Кевин Уилсон - Nothing to See Here

I saw Carl hop out of the driver’s side, looking ragged, his shirt untucked, and he ran around to get the door. By this time, I’d caught up to the kids, and we were just standing there, watching it all unfold like it was television, like it wasn’t real at all.

Madison scootched out of the car, holding Timothy, who was wrapped up in this baby-blue towel. He was asleep, but as she stepped away from the car, he opened his eyes, gazed up at the mansion.

“Hey,” I said, lame as hell. Madison looked at me, took a deep breath, and then nodded.

“Can we say hi?” Roland asked Madison, who looked so tired. She didn’t say no, just stood there, and the kids came up to her.

“Hey, Timothy,” Roland said.

Timothy seemed to regard them for a moment, placing them in his mind. “Hello,” he said.

“You were amazing,” Roland said, but Timothy just fell back against Madison.

“He doesn’t remember,” Madison said to me. “At least I don’t think he does.”

Jasper stepped out of the car and, seeing the children, said, irritation running all through his voice, “Madison, let’s get him inside. Could we please go inside?”

What was the formal greeting for the secretary of state? Mr. Secretary? That sounded like a horse that finished last in the Kentucky Derby. He looked at me for a second, as if I were responsible for any of this shit, and then, once Madison went into the house, he followed her inside.

Carl took me by the hand, squeezing it tightly. “We’re going to talk,” he said.

“We saw it on TV,” I told him. “Holy shit.”

“It was… it was ill-timed,” he admitted.

“What happened?” I said. “Afterward?”

He looked down at the kids. I told them to go ask Mary for something to eat, and they scampered into the house before anyone could stop them.

“It was chaos. Nobody else could really understand what had happened, especially since Timothy was unharmed. Of course, we knew what had happened, but that’s not a human being’s first instinct, to assume that a child spontaneously combusted on the steps of the Capitol. It was all Madison. She moved so quickly, called media outlets, gave them updates. It was like two seconds after it all happened, she had a response ready. It really was impressive,” he admitted.

“So, like, Jasper’s going to resign, right?” I asked.

“Are you fucking crazy?” Carl said. “There’s no way he’s going to resign. Because his kid caught on fire? No way. And why would they take it away? They just confirmed him. They’d look like idiots.”

“But if it happens again?” I asked. “Why risk it?”

“It’s complicated,” Carl admitted.

“Everyone keeps saying that,” I told him. “It seems not that complicated to me.”

“Let’s go inside,” he told me.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“Lillian?” he said. “Just try to think about it rationally. Try to consider the situation.”

“I want to talk to Madison,” I said. I ran ahead of him into the house. In the kitchen, Bessie and Roland were sitting at the counter, while Mary heated up some chicken nuggets. “Stay here,” I told them. I went back into the living room, where I’d first had iced tea with Madison. Jasper was standing there, pacing around the coffee table, running one hand through his silver hair.

“Where’s Madison?” I asked.

“She’s putting Timothy to bed,” he told me. Carl walked into the room and stood beside me.

“Lillian,” Jasper continued, “as you can imagine, this has been a very stressful few days. The confirmation hearing alone, good lord, but now… now this.”

“It’s crazy,” I said, but Carl kind of leaned against me, a signal to keep quiet. I shut up.

“I want to thank you for your service,” he said. “You have helped us immensely, and we are so grateful for that. I know that you have done everything in your power to make sure that Roland and Bessie have been cared for.”

“It’s okay,” I said. Thanking me for my service seemed weird, but it also felt like something political people said to mean any number of weird things that you had to do for them.

“I’m afraid that the circumstances have changed, that we were perhaps naive to think that we could do this on our own, that you, without any training, could handle this.”

I looked at Carl. “What’s going on?” I asked.

Jasper kept talking. “We no longer require your services. We have found other accommodations for the twins.”

“Boarding school? I know about that. Do you think that’s such a hot idea, to send them away? To Europe?”

Jasper looked confused and stared at Carl, who then spoke. “They’ll actually stay in Tennessee,” he said. “There is an alternative school, a kind of ranch, where trained professionals work with troubled children. It’s in the Smoky Mountains. It’s very private. Very discreet.”

“When did you decide this?” I asked.

“Carl found this place a long time ago,” Jasper said, “but I was too stubborn to listen.”

“You did this?” I asked Carl, who blushed.

“Early in the proceedings,” he said, “I was tasked with finding as many options as possible for the care and treatment of these kids.”

“‘Troubled children’?” I said, and just hearing it made me angry.

“You don’t think Bessie and Roland are troubled?” Jasper asked, dumbfounded. “This facility will work with them physically and mentally.”

“This is bullshit,” I said. “What is it? You said ‘school’ and then you said ‘ranch’ and now you said ‘facility.’”

“It’s multipurpose,” Carl said. “It’s kind of a rehab center.”

“They call it an academy,” Jasper said.

“Shut the fuck up, Jasper,” I said. “Carl, you know this is bullshit. You’re going to hide these kids and forget about them.”

“We don’t have many options, Lillian,” Carl said.

“I’m the secretary of state now,” Jasper said, his voice rising. “You cannot even imagine the sacrifices that I’ve made. My responsibilities—”

“I could honestly punch you in the face right now, Jasper,” I said.

“Lillian,” Carl said. “I don’t like this any more than—”

“Then don’t fucking do it, you moron. You fucking idiot,” I said. “This is so unfair. And what about Timothy? How are you going to take care of him? Why do Roland and Bessie get punished?”

Carl looked at Jasper, who was shaking his head. Then he said, “For the next six months, Timothy will be checked in to a facility, to be observed.”

“You’re the weirdest person I’ve ever met, Jasper,” I told him.

“There’s nothing sinister,” he said. “You think the worst of us. It’s like the Mayo Clinic, cutting-edge medicine. But… private.”

“That sounds really fucking sinister. It sounds…” I searched so hard for the right words, but I couldn’t think straight. “Not good,” I finally said.

“It does sound fucking sinister,” said Madison, who was now standing at the foot of the stairs.

“We talked about this,” Jasper said.

“Not Timothy,” Madison said. “That’s not what you said.”

“It’s temporary,” Jasper said.

“Six months?” Madison said. “No fucking way, Jasper.” She turned to Carl. “Where is this place?”

Carl actually gulped, way out of his depth. “M-Montana.”

“No fucking way,” Madison repeated, and she looked amazing. She shined with a kind of ferocity that you couldn’t teach, that you had to be born with. “I’ll go get Timothy right now.” She turned to go up the stairs. “We’ll stay with my parents. Did you hear that? I’ll go live with my terrible parents. My brothers will drive up here and beat the shit out of you.”