Page 61 of For Your Own Good

“Are you bored?”

It’s Nari. She’s wearing a hat with a veil, like this is a funeral, and her straight black hair is in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. Her eyes are obscured by the lace, but Teddy can still feel the daggers.

“No, I’m not bored. I’m frustrated by all these deaths at Belmont.” He is careful not to saymurdersinstead ofdeaths. Another day or two, and everyone will know. That’s how long it took with Ingrid, and Sonia had so much more poison in her system.

“This is horrible,” Frank says. “It’s all so horrible.”

“Death is a part of life,” Louella says.

“Shh,” Nari says.

“We should pray,” Frank says. His voice sounds raspy, like he can barely get the words out.

No one answers him.

Teddy looks out across the field, toward the full parking lot. So many expensive cars. A lot of parents have shown up in the middle of a workday, like they have nowhere else to be. The amount of money here just in clothes, jewelry, and handbags must be in the millions. Not to mention the wristwatches. The only acceptable jewelry for a man is a wedding ring and a wristwatch. Teddy always checks out both.

It’s too bad he doesn’t have binoculars. Bet there are some extraordinary watches here today.

The headmaster introduces the school band, which is set to play “one of Sonia’s favorite songs.” The band bleats out a pathetic rendition of “Lean on Me.”

When the crowd starts to sing along, Teddy excuses himself.

Behind the football field is the school’s state-of-the-art concession stand, which even has an app to let people know how long the line will take. Today, the stand is closed. The only people around are a few parents who just had to use their phones.

One of them is James Ward.

Teddy can smell him from ten feet away. The stench of entitlement is that strong.

James sees him while he’s still on the phone, and he holds up his finger, as if telling Teddy to wait. He does. Not because James told him to, but because he wants to know what James is going to say.

“Teddy,” James says, reaching out to shake his hand. “I’d say nice to see you again, but under these circumstances it seems inappropriate.”

Teddy nods.

“It’s unbelievable, really,” James says. “Two deaths in just a few months.”

“Yes. It’s so tragic.”

James looks at him, his head slightly cocked to the side. “And they still have no idea what happened to her, do they?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“How odd.”

Teddy doesn’t answer that.

“I never thanked you, by the way,” James says. “For giving Zach a chance to improve his grade on that paper.”

“Of course.”

“It’s unfortunate his final grade wasn’t better.”

Teddy almost smiles. Zach was never going to get anything better than an A-minus in his class. Never. “Yes. Very unfortunate,” he says.

They are interrupted by Pamela, Zach’s mom, who is dressed in a dark suit. Going back to work soon, perhaps.

“I wondered where you were,” she says. “I thought you were still on the phone.” Pamela turns to Teddy. She’s wearing the same plum-colored lipstick he saw before, in the school parking lot. “Mr.Crutcher, nice to see you again.”