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A Novel
by Hannah Pittard
Mrs. Jeffreys, who wouldnt let Sarah use tampons
because it was too much like having sex, walked
into the mudroom not too long after Chuck Goodhue.
And there, in one high-pitched breath, she purportedly
ordered Kevin Thorpe to zip his fly and be
ashamed of himself. Sissy she escorted home, holding
her hand the entire way. She led her through the
center of the partySissy blushing and with her head
down but also undeniably smilingall the way to the
three-story Tudor, where she knocked on the door
and handed Sissy over to Mr. Lindell. Whether or not
she ratted out Sissy, none of us knew, but a handful of
us did overhear Mrs. Jeffreys a few weeks later when
she told Mrs. Epstein that shed walked in on Kevin
Thorpe saying, repeatedly, Sit on it. Just sit on it.
Can you imagine? Mrs. Jeffreys said to Mrs.
Epstein. Can you even imagine?
We d known since ninth grade that Sarah
Jeffreys had been raped by Franco Bowles, Tommy
Bowles older brother, when he was home from college
one summer. But it wasnt until years laterfully,
if somewhat fitfully, situated in adulthoodthat we
were able to use this information to explain Mrs. Jeffreys
behavior. Too late we realized that what wed
always assumed was a nagging overprotectiveness
was in fact a compulsive, if not remorseful, form of
devotion to us all. We never forgave Franco for what
he did. We never addressed it, but we never forgave
him, either. And we all felt bad for not feeling bad
sooner for Sarah. No one heard from Sarah after high
school. She went missing too, in a way, but a different
kind of missing.
Trey developed something of a fetish for girls in
uniform. It wasnt his fault. We saw them every day.
We got sick of the uniforms, hated the matching plaid
skirts and the knee-high socks. We grew out of thinking
they were sexy. But he was a public schooler;
he never got the chance. A couple
decades later, he
went to jail after taking Paul Epsteins daughter home
and doing things with her that girls shouldnt do
until theyre much, much older, if ever. Pauls daughter
said she knew what she was doing. She said she
wanted to do those things with Trey. But what does
a thirteen-year-old know of what she wants? In the
court testimony, she referred to Trey as Mr. Stephens.
Never had we felt so old. She called Mr. Stephens a
man; our sons she referred to as boys. We blushed at
the wording. How simple, how true.
For two years, Mrs . Jeffreys controlled Halloween.
If Sissy was invited to Sarahs basement party
that second year, none of us knew about it and she
certainly didnt attend. Plans had been made by Mr.
Lindell to send his youngest away for her last two
years of high school. She needed a fresh start, he said,
needed not always to be thought of as Nora Lindells
little sister. Probably this was true. But mostly we
blamed Paul Epstein, whod taken to calling Sissy a
slut in the hallways at school. Shed walk by, alone
or with a girlfriend, and hed cough the word into his
hand from where he leaned against his locker. None
of us joined him, and Sissy never acknowledged him.
But always her face turned a horrible blotchy red,
which was proof enough that she heard him every
time.
Paul argued that you couldnt force someone
into becoming something they werent already, but
mostly we agreed that Paul had pushed her into it.
That, believing she already had the reputation, Sissy
Lindell thrust herself into fulfilling what only Paul
Epstein had alleged. At one point it was rumored
that shed even had sex with Trey Stephens. When
we took it to him, however, he denied it. I might
go to public school, he said, but I wouldnt do that
to Nora. We couldnt help but respect his loyalty;
couldnt help but believe that he alone would have
the dignity and self-restraint that the rest of us lacked.
Of course, this was before Paul Epstein had a daughter,
before any of us could even conceive of having
daughters of our own.
Excerpted from The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard. Copyright © 2011 by Hannah Pittard. Excerpted by permission of Ecco. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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