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“Todd, I promise you Rory will be punished severely, and as soon as he gets home I will bring him over and he will apologize in person for this.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” De Graff shook his head. “Kristy is really upset about this. I had to talk her out of calling the police.”
Maggie was suddenly gripped by a new set of problems. Her little Jarhead in the making was going to end up with a juvenile record, and if that happened he could kiss an Ivy League education good-bye. And then she thought of Kristy Hillcrest De Graff, quite possibly the most gossipy, stuck-up mother amongst a group of women who were not the least bit embarrassed to behave like they were still in high school. Maggie felt her Irish temper coming on. She apologized to both father and son one more time and said she’d call them after she was done chewing Rory’s ass out.
After closing the door, Maggie went to the kitchen and headed straight for the wine fridge. She retrieved a bottle of Toasted Head Chardonnay and wrestled with the cork. Jack appeared in the doorway, looking concerned.
Maggie looked up and said, “Back to bed, young man. You do not want to be down here when your brother gets home.”
She opened the cupboard, her right hand reaching for a small Chardonnay glass and then skipping over it. A situation like this called for a big burgundy glass. After pouring nearly a third of the bottle into the glass, she took a massive drink and then leaned against the marble counter. Her mind raced off in three different directions almost simultaneously. How would her husband react to the news, how many women had Kristy Hillcrest De
Graff already called, and what punishment was she going to give her thirteen-year-old monster?
She was nearly finished with the glass when she heard them pull into the garage. She waited for them in the kitchen, her anger slowly building. Shannon entered the kitchen first; she was on her cell phone, so she didn’t notice the brooding look on her mother’s face. Next came Rory, with his father close behind.
Nash entered the kitchen, took one look at his wife, and thought, Holy shit, what did I do now? Instead he said, “What’s wrong?”
“Well…Derek and his father just stopped by.” Her eyes shifted to her son. “Would you like to tell me why he has a black eye?”
Rory shifted nervously and then stammered for a second before spitting out, “He said something that wasn’t right…and I told him to stop, but he…”
“Do you have any idea,” Maggie screamed, “that you can be kicked out of school!”
“But, Mom, he…”
“I don’t care what he did!”
“But he…”
“Did you hear me?” she screamed. “Nothing that he could have said would justify what you did to him. Do you know how much we pay to send you to Sidwell?”
Rory was shaking. “I don’t care!” he yelled. “I don’t even like it there!”
“Don’t you dare raise your voice at me, young man! Go to your room right now!” She pointed toward the hallway. “Your father and I will discuss your punishment, but I’ll tell you right now, I’m in favor of pulling you off the lacrosse team.”
Rory ripped himself free from his father and ran down the hallway. “I hate you!”
Maggie yelled after him, “That’s really going to help your case, young man!” She turned to her husband and said, “Can you believe this?” She snatched the bottle of wine from the counter and poured herself another third. “I have no idea how we are going to deal with this.”
Nash wondered for a brief second who in the hell this woman was, standing in his kitchen. “Woman…what in the hell is wrong with you?”
“Me?” She pointed at herself. “Maybe you haven’t been paying attention, Michael, but that school costs twenty-eight thousand dollars a year and they have a zero tolerance on fighting. He’s going to get kicked out.”
“Don’t you think we should hear his side of the story before we get all worked up?”
“I don’t need to hear his side. Zero tolerance. That’s the policy. We’re screwed. He’s going to get expelled, and then good luck trying to get him into Harvard.”
“Oh, that’s what this is about.”
“Don’t go there with me. This is your fault. I should have never let you give him boxing lessons. It’s bad enough that he has that same aggressive gene you and your brothers have.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Remember…remember the bar you and your brothers tore apart? If it wasn’t for the fact that that cop was a Marine and you were on leave you’d have a record right now.”
“What I remember is you were jealous because I was talking to some girl, so you decided to do blow job shots on the bar, and if you hadn’t been sticking your pretty little ass in that guy’s face, he would have never grabbed it, and Sean would have never had to knock him out.”
Maggie pointed at herself. “That was not my fault, and this is not my fault. This comes from your side of the family. You brother Patrick just beat up some guy in Atlantic City last month and he’s thirty-five years old.”
