Therapy

When we finally made it to the living room, she remained on her feet and insisted we sit. We perched on a blue brocade sofa. The room was pretty.

She stared at us. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her face had gone white.

“Can I get you coffee and cake?”

Milo said, “Don’t go to any trouble, Mrs. Quick.”

“Sheila.” She hurried back to the kitchen. Milo clenched and unclenched his hands. My eyes ached. I stared at a Picasso print of an old guitarist, a reproduction cherrywood grandfather clock, pink silk flowers in a crystal vase, family photos. Sheila Quick, a thin, gray-haired man, a dark-haired girl about twenty, and the boy in the Mustang.

She returned with two mismatched mugs of instant coffee, a jar of powdered whitener, a plate of sugar cookies. Her lips were bloodless. “I’m so sorry. Here, maybe this will make you feel better.”

Milo said, “Ma’am-”

“Sheila. My husband’s in Atlanta.”

“Business?”

“Jerry’s a metals dealer. He visits scrapyards and smelters and whatever.” She fooled with her hair. “Have one, please, they’re Pepperidge Farms.”

Lifting a cookie from the plate, she dropped it, tried to pick it up, crushed it to crumbs on the carpet.

“Now look what I did!” She threw up her hands and cried.

*

Milo was gentle, but he probed, and he and Sheila Quick fell into a routine: short questions from him, long, rambling answers from her. She seemed hypnotized by the sound of her own voice. I didn’t want to think about what it would be like when we left.

Gavin Quick was the younger of two children. A twenty-three-year-old sister named Kelly attended law school at Boston University. Gavin was a very good boy. No drugs, no bad company. His mother couldn’t think of anyone who’d want to hurt him.

“It’s really a pretty stupid question, Detective.”

“It’s just something I have to ask, ma’am.”

“Well it doesn’t apply here. No one would want to hurt Gavin, he’s been hurt enough.”

Milo waited.

She said, “He was in a terrible car crash.”

“When was this, ma’am?”

“Just under a year ago. He’s lucky he wasn’t-” Her voice choked. She lowered her head to her hands, and her back hunched and trembled.

It took a while for her to show her face. “Gavin was with a bunch of friends- college friends, he was just finishing his second year at the U., was studying economics. He was interested in business- not Jerry’s business. Finance, real estate, big things.”

“What happened?”

“What- oh the crash? Pointless, absolutely pointless, but do kids listen? They denied it, but I’m sure drinking had something to do with it.”

“They?”

“The boy who was driving- his insurance company. They wanted to reduce their liability. Obviously. A kid from Whittier, Gavin knew him from school. He was killed, so we couldn’t very well harass his parents, but the time it took the insurance company to compensate us for Gavin’s medical was- you don’t need to hear this.”

She grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes.

“What exactly happened, Mrs. Quick?”

“What happened? Six of them piled into a stupid little Toyota and were speeding way too fast on Pacific Coast Highway. They’d been to a concert in Ventura and were heading back to L.A. The driver- the boy who died, Lance Hernandez- missed a turn and plowed right into the mountainside. He and the front-seat passenger were killed instantly. The two boys in the back next to Gavin were only injured slightly. Gav was sandwiched between them; he was the skinniest, so he got the middle spot, and there was no seat belt. The Highway Patrol told us it was lucky for him he was squished so tight between them because that prevented him from flying. As is, he was thrown forward and the front of his head hit the back of the driver’s seat. His shoulder was wrenched, and some small bones in his feet broke when they were bent back. The funny thing is, there was no blood, no bruising, just the smallest bump on his forehead. He wasn’t in a coma or anything, but they did tell us he’d suffered a severe concussion. He had a memory loss that was pretty bad for a few days, it really took weeks for his head to clear fully. Other than that, when the bump went down, there was nothing you could see from the outside. But I’m his mother, I knew he was different.”

“Different how, Mrs. Quick?”

“Quieter- does it matter? What does it have to do with this?”

“Collecting background, ma’am.”

“Well, I don’t see the point of it. First you come in here and tear my life to shreds, then you- I’m sorry, I’m just taking it out on you rather than kill myself.” Big smile. “First my baby gets thrown against a seat, now you’re telling me he was shot by some maniac- where did it happen?”

“Off of Mulholland Drive, north of Beverly Glen.”

“All the way up there? Well, I wouldn’t know what he’d be doing there.” She looked at us with newfound skepticism, as if hoping we were wrong about everything.

“He was parked in his car with a young woman.”

“A young-” Sheila Quick’s hand wadded the tissue. “Blond, good figure, pretty?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Kayla,” she said. “Oh my God, Gavin and Kayla, why didn’t you tell me it was both of them- now I have to tell Paula and Stan- oh God how am I going to-”

“Kayla was Gavin’s girlfriend?”

“Is- was. I don’t know, they were something.” Sheila Quick placed the tissue on the sofa cushion and sat immobile. The crushed paper began expanding, as if by its own volition, and she stared at it.

“Mrs. Quick?” said Milo.

“Gavin and Kayla were off and on,” she said. “They knew each other from Beverly High. After the accident, when Gavin…” She shook her head. “I can’t tell her parents, I’m sorry- will you tell them?”

“Of course. What’s Kayla’s last name and where do her folks live?”

“You can use my kitchen phone. I’m sure they’re up, at least Stan is. He’s a night person. He’s a musician, composes commercials, movie scores. He’s very successful. They live up in the flats.”

“The last name, ma’am?”

“Bartell. Used to be Bartelli or something Italian like that. Kayla’s a blondie, but she’s Italian. Must be northern Italian. At least on Stan’s side, I don’t know what Paula is. Do you think I should call my husband in Atlanta? It’s really late there, and I’m sure he’s had a busy day.”

*

Milo asked a few more questions, learned nothing, got her to sip from one of the mugs of instant coffee, found out the name of her family physician, Barry Silver, and woke him up. The doctor lived in Beverly Hills and said he’d be over soon.

Milo asked to see Gavin’s room and Sheila Quick took us up a maroon plush-carpeted staircase, flung the door open, flicked a light switch. The room was generous and painted pale blue and stank of body odor and rot. A queen-sized bed was unmade, rumpled clothes were piled on the floor, books and papers were strewn haphazardly, dirty dishes and fast-food cartons filled in the empty spaces. I’ve seen the police leave drug houses more composed after an evidence toss.

Sheila Quick said, “Gavin used to be neat. Before the accident. I tried, I gave up.” She shrugged. Shame colored