Something She's Not Telling Us - Darcey Bell Page 0,71
at his phone. He made himself look.
Reyna had texted back:
Half an hour. By the Diaz statue.
That’s where the attack had occurred. Someone hit Reyna from behind.
Ruth. It was Ruth who attacked her. Ruth had blood on her hands.
Rocco’s head feels like it’s full of foul water. Where is he? Okay. He’s sitting on the edge of his bed. In Mom’s house in Oaxaca. Ruth is looking at him, her face pale and pinched with concern.
“Rocco, is something wrong?”
How innocent. How bright and perky and clear-eyed. She’s washed the blood off her hands. Lady Macbeth. She’d played Lady Macbeth. Or so she’d said.
“Stomach,” he mumbles, and runs into the bathroom and locks the door.
He’s never fainted, but this is how it must feel, just before you go under. His heart shouldn’t be beating this fast. He sits on the edge of the tub and puts his head between his knees. He needs to do something . . . but what? He needs to tell someone . . . but who?
No one calls the police down here. No one. Ever. No matter what.
The text came from his phone. Reyna answered him. She arranged to meet him. How could he prove he didn’t do it? That he and Ruth aren’t in this together? That he isn’t in this alone?
He’s been sleeping next to—sleeping with—a woman who could do this. Who could lie and lie and lie and lie—and almost kill an innocent person.
Everything else—the start-up that never was, the driver, the beggar children, the inconsistencies in her stories—they were nothing compared to this.
How could he not know who she is? And what does he do now? He’s a little afraid to break up with her. He’s very afraid to stay with her.
He needs to tell someone. He can’t. Things would only get more complex. He can solve this by himself. Somehow he can make it go away. He’s broken up with crazy women—but not as crazy as Ruth.
He needs to get home. Back to the US. Then he’ll figure it out.
He flushes the toilet. Unlocks the door.
“Feeling better?” Ruth says sweetly.
What did she do with her bloody clothes?
“Much better,” Rocco says.
HE STAYS AS far away from Ruth as he can until it’s time to leave. They all convene for goodbyes. When Rocco tries to hug his mother, she pulls away.
Charlotte says, “We’re so glad we got to celebrate your birthday, Mom.”
Mom says, “Me too. Absolutely. For sure.”
Rocco stands back and lets Charlotte and Ruth climb into the back of the van. He doesn’t want to sit next to Ruth. He and Eli sit on the bench seat behind Paco, with Daisy belted between them.
Ruth whispers something to Charlotte that Rocco doesn’t hear. Otherwise, no one talks. Charlotte says, “Mom seems well; she seems to like her life here.” No one answers.
It’s unusual that Ruth can let one second of silence exist without stuffing it full of chatter.
But even Ruth is silent now. What could she be thinking?
When they get back to New York, he’ll break up with her.
What he’ll do is: He’ll make her want to break up with him. Slowly, slowly—no rushing it—he’ll turn into the Bad Boyfriend. He’s been that so many times before—it’ll be easy. No effort required. She’ll get tired of him. Sick of him not being there for her, not paying attention. She’ll get tired of him complaining. Not calling when he’s supposed to. He’s done it before. He’s an expert.
But it never before seemed like a matter of life and death. He’s never broken up with someone who attacked a woman he talked to at a party.
THE OAXACA AIRPORT is small, manageable. Charlotte urges Daisy and Eli ahead of Rocco and Ruth, who let the little family check in before them. The guy at the counter smiles at Daisy, who hides behind her dad. Charlotte collects their boarding passes, and the three of them step aside and wait for Rocco and Ruth to check in.
Some vestigial gallantry inspires Rocco to let Ruth go first. A mistake, as it turns out.
Later, he wishes he’d checked in before her and refused to intercede when there was a problem with her ticket.
But the problem isn’t her ticket. The problem is that Ruth has no passport.
Frantic, she kneels and dumps her purse on the floor, right in front of the counter, despite the line of passengers behind them. Rocco hears grumbling, but most people look away as Ruth paws through coins, old tissues, tampons, keys, and lipstick tubes. She stuffs it