I studied the peaceful city street, the uneven brick sidewalks and budding trees. Such an unlikely place for me to be climbing onto a soapbox. ‘‘Before you started this affair, did you consider the pain you were inflicting on his family or whether you have the capacity and willingness to be a competent stepmother?’’
‘‘Stepmother? Oh, please…’’ She rolled her eyes. Brown eyes a lot like Natalie’s. ‘‘I am so not interested in children. I’m what? Twenty-five? Natalie can take care of them.’’ Her self-satisfied smile revealed unnaturally white teeth. ‘‘I’m taking care of him. Now why don’t you three witches fly back to the suburbs and stir your cauldrons or something? I’ve had a busy evening and I’m tired.’’
‘‘If this is about Natalie’s husband,’’ Sandy whispered to me, ‘‘why are you so angry?’’
Before I could answer, Katie said, ‘‘You stop right there, Tiffany. There’s more at stake here than just what you want. There are four kids who love their dad, who miss him. A woman who loves her husband…’’
‘‘And I don’t care.’’ Tiffany tossed her glossy hair. ‘‘If she didn’t want him straying, she should have been a better wife. She should have paid attention to his needs, instead of spending his money on fancy houses and bringing all those brats he didn’t want into the world.’’
The Subaru door slammed. We sensibly got out of the way as Natalie marched up to Tiffany, landed an open-handed slap on her ear, ran a foot down her shin, stomped on her foot and then, sweeping her feet out, dumped her onto the pavement. Tiffany’s purse landed with such a thud it might have held bowling balls.
She wore the surprised look of a baby who has suddenly fallen onto a diapered bottom. ‘‘You hurt me,’’ she said. ‘‘You had no right.’’
‘‘Having my husband leave hurt, too,’’ Natalie said. ‘‘And you had no right.’’
The girl pulled her bag toward her protectively. ‘‘You leave me alone,’’ she said. ‘‘What goes on between me and Sterlie is not your business.’’
‘‘Sterlie? Sterlie? Oh man… I cannot believe you. Since when is my husband not my business?’’ Natalie stood, hands on her hips, breathing like a runner in recovery. Then she straightened. ‘‘All right, I’ll go. Before I do, though, let’s be clear…’’
Tiffany had wrapped her arms around her purse, waiting for us to leave. Little white iPod wires ran from her ears and she tilted her head to unheard music. Natalie jerked on the wire, unplugging her in a gesture we all understood.
‘‘If you take my husband, you keep him,’’ she said. ‘‘There’s no sending him back when you realize what a big baby he is. And even if he says he didn’t want them, Sterling is the father of four because he insisted we have four. They need time with their dad, so you get the kids… all the kids… every other weekend, school vacations, and half the summer. No last-minute cancellations. No weaseling out. And the dog comes with the kids, so I hope you like dogs.’’
‘‘I hate dogs. I hate kids,’’ Tiffany said. ‘‘Sterlie and me are not into any of that.’’ She scrambled to her feet and was edging away.
‘‘Tough shit,’’ Natalie said. ‘‘Hey, wait a minute. Is that my tennis racket?’’ Natalie snatched at the bag, pulling out the racket. She pointed at the name engraved on the handle. ‘‘You steal my racket and it’s none of my business? My property isn’t my business?’’
She swung the racket, catching Tiffany neatly on her cute little ass, remembering to follow through, which I never did. Upending the bag, she dumped out a pink iPod, pink visor and wristbands, and a pair of pink and white tennis shoes.
‘‘Sterlie gave me those,’’ Tiffany said.
‘‘My iPod, my clothes, my shoes, my racket. All the stuff from my tennis bag.’’ Natalie drove her backward with vicious swings of the racket. ‘‘Goddammit, what were you thinking? It wasn’t enough to steal my husband and leave my kids without a father, you had to steal my things, too? You had to know they weren’t his.’’
Tiffany, looking stricken, pressed a knuckle against her trembling lip. This was what I talked to teenagers about all the time-had they considered the consequences of their choices and were they willing to accept those consequences?
Natalie swung the racket past the pert little nose with admirable control. ‘‘I said, ‘What were you thinking?’ ’’
‘‘He wanted me to have them.’’ Tiffany sounded like she was about to cry. ‘‘He was so embarrassed that his own children wouldn’t let him in when he just wanted to get some papers. It was really unpleasant. He knew I felt uncomfortable, so he gave me this stuff to make me feel better.’’
‘‘I’ll show you uncomfortable.’’ Natalie swung toward Tiffany’s head as I stepped between them.
‘‘You’re crazy, you know.’’ Tiffany scrabbled for a cell phone. ‘‘I’m calling the police. You belong in jail.’’
‘‘I’m not sure you want to do that,’’ I said.
Worried that we’d helped Natalie commit an assault, I looked to Katie, who shook her head. ‘‘We’re all witnesses that Natalie found Tiffany in possession of over a thousand dollars’ worth of her property,’’ she said. ‘‘Tiffany’s a thief and that’s a felony. Even if Mr. Burke gave it to her, he stole it and she was there. That makes her an accessory and a receiver of stolen property.’’
Katie turned toward me, as though I was the leader of this group. ‘‘Anything else?’’
My mind was a jumble of thoughts about relationships, the common decency we owed each other, and sorrow that someone so young could be so selfish and could wreak so much havoc without any thought. I also knew why I was so angry and who I was angry at. Guys who defaulted on their marriage contracts and the women who, actively or passively, aided and abetted them. Including myself. My words rolled out.
‘‘Tiffany, what you want is not all that matters. You and Sterling aren’t alone in this relationship. The choices you make have consequences for five other people. You’re not an innocent party, you’re an active player in your own life. You have to take responsibility for the choices you make. Don’t assume you can hurt people terribly and walk away untouched.’’
Natalie and Sandy and Katie flanked me like we were a real team, their approving glances saying I was making real sense. This wasn’t just about Tiffany and Sterling and Natalie. It was about making considered choices and taking action when things weren’t right. I might still be jumbled but some of the right things had been shaken loose.
Tiffany looked down at the open cell phone in her hand.
‘‘Felony,’’ Katie said.
Tiffany snapped the phone shut, shoved it in her purse, and went inside.
‘‘Wow. Thank you all,’’ Natalie said. ‘‘I never thought I’d get all this from a self-defense course.’’
Neither had I. ‘‘Ninjettes rock,’’ I said.
We high-fived and walked back to the Subaru.
The People’s Way by Eve K. Sandstrom
The worst part was that Rogar was trying to be kind.
‘‘You must see that there is no other way,’’ he said. ‘‘The baby has to die.’’
Amaya pulled her legs up against her chest and laid her head on her knees, shaping her body into a coconut. She had no more words. If she spoke again, the tears inside would spill onto the hut’s sandy floor, and the hard coconut husk she was using to conceal herself would crack. All her fears and her griefs and longings would be revealed to this man she did not understand and to the strange people of his clan.