of a storm, and she’s pulling you down with her.
Moving forward doesn’t mean you stop loving her.
But it does mean you have to decide if it’s time you stop being her safety net, because as long as you’re there catching her, she’s never going to realize how hard the ground actually is. ”