Red concentrated on staring ahead. She wanted to think about the pattern in the curtains again, but she couldnโt risk looking that way. Instead, she looked down at the check mark drawn on her hand, eyes tracing the lines, trying to summon back that tiny ๏ฌrework.โ
Maddy placed her phone facedown. โShall we play another game?โ she said.
If Red had to sit here any longer, she might go mad. Even just walking a few laps of the RV might help. Thirty-one feet, you know, not just thirty. The 2017 GetAway Vista 31B. 2017 was also the year thatโno, stop.
She was about to stand up when the sound of a duck quacking stopped her, mechanical and insistent. It was coming from behind her head.
โOh, thatโs me,โ Oliver said, jumping up from the passenger seat and squeezing his wide shoulders past Arthur and Simon. โMomโs calling,โ he said.
Red breathed in.
โHow do you know itโs your mom without looking?โ Simon asked, a look of genuine confusion on his face.
โPersonalized ringtone,โ Oliver said, walking past the dining table to the tiny kitchen, running his hands through his golden-brown hair, the exact same
shade as his eyes. His backpack was sitting on the counter. He unzipped it. โMy mom started it; has personalized ringtones for the whole family,โ he explained, digging his hand inside. โShe has duck ร lโorange for her birthday meal every year. Hence the duck.โ He found the ringing phone, pulled it out. โArthur, can you take over directions?โ
โNo problem.โ Arthur took the empty seat.
โHey, Mom,โ Oliver said, holding the phone out to get a good view of his face. He stepped forward and slid onto the booth beside Red. Catherine Lavoyโs face ๏ฌlled the screen, her hair the same color as Oliverโs, neat and curled. Faint lines around her eyes as she smiled out of the phone. She looked tired, her face full of shadows.
โHello, sweetie,โ she said, an uncharacteristic croakiness catching her voice. She cleared her throat. โI just tried Madeline but she wasnโt picking up.โ
โIโm here, Mom,โ Maddy said, with an awkward glance at Red, but Red pretended not to notice. It was stupid anyway because Red liked Catherine. More than liked her. Catherine had been there Redโs entire life. She was kind and caring, and she always knew just how to help her. And, most importantly, she always cut sandwiches into triangles. Oliver pressed the button to activate the rear camera so Maddy could wave at her mom. โSorry, I didnโt hear it ringing.โ
โThatโs okay,โ Catherine said. โJust calling to check how you guys are doing. Are you at your stopover point yet?โ
Oliver pressed the front camera on again, and Red could see from the direction of his gaze that he was looking into his own face, shifting his angles so the light found his cheekbones. โNo, not yet, weโre close to the campsite I think, though. Hey, where are we?โ he called to those at the front.
Arthur checked over his shoulder. โDriving through aย Morven Township.
Should be around twenty-๏ฌve minutes.โ
โWho was that?โ Catherine asked, searching the corners of her screen as though they could give her the answer.
โMaddyโs friend, Arthur,โ Oliver said. โWhoโs driving?โ Catherine asked.
โReyna is currently.โ
โHi, Mrs. Lavoy,โ Reyna called from the front, not taking her eyes o๏ฌ the dark road.
โHello, Reyna,โ Catherine shouted back, too loudly, her voice crackling against the speakers. โOkay, so youโre almost there?โ
โCorrect.โ
โGreat. Oh, is that Red there?โ Catherine asked, peering into her screen, raising it closer to her eye.
Oliver tilted the phone, trapping Red inside the camera. She smiled. โOh, it is! Hello, sweetie, howโs it going?โ
โYeah, good. No o๏ฌcial complaints to ๏ฌle.โ
Catherine laughed. โAnd are my children behaving? You know I trust you theโโ
Catherine froze on the screen, dead pixels distorting her face. โTheโโ
Her hand jolted across the screen, blending into the mess of her face. No longer a person, just blocks of muted color.
โMom?โ Oliver said. โThโฆthโฆโ
Her words scattered into layers, robotic and strange.
Redโs image was frozen too, eyes wide, afraid sheโd be stuck in Oliverโs phone forever.
โMom, can you hear me?โ Oliver said. โMom?โ
โCaโฆn you gโฆuys hear me? Hello?โ Catherineโs voice broke through, but her face couldnโt keep up, mouthing words that already existed, talking before she could speak.
โGot you,โ Oliver said. โWell, sort of. Guess the service must be spotty around here.โ
โOkay, well.โ Catherineโs face fast-forwarded, twitching as it dragged itself to the present. โIโll let you get on withโฆis that a beer bottle?โ Catherineโs eye moved to the camera again, staring at a shape on the counter behind Oliverโs shoulder.
โYeah, itโs mine,โ Oliver said smoothly, without a beat. He might just be a better liar than Red.
โYou arenโt drinking on this trip, are you, Maddy?โ Catherine raised her voice to ๏ฌnd her daughter o๏ฌ-screen.
โNo, Mom,โ Maddy began. โI knowโโ
โโYou are seventeen, I donโt want to hear from anyone that youโve been drinking. You can have fun without it.โ
Which reminded Red; Maddy turned eighteen in just a couple of weeks.
She was already worrying about how to get her a birthday present.
โYes, I know. I am. I wonโt,โ Maddy said, leaning forward so her mom could hear her more clearly.
โOliver?โ
โYes, Mom. Iโll watch her. Take chaperone duties very seriously, wonโt we, Reyna?โ
โYes maโam,โ Reyna called.
โAll right.โ Catherine eased back from the camera. โIโll let you go, then. Iโve got some prep to get on with. Text me in the morning before you head o๏ฌ again.โ
โWill do, Mom,โ Oliver said. โOkay, bye everyone, bye Red.โ
They called โByeโ in clashing tones, Simon going high and shrill for some reason.
โLove you, Oliver, Maddy.โ
โLove you, Mom,โ they said in perfect Lavoy synchronization, and Oliver thumbed the red button, disappearing Catherine back to that warm house in Philadelphia.
โWhew.โ Maddy breathed out. โWhat more does she want? My big brother and his girlfriend are already accompanying me on spring break at her insistence. Itโs so annoying.โ
She was talking to Red, she must have been, because just then her eyes ๏ฌashed and she snatched them away, realizing sheโd been complaining to the one with the dead mom. But that was okay because Red was thinking about
the cartoonย Phineas and Ferb;ย they werenโt a match for the pattern in the curtains, but now the full theme song was running through her head.
โItโs ๏ฌne,โ Oliver said to his sister. โReyna and I are renting our own condo. You wonโt even see us; weโll leave you and all your friends to it. Wouldnโt catch me staying in an RV for a whole week with a bunch of teenagers.โ
โYeah,โ Maddy said, directing her voice at her brother now, โbut Mom doesnโt know about that part.โ
โAnd what Mom doesnโt know canโt hurt her. Sheโs just stressed with work stu๏ฌ at the moment,โ Oliver said, coming to his momโs defense. He did that a lot.
Red really wanted to stand up now, to escape this conversation, to go stand with Arthur at the front, but Oliver and his wide shoulders were trapping her here. Simon came and sat down too, just to make the situation worse, dropping in beside Maddy and digging his hand through the bag of chips. He shoveled an entire ๏ฌstful into his mouth.
โYeah, I know,โ Maddy said, cheeks still ๏ฌushed. โBut she doesnโt have to take it out on me.โ
โSheโs just protective of you,โ Oliver countered.
โWhat are youse all talking about?โ Simon said, spewing orange crumbs from his mouth as he did.
โMy mom,โ Oliver explained. โSheโs stressed because sheโs in the middle of this huge case at the moment.โ
โOh yeah, sheโs a lawyer, right?โ Simon asked, going in for more chips.
Oliver did not look amused. โSheโs assistant district attorney,โ he said, and it was hard to miss the pride in his voice, the way he overpronounced those three words. Which Red translated to mean:ย No, Simon, you idiot, sheโs notย justย a lawyer.
โWhatโs the case?โ Simon said, oblivious to the disdain on Oliverโs face. โYouโve probably heard about it on the news,โ he said, pointedly. โItโs a
pretty big deal.โ
A huge deal,ย Red thought.
โItโs a homicide case; a murder involving two members of the biggest organized crime gang in the city,โ Oliver said, a shadow of disappointment in his eyes as he didnโt get the reaction he was looking for from Simon. He elaborated: โTheย literalย Philadelphia Ma๏ฌa.โ
โOh, cool,โ Simon said, between bites. โDidnโt know the Ma๏ฌa was still a
thing, I loveย The Godfather.ย โRevenge is a dish best served cold,โ โ he said in a dreadful Italian American accent.
โVery much still a thing,โ Oliver said, settling in to his story now that he had Simonโs attention.
Could Red climb under the table to get out? Urgh, no: too many legs. โThere was some leadership dispute going on in the crime family, I wonโt
bore you with the details. And at the end of August last year, one of the leaders, Joseph Mannino, was killed by another, Francesco Gotti. Allegedly, I should say. Shot him twice in the back of the head.โ
Red tried not to picture it, studying the curtains again. She had heard it all so many times; she probably knew the details even better than Oliver. Not that she was going to say so.
โWe are o๏ฌcially in South Carolina!โ Arthur called, pointing to a green sign out the front, illuminated by the RVโs headlights.
Oliver kept talking: โMom is the lead prosecutor taking Frank Gotti to trial for the murder. The pretrial conference is in a couple of weeksโโ
April 25 to be exact, Red thought, surprised she had remembered that particular detail. That wasnโt like her.
โโand then itโs jury selection and the actual trial.โ
โCool,โ Simon said again. โMrs. Lavoy, taking on the mob.โ
Oliver seemed to swell a little, sitting up taller, blocking Red in even more. โBut itโs not just all that. She had to ๏ฌght to even get this case. Normally a crime like this would be considered a federal case and would be tried by the US attorneyโs o๏ฌce. Theyโve tried to prosecute Frank Gotti multiple times, on various charges like drug tra๏ฌcking and racketeering, and have never once got a conviction. But Mom managed to argue that this murder was under the DAโs jurisdiction because it wasnโt speci๏ฌcally related
to drug tra๏ฌcking and because Frank Gotti killed Mannino himself; he didnโt pay a hit man like they normally do.โ
Simon yawned; Oliver was losing his crowd. But he didnโt take the hint. โAnd we know that,โ Oliver continued, โbecause there was an eyewitness.
Someone actually saw Frank Gotti walking away after shooting Mannino dead. And thatโs why Momโs so stressedโbecause the entire case rests on this witnessโs testimony. And, as you can imagine, in cases against the Ma๏ฌa, lead witnesses are often intimidated out of testifying or straight-up killed. So Mom has had to make sure the witness has been kept entirely anonymous in all the court documents.ย Witness Aย is what the press are calling him.โ
โI see,โ Simon said. Did he regret asking? Red certainly regretted having
to hear it all again.
โBut if she wins this case,โ Oliver said, eyes ๏ฌashing as though this were the most important part of the story, so Simon better stay with him, โit will be career-de๏ฌning. The current DA is retiring after this term, and if Mom gets this conviction, sheโs basically guaranteed to win the Democratic primary this year and be elected DA.โ
โLetโs not jinx it,โ Maddy chimed in, and it was nice to hear someone elseโs voice for a change, other than Oliverโs and the one in Redโs head.
โNoโโOliver nodded down at his sisterโโbut Iโm saying, if Frank Gotti is found guilty, Mom has a great chance of becoming DA.โ He turned back to Simon. Poor Simon. โHer biggest competition at the moment is Mo Frazer, another assistant DA. Heโs very popular, especially with the African American communities, but if Mom gets this conviction, I think it will give her the edge over him.โ
Oliver ๏ฌnally drew back, bowing his head like he was waiting for someone to personally congratulate him.
โCongratulations,โ Red said, resisting the urge to add one small clap.
Simon took the opportunity to escape.
โShut up, Red,โ Oliver replied, trying to make it a joke. There were times when Red thought of Oliver as a borrowed big brother; sheโd known him her entire life, longer than Maddy if you thought about it like that. But then there
were other times she wasnโt even sure he remembered her name. Not like it was a di๏ฌcult one: think primary colors.
โSheโs done incredibly well for herself. DA before the age of ๏ฌfty. Of course, by that time Iโm going to be US attorney general,โ he said, again like it was a joke, but it really really wasnโt. Oliver managed to turn everything into a dick-measuring contest. Red snorted at that, giving the voice in her head a pat on the back.
โWhat?โ Oliver turned to her, his wide shoulders even wider now, a blockade either side of his neck. โOkay, so what are you doing with your life? I actually canโt remember which college youโre going to this year, remind me?โ
A lump in Redโs throat.
โHarvard,โ she said without blinking. โFull-ride scholarship.โ
Oliverโs eyes snapped wider, bottom lip hanging open. She had just one-upped his prelaw at Dartmouth with a premed girlfriend, how dare she? Red enjoyed the look while she could.
โWhโฆR-really?โ he said.
โYeah,โ she said. โEarly admission.โ
โRed,โ Maddy said in a mock-warning voice, her eyes silently scolding.
She used to enjoy annoying Oliver too. โWhat?โ Oliver looked between them.
โIโm not going to college this year,โ Red said, relenting. It was fun while it lasted, living that other life.
Oliver laughed, a sigh of relief buried in there somewhere. โI was going to say. Full scholarship at Harvard, ha! Didnโt think so.โ
Oh he didnโt, did he?
โYouโre not going anywhere?โ he asked now, fully recovered from the shock.
โRed missed the application deadline,โ Maddy explained for her. Which wasnโt the truth, but it was a good lie, a convenient one, because how veryย Redย it was.
โYou know me,โ Red said, just to hammer it home.
โHow could you miss the deadline?โ Oliver turned to her, a look of cold concern on his face, and Red didnโt like where this was going, but she was trapped right here in this fucking booth forever.
She shrugged, hoping that would shut him down.
It did not, Oliver opening his mouth to speak again.
โI donโt understand it,โ he said. โYou were such a smart kid.โ Donโt say it, please donโt say it.
โSeems a shame,โ Oliver went on. โYou had so much potential.โ
And there it was. The line that ripped her open. Sheโd lost count of the number of times it had been said to her, but there was only one that truly mattered. Red was thirteen and Mom was alive, screaming at each other across the kitchen, back when it used to be warm.
โRed?โ Maddy was saying. It was too hot in here.
Red stood up, knocking her knees against the table, swaying as the RV turned.
โI gotta goโโ
But she was saved by Arthur, calling: โShit, I think we went the wrong way.โ
