“Becky, you should go inside,” said Toby.
“Maybe you guys should do this later.”
“Becky, go inside!” Toby shouted.
Becky hesitated, then went back inside, shutting the door behind her.
Sarah took several long, deep breaths. “Okay. Explain.”
“Owen would never hurt Garrett.”
“You named it? You named that thing?”
“Yes! Because he’s not some wild animal! I know it sounds deranged-”
“You have no idea how deranged it sounds.”
“Let me talk, okay? I swear to you, I’d never put our child in danger. Owen had nothing to do with this. It was an accident that could have happened anywhere.”
“Garrett told us that thing licked his blood.”
That part of today’s events was hard to overlook, and Toby had planned to address it, perhaps never bring Garrett back to the forest again, no matter how much the boy begged to see his friend.
“That never happened,” Toby said. “I don’t know where it came from. You saw Garrett-he’d lost a lot of blood and barely knew where he was.”
“How long have you been taking him out there?”
“I’m not sure. A while.”
“How long?”
“It doesn’t matter, okay!”
“Why did that goddamn thing say your name?” Sarah wailed.
“Because he’s my friend. I’ve been friends with him since high school. I didn’t know you, I didn’t know Mr. Lynch, I didn’t know Becky, but I knew Owen! He’s been with me through everything! Do you know when I found him in his cave? 1960! That’s how I knew he wasn’t going to hurt Garrett! That’s how I knew he wasn’t going to hurt you! Because he’s my best friend!”
Sarah stared at him, her eyes cold with hatred. “He hurt Melissa.”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“If this is the way you want to live your life, that’s fine.” Sarah was no longer shouting, and the even tone of her voice was far more disturbing. “You can hang out in the woods with your magical creature friend and just have yourselves a ball. Do whatever the hell you want. But you’re not going to risk the lives of our children.”
“I didn’t-”
“I’m leaving. Garrett and Hannah are coming with me. I don’t want your mental illness anywhere around us. You’re not going to visit us, you’re not going to call us, you’re not going to fucking exist for us, do you understand?”
“You can’t take my kids away.”
“When you took Garrett out there and let him go near that thing, you gave up all rights as a parent. You’re out of the picture. I love you, but there’s something hideous in your brain, and I’m taking our children far away from it.”
Toby shook his head. “No. There’s no way I’m letting you do that. You want a divorce? Fine. Bring me the papers. I’ll sign whatever you want. Just don’t take Garrett and Hannah away from me.”
“This isn’t your choice anymore.”
“I’ll fight it.”
“The hell you will. You do one thing to stop me and I’ll tell everybody about your dearest, most darling friend. I’ll hold a goddamn press conference. They’ll tear those woods apart looking for that freak, and they’ll blow him away. I’m not bluffing.” There was a cruel edge to her voice now, almost sadistic.
“Please don’t take them,” he said in a soft voice.
“You’re lucky I’m not calling the police right now. What you need to do is go out into the woods, put a bullet into that thing, and straighten your life out. Is that where you were all those times, those hundreds of times? What’s wrong with you? How can you not see the insanity of this?”
“I do see it.”
“Then why the hell are you bringing our son out there?”
“Because he’s our friend!”
“Not anymore. We’ll work the money and property out like civilized people, and you can say good-bye, but if you ever try to contact our kids, it’s over.”
“If you spent time with him, you’d understand.”
“Get help, Toby. Go to a hotel. I’ll call you when we’re ready to leave.”
“You should kill her,” said Larry. “Orgy of violence!”
“I’m not going to kill anyone.”
“Change of heart? You killed me. What’d I do, beat you up a couple of times? This bitch is stealing your kids.”
“I deserve it.”
“Nobody deserves that! Did you see how smug she looked? Go get the gun and shoot her in the back while she’s packing. How long has it been since Owen’s had a nice taste of juicy human flesh?”
“Go away.”
“So you’re going to let her win? What a loser. Loser in high school, loser now. Think how good it would feel to pull that trigger and watch the back of her head explode.”
“It would feel horrible.”
“You’re not using your imagination. Picture it with me. The bullet slamming into her skull, shattering it, gray matter splattering against the wall. Let’s see her steal Garrett from you when she’s a bloody corpse. I’ll cheer when Owen starts ripping tendons away from bone with his teeth.”
“You can just go to hell,” Toby said. “I’ll never hurt her.”
“No more sneaking around. Remember how great it was when you moved out of your parents’ place? You could see Owen whenever you wanted. Why’d you get married? All that freedom, gone. For what?”
“I love her.”
“And she loves you right back, huh? Is that why she’s taking everything away from you? Did she even try to understand? She thinks that she’s so much better than you that she can just kidnap your kids without letting you tell your side?”
“My side is fucked up.”
“It is. I won’t argue with you there. It’s fucked up in a way you don’t see very often. But you know what? When you’re twelve years into a relationship, the other person should be willing to deal with the occasional fucked- up situation.”
“I put Garrett’s life in danger.”
“How long did you keep the chains on Owen? How many precautions did you take? And Owen didn’t do anything!”
“He might have.”
“Had you not been there, Owen would’ve carried him to safety. The newspapers would all have a front-page cover story on the hero monster who saved the life of an innocent little boy. Kill that bitch.”
“No.”
“Shoot her.”
“No.”
“Make all of your problems go away.”
“I’m not going to hurt her. This was all my fault. Maybe…maybe she’ll get over it and she’ll let me see them sometimes. It doesn’t have to be a lot. Just sometimes.”
“Yeah, all right, way to stand up for yourself. If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
Sarah was kind at the end. She let him give Garrett a kiss. He whispered that everything would be all right, that he’d take good care of Owen.
He brushed Hannah’s hair one last time. She was too little to understand what was going on, but when she gave him that last hug, she seemed to acknowledge the finality of it.
Toby didn’t cry when they left. He just sat there in the living room, numb. He stared at nothing.
