Page 48 of The Hardest Hit

Sofia’s red curls were shoved into a ponytail that was slowly working its way loose. Olivia thought she looked tired but seemed determined not to admit it. Pops was wearing his customary suit and suspenders. His jacket was set aside on the chair next to him, and he piled ever more papers there from his briefcase—forcing a space between him and Grams. Grams, prim and proper in a sweater set and skirt, was pretending not to notice. Maybe that was why she was knitting. Olivia found the atmosphere depressing.

“I’m going to get some coffee from the cafeteria,” said Olivia, standing up.

“That sounds nice, dear,” said Grams. “Why don’t you bring some for the rest of us?”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Olivia.

She decided to take the long way to the cafeteria, going around the outside of the building. She hadn’t gone two steps out into the nipping cold when her phone lit up in a cascade of messages. She felt a surge of relief when she saw they were all from Evan and dialed without bothering to read them. He picked up almost immediately.

“Yes! Yes, I’m here.”

“Hi,” she said leaning against the brick wall.

“Hi,” he said, his voice settling down. “How’s your dad? Is he OK?”

“They think he will be,” she said. “They took him into surgery. He’s got some sort of artery blockage. They’re doing some sort of rotor-rooter operation and clear it out. We’re all just waiting now. What happened to you? I tried to call like fifteen times.”

“Um. I punched a Nazi on the train to work and got arrested.”

She burst out laughing, but he didn’t laugh. “Seriously?”

“There’s a video of it on YouTube if you want to searchWall Street Bro Punches Nazi.”

She laughed again, sagging against the brick wall, shoulders shaking. “Evan, sugar, what happened?”

“I don’t know, this skin-head asked if I was with him and I saidfuck Nazis,and then he punched me, so I punched back, and then I got arrested.”

“Thenyougot arrested? That doesn’t sound right.” Olivia was indignant.

“My cousin didn’t think so either, so he got me unarrested. But yeah, I spent a large chunk of my day in jail while he did his lawyer thing.”

“Oh, Evan, that’s terrible!”

“But that’s why I didn’t answer. Sorry.”

“Well, at least you have a good excuse. I think I’m just going to start saying that for everything. I’m sorry, I couldn’t make it to your baby shower—I was punching Nazis.”

Evan chuckled.

“But it’s good that your cousin could come and help you out,” she continued.

“Yeah, well, nothing looks worse in the family Christmas letter than,Evan got arrested, so you know, it’s in his best interest.”

“That’s very cynical. Are you sure he maybe wasn’t just a little bit worried about you?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line.

“Maybe,” he agreed. “He did get really angry when he found out they let some of the skinheads go.”

“I would be too!”

“Jackson thought it was funny. I’m pretty sure he now has a gif of me punching someone as the screen saver on his phone.”

Olivia giggled. “Well, punching Nazisisalways funny.”

“That is exactly what I said! When are you coming home? We’re going to miss Naked Tuesday.”

“I know! I’m very upset about it. I’m also eating into the vacation days I was planning on using to visit during Christmas. Which sounds stupid, but this is throwing all of my plans out of whack and my OCD anxiety is kicking in. Also, Sofia isn’t talking to me and, I may be crazy, but I think my grandma is knitting at me.”