“I’m afraid I don’t know much more than anyone else. She talked about the boy, Cedar Thomas, but she led me to believe she was returning to the institution to be with him, was actually loo
king forward to it.”
“You don’t need a picture of her,” my father told them. “Just look at Kaylee. But the similarity is only on the outside, believe me.”
“We might have a lead on a stolen vehicle,” the taller of the two policemen said. “We have a good description of this Cedar Thomas.”
“This might sound stupid,” I said, “but he might go where there are cedar trees.”
Neither policeman said anything to that. They thanked us and left.
Irene had come down the stairs and stood waiting behind us. “Keri heard the doorbell. Anything?”
“Just the police getting information,” my father said. “How is she?”
“Shocked, but she’ll be okay. Don’t worry, Mr. Fitzgerald. I’ve decided I’ll remain until this is settled.”
“That’s very kind of you, Irene.” My father looked at me. “I’ll go up and speak to her.”
“That would be good,” Irene said.
She and I returned to the living room, and then, at her suggestion, I made myself some breakfast and some for my father, too. I didn’t ask him what he had said to Mother or what she had said to him. I was hoping they were beyond recriminations, that they had both realized that accusing each other of being responsible for where we were at this point was fruitless. It was a time to come together and find ways to support each other.
Irene brought tea and more toast up to Mother, hoping to persuade her to remain strong, especially now.
“The girl is a lost cause,” my father said at the table. He was happy I had made some eggs and toast, the eggs just the way he liked them, over easy. “She put the last nail in her coffin, as far as I’m concerned. They can keep her in that place for years. And this was absolutely the last time I will ever ask you to do anything for her, Kaylee.”
“Okay, Daddy,” I said, and sipped some coffee.
He looked at me and smiled.
“What?”
“I know when I’m being humored. What a mess.”
“I had suggested to Mother that she and I go for pizza tonight, Daddy. I didn’t know Irene was supposed to leave today. I know you wanted me to go to dinner with you and Dana, but . . .”
“I don’t think you can leave her. Of course, stay with her, Kaylee.” He looked at his watch. “I have a couple of things to do today, but I won’t be far away. There’s nothing much we can do but wait anyway,” he said.
I agreed. There was no point in his babysitting me. Irene would probably be putting Mother back on some tranquilizers for now. We said we’d call each other periodically.
“Dr. Alexander will stay in touch with me,” my father said.
I walked him to the door. He shook his head, hugged and kissed me, and after gazing toward the stairway, he left.
I went upstairs and sat with Mother and Irene until Mother fell asleep for a while. It was almost impossible to concentrate on anything, but early in the afternoon, it occurred to me to call Troy. He immediately thought I was calling to hear about his talk with his sister and started to tell me. He sounded on the verge of being hysterical, so I didn’t interrupt him.
“My sister absolutely refuses to admit to anything or go to a therapist, and my mother supports that. You know what she had the nerve to say? She said Jo would grow out of it. Can you imagine? Grow out of being sexually abused by her father? I went into a rage and threatened to go to the police, but that caused Jo to get hysterical, so I had to promise not to do it. Nothing will change. Maybe . . . maybe Jo will realize what she needs herself. Thanks to you, I am more hopeful about myself, Kaylee. Anyway, I’ll drive over tomorrow and—”
“No,” I finally said. “You can’t come now.”
“Why not?”
I told him what had happened. I was on the phone with him for nearly an hour, describing every little thing Haylee had done and said.
“Wow,” he said. “And here I was feeling sorry for myself and my sister, while you had all this heartache. Is there anything I can do?”
“Just call me. And I’ll call you if anything changes, okay?”