“What is going on?” Lisa answers her door, clutching an immense mint-green water bottle with a straw sticking out. “Is everyone okay?”
Aimee steps inside the foyer and looks around. “Where are the kids?”
“Everyone’s out back. Now tell me.”
“Even Noa?”
“Even Noa. What is going on, Aimee? I’m dying here.”
“We’re not sharing this news with any of the kids yet, okay?” Aimee asks. “Gwen’s going to want to tell her boys, and I’d like to break it to my kids myself later. Let them have fun today.”
“What news? What’s happened?”
“It’s Anton. There’s no easy way to say this, but he’s dead. His body was found early this morning in an alley in Bethesda.”
Lisa’s mouth opens in disbelief.
“The police think he was hit with a car,” Aimee says. “But they’re not sure of anything yet.”
“Like a drunk driver?”
“Maybe. They don’t know much. But Gwen said the police called it a murder.”
“A murder? That’s insane. Are you saying that someone hit him with their car on purpose?” Lisa shakes her head. “I can’t believe that. Who would do such a thing?”
“I don’t know, but Anton is gone. And now we have to focus on George and Rafi and Gwen. Those poor little boys.”
“Do they know? They didn’t seem upset.”
Aimee shakes her head, annoyed. “No. I told you, none of the kids know yet, so please don’t say anything.”
“You can count on me,” Lisa says. “Poor Gwen. How is she holding up?”
“As good as can be expected, which is not great. I think she’s in shock. I’m sure the reality will hit her later. We’re going to need to be there for her.”
“What can we do? My heart breaks for George and Rafi. Can you imagine?”
“I think just pitching in, like watching the kids today, is a huge help. I have to go to work for a few hours, but I’ll pick up pizza on the way home. Do you mind keeping the kids until then? Scott had work, too. Otherwise I wouldn’t ask.”
“Don’t give it a second thought. I’m here for you, Aimee. And for Gwen, and for those sweet little boys. Whatever I can do to help. Should I put something on the Listserv?”
Aimee flinches. “No. Like I said, no one knows about this yet. I know it will end up on the news and on the Listserv soon enough but I think we should all try to keep this quiet until Gwen has a chance to break the news to the kids. We don’t want them hearing it from some random neighbor. So keep the TV off, okay? No news.”
Noa emerges from the shadows of the darkened dining room. “I don’t want to stay here. I want to go to Cathy’s.”
“Noa, honey, I didn’t see you there.”
“I want to see the kittens.”
“Don’t you want to stay here with your brothers?” Lisa asks in a singsong voice, bending forward, hands on her knees. “We can do all sorts of fun things.”
Noa scowls. Aimee knows that Lisa is just trying to help, but Noa hates when adults talk to her in sugary voices. She touches Lisa’s arm. “Give me a minute, okay?”
“Sure.” Lisa looks hesitant. For a moment Aimee fears Lisais going to start in again on her parenting. On more than one occasion she has implied that Aimee was coddling Noa, almost blaming her for the child’s social anxiety. She’d even begun forwarding Apple News stories about anxious kids, which Aimee had taken to immediately deleting. She is grateful when Lisa heads to the back of the house. She’s not in the mood for sancti-mommy nonsense.
“It’s okay with Cathy if I come.”
“And how do you know that?” Aimee asks. Noa pulls out a phone that Aimee recognizes as her own. “You have my phone?”