13 Chapter 13

Willa cleans up pots and pans at the sink, having completed a baking marathon.

Pam cocks a second view of her family, and Ricky Malonni. Bobo rushes upstairs with his present after ditching his coat; Pam guesses it’s another one of those hideous snow globes that Willa likes. Pam hates them because the water inside their spheres turns a piss yellow after a few years and they look disgusting. Sam…Simon…Sandy—whatever Jonah’s boyfriend’s name is, she honestly can’t remember—plops on the sofa, sighs. Jonah and Ricky Malonni step through the dining room and inside the kitchen. Jonah gives his sister a side-hug at the sink and fetches himself a glass for his bourbon. If Pam’s already drinking, why can’t he?

Pam says, “Jake’s girlfriend is in the basement.”

Female giggles escape the basement: light, airy, seductive sounding.

Jake’s familiar voice lifts out of the sublevel, “That’s my girl. I like it right there. Slow down a touch.”

Willa says, “She’s a hooker.”