Police went to Billy’s house. Billy’s missing too! His parents were also freaking out. Where have you gone, Maren? Am feeling so helpless. I hate it, I hate it. It’s an awful, awful feeling.
* * Later still * *
I remembered something! Maren talked to Louise a few times! Well, not Louise, but one of the younger therapists. Wes tried to hack into it again but the company has beefed up security since then. Now it’s beyond Wes’s powers. Will definitelybe sending him to coding camp next summer. Called Darren, begged him to forego the legal mumbo jumbo and let us listen to recordings of Maren’s sessions. Told him Kevin works at the company now too. Darren said he was so sorry but couldn’t do anything for us due to serious privacy concerns. But five minutes after we hung up, he texted me and said he would come to our house after work. Said he would try to hack into Maren’s recordings offline so that the company would never know. I love Darren so much.
August 30:
Darren showed up just like he said. It turns out he’s a good-looking, young Asian man who doesn’t look much older than Maren! Wow, could not tell that on the phone! His name is Darren? Okay, but that’s not what’s important here.
Darren was able to hack into the TheraP150™. Kevin and I listened to Maren’s recordings by ourselves. Wow. Talk about TMI. Hope I can forget some of the things she said about me and Kevin. I mean, ouch. But can’t think about that now. We found out she and Billy like to go to the Golden Gate Park in the city. They hang out with people they’ve met there who play music or write poetry. Now that Kevin is making money, she stole my stash of just-in-case-of-earthquake cash and ran off to be an artist. Wow. Maren, who are you?
Also, Billy is sick?
September 3:
The SFPD found Maren and Billy sleeping near the Japanese garden in the park. All their money and Billy’s guitar stolen. Dumb kids. Met Billy’s parents at the police station and felt bad for each other for raising stupid kids. Kevin wanted to beat Billy up until we saw how small and skinny he is. It turns out that Billy had childhood cancer that he beat, but it has now come back. Tragic. And Maren is kindhearted? She said she wanted him to live, really live before he died. Yikes. Deep.Maybe we’ve been all wrong about Maren. Maybe she’s better than we are.
Kevin got triggered by all this, thinking about his baby sister. Poor Kevin. He told me we should accept Billy.
Fine, we told her. Be friends with Billy, hang out with him, but no more running away. And be whatever kind of artist you want. We love you, Maren, we told her over and over again. Even Wes said, Don’t run away, Sis. I don’t want to be left with Mom and Dad by myself!
December 27:
What a difference a year makes! Life is so busy these days. Kevin’s doing great at his new job. Even got promoted to district manager for Northern California. Says it’s the easiest job he’s ever had. These TheraPs™ sell themselves. It’s brought big, new changes to our lives.
Bought a bigger house with a pool! In a better part of town! The kids have much bigger bedrooms with their own bathrooms. My bathroom is the same size as my old bedroom! Crazy!
But selling the old house was a pain. Had to fix so many little things, repaint the rooms, buy a new garage door. Packing is such a huge headache. And did Kevin help me? No! He’s gone all the time, so I had to do it all myself. The children, of course, were no help at all. But that’s okay. I’m just relieved they’re fine. Maren is usually at the hospital with Billy, so I’m just happy she’s safe. Wes was being a little bit of a jerk showing off his new Steph Currys in denim, the hot new sneakers not available in stores until next year. But Kevin got them for free from the VP at Under Armour who wanted 17 TheraPs™ to give to his family at Christmas.
Have been so busy with contractors, real estate agents, appraisers, county permitters, and movers. Ugh. Am so stressed I started clenching my teeth. Now I wake up with bad headaches in the morning, my jaw sore. I talk to Louise more thanI do to Kevin. When at home, he’s so tired all he wants to do is watch TV and go to bed. Me too. All I want are two glasses of pinot in the evenings, half an hour with Louise, then bed.
But it’s all worth it. Christmas in the new house was amazing. We got a fifteen-foot Christmas tree for the foyer with stacks of presents underneath. Looks like it could be in a magazine. Kevin’s family was impressed by the new house, though only Lou and Linda said so. Mike and Dianne were real quiet. Overhead Dianne saying she hated the wallpaper in our downstairs bathroom. Who cares? Love my green wallpaper with pictures of birds on it. It cost almost eighty dollars a sheet! It makes me feel like I’m in a cool forest while I’m doing my business in the bathroom. Very refreshing!
Kevin picked up every check while they were here. It was the best Christmas ever, no fighting, no resentment toward Mike and Dianne. But maybe it wasn’t the same for them? They left three days earlier than they normally do. Dianne said she’d forgotten about a cheerleading competition for Adora and Morgan. In the week between Christmas and New Year’s? I asked. Yeah! she said.
What a liar.
January 14:
Uh-oh. Kevin had to go to an emergency meeting at the company. Some TheraPs™ started malfunctioning, laughing at people in a creepy way, suggesting people take drugs, hurt themselves, commit suicide. So far, the company has been able to
